The Whitewater community will be holding their election for the Whitewater Unified School District School Board April 5, 2022 with four candidates running for a seat at the table. Among the candidates are Miguel Aranda and Andrea Svec with incumbents Jennifer Kienbaum and Joseph Kromholz. The League of Women Voters – Whitewater Area held a forum for them to discuss their positions Saturday, March 12 in the Whitewater City Hall.

Miguel Aranda 

Aranda has lived in Whitewater for 30 years with his wife Fabiola and their three children.

He holds a position of administrative Assistant III  at The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and also is an alumni holding a Bachelor’s of Business Administration. He served on the school board from September 2019 to April 2020 with some experience and ideas on what he would bring to the board for the future. He wants to bring more growth through more student enrollment, attracting more families, while retaining and bringing more teachers and administrators to the district. 

“My primary focus will be on growth: growth on sustainable student enrollment, attracting families, retaining families living in the district, growth to attain and attract teachers. Most importantly growth for our children. For their lives -for the kids to have 12 years of success,” said Aranda.

Jennifer Kienbaum

Keinbaum is currently one of the seven WUSD board members and has served since April 2019. She is a mother of four children and thinks it is important for the board to have equal representation from parents that have personal interests in improving the school district. She was on the Board of Trustees for two three-year terms at Rock Prairie Montessori School before being on the Whitewater board. She believes that the school board should focus more on education to ensure the success of all students with programs, work on the financial issues more and be a voice in the community. 

“I decided to run for reelection for a handful of reasons, one being a parent of children, and I feel it is important for representation from parents within the district as they have personal interest in improving the district and quality of all. Second I believe that equal education for all students and ensuring the education is given. Being on the school board allowd me to use the experiences and skills from other boards I worked from to help the community and district,” said Keinbaum. 

Joseph Kromholz

Kromholz is a patent attorney who has lived in Whitewater with his wife and son for 19 years. He believes in a strong public school education, rallying behind the community, and making sure all kids have access to school. Kromholz is advocating for a portion of the state budget surplus of $3.8 billion dollars to be directed to funding public education so that the referendum cycle for operating budgets may end. He wants to bring more opportunities to the students to be successful to help them be ready for college or their field they hope to go into. He believes that the school should pursue the dual language program, and have the school board work with each other more to make changes together with the community.

“I am running for school board because I believe that all the kids receive excellent education. I believe that we must do our best to provide the best teachers, great pay, good administration and better communications with the parents and community. Parents are key to better education and we won’t be successful without them through communication. Strong school system results in a strong community. I want to be on the board to be a voice for the community,” said Kromolz.

Andrea Svec

Svec has lived in Whitewater for 12 years with her three children, and has found a home here. She worked at AT&T for 30 years and learned to work with others to get the job done. She wants to keep students in school and attract more students. She thinks this would be done by spending time on finding solutions to fiscal needs, and that the district must be wise on how it would be spent. She wants the school to focus more into these types of curriculum which are science, technology, arts and math. She wants to create a culture where students, parents and community can speak up and be engaged. 

“It is important to me that Whitewater be the community with school of choice, the community with a school that everyone wants to go to, I want it to be a place for students and teachers to be a part of the community. I believe that strong schools that focus on excellence fit the criteria by being fiscally responsible, transparent in what we do. I think we need to focus on our athletics, academics and arts. They make a three legged stool that creates a well-rounded excellence for students through culture. We need to work on culture to make sure to focus on respect with our community, and business leaders. I think we need to enhance the technology and vocational areas,” said Svec.

City of Whitewater residents will have the opportunity to vote for these WUSD candidates Tuesday, April 5.