Colfax School Board Candidate: Christie Hill
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
COLFAX — Five candidates are running for three positions on the Colfax Board of Education in the April 7 election.
The candidates are Jaclyn Ackerlund, Ken Bjork, Christie Hill, Jodi Kiekhafer and Gary Stene.
The Colfax Messenger sent out questionnaires to each of the candidates. Here are Christie Hill’s answers to the questionnaire.
• What is your occupation?
My employment includes being a full-time Crisis Social Worker at Eau Claire County Human Services, self-employed with a credit card processing business, working part-time at My Happy Place Boutique and assisting my husband with the bookkeeping for his business.
• Tell us about your family.
I have been married to my husband for 22 years. Colfax is where we have raised our children. They have all attended the Colfax school district since Junior Kindergarten. We feel they have received a great education and been supported throughout their educational career by the staff and administration. Our oldest has graduated and is attending the University of Northwestern Ohio. Our middle child will graduate this year and our youngest is a Junior.
• What is your educational background?
In addition to my high school education, I have a bachelor’s degree from UW-Stout in Human Development and Family Studies. I attended the University of Upper Iowa to obtain my Social Worker Certification.
• Why did you decide to run for the Colfax Board of Education?
My opinion of the Colfax school district has always been very high. I have always believed it was important to be a contributing member to society and my community. Additionally, I wanted to continue my on-going support to children and their families. Being on the school board was a way for me to broaden that support and also extend it to the staff and the community. My efforts include promoting the highest education for our children, quality employment for staff, and being fiscally responsible to the community. In the nine years that I have been on the board, my commitment has not wavered and I will continue to hold true to these values.
• What makes you suited to serve on the school board?
I have served on the Colfax Board of Education for nine years and was nominated to the position of clerk for six years. In addition to the previously mentioned efforts, I have also worked with the other delegates and administration with the supporting of staff through the changes brought about by Act 10, updating the district’s policy manual, obtaining and completing a $1.7 million energy efficiency project, facilitating repair of the damages and replacement of items from the tornado, passing the school referendum at 70 percent and achieving the lowest mill rate in the region. Our district has held a seat on the CESA 11 Board for several years. This seat represents the districts of Colfax, Menomonie, Boyceville and Elk Mound. I have been nominated to this seat for seven years and served as the vice president of this board for the last year. My role on the CESA Board is to ensure that affordable and equitable services are provided to all districts within the CESA 11 region, provide oversight of staffing and benefits, and act as the governing board for the Head Start Program in the region.
The majority of my career, I have worked for a government agency. This has provided me with the experience and knowledge of how organizations operate via local, state and federal funding. I’m also able to bring my experience of having two family businesses. The combination of experience and knowledge in the public and private sectors is very valuable when looking at financial matters such as budget and benefits, personnel matters and long-range planning.
As a social worker, I work daily with families affected by challenges in their lives, especially mental health. I’m able to provide information to the board and administration to assist in developing policy or obtaining services to support our students and staff. Additionally, I have developed very strong skills in listening, problem solving, and advocating for others. I also strive to be creative and an ability to approach situations with foresight. My education, experiences, skills and my personality have served me well in being a strong delegate on the Colfax Board of Education.
• Besides the budget, what do you believe to be the biggest challenges or issues facing the Colfax school district?
The Colfax school district has been experiencing a decline in enrollment, and it it is currently the largest challenge of the district. Another significant challenge for the district is in the increase in mental health and a limited amount of resources to address the needs.
• How would you suggest addressing those challenges or issues for the Colfax school district?
The enrollment is largely affected by the shortage of housing options for residents. Continuing conversations with the local townships to change the acreage requirements to allow homes to be constructed on smaller parcels would increase the availability of single family homes or multi-unit homes. Given families are looking for schools with many options of classes, athletics, clubs, Etc., continuing to bring new opportunities in these areas will increase the interest for new students. There is also the need to highlight the district and what is already being achieved at the school. Social media is a strong tool that can be utilized to promote the achievements of the district. Encouraging all that are currently utilizing the different district social media sites to share the information on their owns sites will increase the visibility of the district.
To address the mental heath needs, the school is allowing therapists to provide services on campus. It would be beneficial to obtain a mental health consultant to assess students’ needs and refer them to services or engaging appropriate crisis supports. The use of a consultant would allow students a timely response, free up time for staff, and decrease the disruptions that occur in the classrooms. Contracting with a therapeutic or crisis services agency would allow for minimal financial cost to the district, as payroll and benefits would be the responsibility of the agency and insurance reimbursement could be utilized.
• What other ideas do you have for improving the school district?
A long range goal would be for the district to work with local businesses for additional opportunities for students. This would include contracting with businesses to assist students at the district to complete jobs that would occur at the work site. A campus work site could be created and compensation would be provided to the school. Students would earn credits and possibly wages. Presentations could be made to younger students to broaden their knowledge of different employment opportunities.
• Why are you the best candidate?
I believe that my information speaks to my commitment to the district and what I bring to the board. The experience and knowledge that I possess will continue to be valuable to the students, staff and community. I am asking the voters to support my work with a board that has been effective in the forward movement of the Colfax school district by casting their vote for me.