Five vie for three seats on Rhinelander school board

This year’s School District of Rhinelander school board race is a hot one. Three of its nine seats are up for election April 7, with five candidates in pursuit: incumbents Duane Frey, Mike Roberts and Merlin Van Buren, and challengers Doug Artus and Bill Freudenberg.

To help voters make informed choices, we contacted each of the candidates with the same questions. 

Artus, Frey and Roberts did not respond to the questionnaire sent by the River News prior to press time for this edition. The answers received from Freudenberg and Van Buren follow.

Bill Freudenberg

I am Bill Freudenberg and I am a candidate for the Rhinelander School Board. I have lived in Rhinelander since 1983, I have a high school education. I have worked in manufacturing for 34 years I have served on numerous boards both government and non-profits. I have attended many school board meetings to understand the operations of the district along with the financial side of the district. I feel I am a qualified candidate for the school board and would an asset to the board.

I am a firm believer in a great education for our youth and having great teachers and support staff as well. If I am elected I will work hard for the district and the taxpayers.

What prompted you to run for election to the school board?

I wanted to run because I wanted to give back to the community and be a voice for the community. To provide good communication for parents and students. I feel we have a great district and I want to be a part of that team going forward.

List three top priorities for the School 

District of Rhinelander as you see them over the next three to four years.

Maintaining a budget and spending as needed. Maintaining great teachers and support staff. I am all in favor of keeping our schools up to date but I don't want to put to much on the taxpayers.

Van BurenMerlin Van Buren

Both of our sons attended Pelican elementary School, James Williams Middle School and graduated from Rhinelander High School. I have been retired from the Rhinelander Paper Mill for almost two years.

I currently work part-time for Bowen's Bus Service, driving bus for teams and activities for the school district. I did this intentionally to get to know teachers, coaches and our students. It has been a great experience and it is just amazing to see all that our students do.

I have served on the Rhinelander School Board for over 12 years. I am currently the Rhinelander School Board representative on the CESA 9 Board of Control. I am also a member of the CAVOC Board. While on the School Board I have served on employee relations, operations and capital projects committees.

What prompted you to run for re-election to the school board?

I am running for re-election because I believe I still have a lot to offer the District. The passion and the drive is still there to serve the District the best that I can.

In the years I have been on the board we have seen dramatic changes in education, survived a pandemic and have emerged stronger than ever. The District is definitely on the right path, we have momentum in the Rhinelander School District as to move this District forward.

List three top priorities for the School District of Rhinelander as you see them over the next three to four years.

Staff Retention: We spend a lot of time, effort and money on improving the effectiveness of our staff. We need to retain that staff to continue to see improvement in our district. Financially there is only so much we can do. We need to assure our staff that they are appreciated and respected for the work that they do. With the changes in education, our staff can work in any school district. We need to make sure that Rhinelander School District is the district that they choose to work in.

College and Career Readiness: We have made great strides in this area. Our initiatives were recognized at a national level. Whether our students are going to College, Tech School, going into the workforce immediately or into the Military we need to make sure that every student has the skills and preparation necessary to be successful. This starts at the lowest levels, with learning basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic. In spring we will have "Signing Day" when we will recognize every Senior for their choice on what is next for them.

Financial stability: Unfortunately, most of this is out of our control. Representatives Swearingen and Felzkowski have done very little to help schools. They instead have pushed the tax burden from the state to your local property taxes. Without the support of our local tax payers, passing funding referendums, we would not be able to provide the education that our children need and deserve.

We are facing rising costs in a number of areas including healthcare. We are self insured so we have a number of options we will be considering to reduce our healthcare costs. At this time, with our budgeting for next year, there are a number of moving parts that we will be looking at and discussing to get us to a balanced budget.

I would encourage you to check out our Strategic Plan on the Rhinelander School District website. Our Strategic Plan goes into more detail than I can cover in these short answers.