One candidate will be whittled down for contested Stanley seat

There’s a three-way contest for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court along with a ‘Presidential Preference’ to decide on the partisan primary ballot this upcoming February 18th, but for those whose voting motivations are decidedly more local in origin, there’s another reason to go to the polls this upcoming Tuesday: a non-partisan three-way race between city residents Mike Henke, Mark Morrow, and Toni Seidl for the open Area Four seat on the local Stanley-Boyd School Board! Anyone within the district’s boundaries can vote for the School Board seat (generally at their village or town hall for those outside Stanley), but school board candidates themselves need to live in the area that they wish to represent. Along with the three-way contest for the Area Four seat representing Stanley are two other school board seats (Area Two candidate Denise Hoffstatter and Area Three incumbent Bob Geist), but those contests have neither challengers nor a primary, and so will be decided in April.

As to the Area Four school board seat, each of the February 18th primary candidates was questioned regarding their qualifications for the post, and each responded in turn.

In the first place is current Area Four seat incumbent Mike Henke. Born and raised in the Stanley area, Henke is a member of the Stanley- Boyd High School Class of 1989 and a wellknown community member. He brings a long resumé to the contest for the Stanley-Boyd school board.

After graduating from UW-River Falls with an Agriculture Education degree, Henke’s local government experience includes being on the city council as an alderman from 1998 to 2012, serving as mayor of Stanley from 2012 until 2017, and being appointed as a library board trustee most recently, but also serving on the Chippewa County Board as well as Economic Development Corporations for Chippewa and Clark counties, and being involved for twenty years in the local fire department. Henke’s father Don also served as a city alderman up until his death in 1998, with son Mike taking over the position upon being asked to at his father’s wake. “I’ve strived to improve the community by serving in various elected offices over the last 20 years,” seat incumbent Mike Henke said of the time since then.

Along with extensive experience serving in local government, Henke is a bank vice president at Forward Financial in Stanley and said that his financial background helps to set him apart from the other two candidates running in the primary this upcoming February 18th. Asked for why he was running again to be on the school board, Henke said that “I want to continue to improve the quality of education within the financial abilities of the district, without borrowing funds or having a referendum.” Such is the case made by the first candidate for the Area Four school board seat. What of the second?

Challenging Henke for the honor of serving her local community on the school board, Toni Seidl was also born and raised in Stanley, being a lifelong resident as well as a mother of three. A member of the Stanley-Boyd High School Class of 2006, she was then known by her maiden name as Toni Vait. After high school, she went on to earn an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and became a family childcare provider. In 2010 she married Josh Seidl, and the two have three daughters together. After working as a 4K paraprofessional for two years after her marriage, Seidl went back to being a family childcare provider and describes herself as “a huge advocate for the March of Dimes,” a nonprofit that funds research to help prevent preterm birth, birth defects, and infant mortality. She enjoys appending time with family and watching her kids along with nieces and nephews “in their various sporting adventures and dance recitals.” A relatively regular attendee of Stanley-Boyd Area School Board meetings, Toni Seidl has two daughters enrolled at Stanley-Boyd Elementary, and stated that she was also a member of the design team for the Community Conversation held in March 2019. Regarding the current school board situation, she said that, “there needs to be new ideas and opinions expressed. I am open and available for concerns from the community. I have a lot of drive and motivation to do what I think is best, not only for the students, but also for the staff. I will do my best to make sure every voice is heard.” While Seidl would like to be the one to represent the open Area Four seat, “as long as there is change I will be happy,” she said.

Asked for why she was running, Seidl said that “I have attended almost every meeting for the last two years, and feel there needs to be new ideas expressed, more discussions before decisions are made, and more questions being asked.” Additionally, Seidl said that she feels that at present some things are voted on without much input or discussion, and that “there needs to be more transparency between the district and the community.” The final candidate profile for primary ballot candidates in the Area Four school board race is Mark Morrow.

W hen it comes to the local area, Mark Morrow is a familiar presence. Having coached or assisted with coaching several Oriole sports teams (varsity assistant track, girls track, freshman boys basketball, and varsity assistant football) as well as being a one-time special education aide for the Stanley-Boyd district, Morrow was present along with Seidl and Henke for the recent January 2020 School Board meeting. Currently working with the Department of Corrections at Stanley Correctional Institution (SCI) in the education department, Mark has been married to his wife and Stanley-Boyd Choral Director Janet Mickelson for twenty years, and also has a daughter enrolled at Stanley-Boyd Elementary. Asked what he would bring to the Board of Education at Stanley-Boyd, Morrow listed his experience as coordinator for the education department and specifically the SCI Bee Keeping Program, which included “control of putting together the class, interviewing, and overseeing the new program at SCI.” He has also been a Re-Entry Coordinator for two years in the education department at SCI, helping inmates get their resumés and cover letters, and working with the job center for inmates to obtain skills before their release into society. These are just some of Mark Morrow’s activities with the SCI Education Department.

Asked as to why he’s running for the open Area Four seat at Stanley-Boyd, Mr. Morrow said that “I really feel it is time for a change to get some new input on the school board.” Among his goals if elected would be “to help change the Governance policies to bring back decision making to the board of education to the operation of the school district,” and more involvement by the board in hiring. He is in favor of removing the policy of makeup testing and no zero policy, along with removal of the block schedule with 65 minute classes and removal of the trimester. In their place he advocates returning to the quarter system with the eight period day and 45 minute classes. He would also like more help for the mental health needs of students, more tech classes, and making subjects like music, art, physical education, and family consumer education “just as important for students.”

Such are the cases made by the three candidates for Area Four representative on the Stanley-Boyd district school board. Voting is Tuesday, February 18th from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., upon the tally of which there will only be two school board candidates on the final April ballot—but just who is up to you.