Let me introduce myself. I am Jeff Nelson, and I grew up in Allouez where I attended Green Bay Public Schools from kindergarten through high school graduation. I then attended the University of Wisconsin – Madison. I discovered early on I wasn’t as prepared as I thought to take on the academic rigors of college.

I understood my underlying issue stemmed from my inability to study effectively, manage time, and fully comprehend copious amounts of information the night before exams. What was worse, even after testing out of English, I quickly realized I didn’t have the core English and grammar skills necessary to be successful. As a result, I embarked on a journey to improve my educational skillset by enlisting in a battery of foundational courses in the Educational Psychology Department, where I discovered several different educational strategies and methods of learning. What I took away was priceless.

I couldn’t help to imagine if I possessed these foundational learning skills earlier in life how things may have turned out differently. More importantly, what if my friends and classmates, who were much smarter than me, possessed these skills. Instead, they were left behind by a cookie-cutter formula of education; effective for many but not for all.

After college, I moved to Washington DC where I initially worked for a government agency. I realized after a short time, working for the government wasn’t really meant for me. Using my research and marketing skills, I embarked on a new career path in the digital marketing field. A career path I still enjoy today.

At the time, digital marketing was a new phenomenon and largely misunderstood by traditional marketers. As a result, I was tasked with educating our team and our customers on how to use data, data-driven reports, and associated information to help them do their jobs more effectively. Accordingly, educating people in this area became a critical facet of my job.

Building the curriculum and getting approval was arduous, but not as difficult as the training itself. What I encountered was both eye-opening and alarming. I frequently trained business professionals who couldn’t do simple math, and in some cases could barely read.

Since my job wasn’t to lecture, it was to teach, I restructured the curriculum uniquely for each team using real-life circumstances relatable to their profession. I provided instructional material in advance of the seminars and realized enormous success, eventually training groups of up to 300 people. Today many of our teachers are faced with similar challenges. They are tasked with educating children at different levels and are expected to provide equal outcomes.

After a decade of living in DC and Northern Virginia, I decided to move back to Wisconsin, where I met my wife, Rebecca. Today we have three children, two girls, and one boy. Our journey to Wrightstown was one of the best decisions we made for our family. We love calling Wrightstown home.

Excited by the birth of our first child, Tori, Rebecca and I were faced with the realization that our daughter would need to attend the Green Bay School District. This posed a problem for us because Tori was born with a serious heart defect and down’s syndrome. Luckily, Brown County is blessed with one of the only schools, Syble Hopp School, in the nation dedicated to educating children with cognitive disabilities. To attend the school our family needed to reside within Brown County, but outside of the Green Bay School District. Accordingly, we had two tasks, find the district with the best special education department, and find the best overall school district outside of Green Bay. After researching our options, I started calling my friends who currently teach in Brown County. They all had a few recommendations but would always finish by saying in one form or another, “Wrightstown is the best.” Today we have three children, two attending Wrightstown Elementry School and Tori who attends Syble Hopp.

We love calling Wrightstown home, our neighborhood is full of school-age children whose parents care deeply about their children’s education and safety. Many of our neighbors are lifelong residents or settled here from other parts of the Fox Valley. Recently, several families have moved in from other parts of the country. Some moved here to raise their family and others just to escape the complexities, crime, and political divisiveness separating communities by race, gender, or some other issue to drive a wedge between people.

While some of our neighbors’ children attend St. John or St. Clare private schools, many more, like my children, attend Wrightstown Community School District. I was surprised to learn over the past few months several of our neighbors are now exploring removing their children from our school district or have decided to not send their children to our high school after private school. What’s more alarming is some parents have already removed their children. Considering what we pay in taxes, the amount of debt we have as a district, every taxpayer within our district should pay close attention to this trend and ask ourselves “Why are parents considering or actually removing their children out of our public school system?”

After several conversations, I decided to start attending the school board meetings to see what was happening. I was and am still impressed by the efficiency of the board moving through their meetings. The preparedness of the administration staff reporting on their areas of responsibility is outstanding. While I am excited by the organization, I am a bit perplexed by the lack of discussion when it comes to things like voting on a new policy, not reading the new policy, or noting policy changes into the record before the vote.

Limiting the time for each person to address the board to three minutes as a mechanism to keep the meetings running smoothly is understandable and detrimental at the same time. Our School Board needs to build trust between itself and the community at large, and time restrictions erode that trust. If this policy remains in effect, alternative methods must be afforded to the community so members can ask questions individually or as a group. Additionally, the lack of transparency when responding to the open forum questions is making the problem worse. Responses are sent by the superintendent, via email, directly to the individual who addressed the school board the day before the next meeting. Public questions need to be addressed publicly and in a timely fashion.

I took the opportunity to ask a question about preparing our children when they miss school for an extended period due to Covid related issues; specifically, can the lesson plans be placed online? Having online lesson plans would help parents, many of whom are juggling multiple kids and working full time, with their children’s education. I did not receive a response from the district concerning my question.

Since then, I questioned the district regarding the Cyber Safety Policy for the district’s students. This time I received a response referencing the Cyber Security Policy. While Cyber Security is part of the equation, there is a difference between the two. Essentially, I was asking about the safety of our children online and their response drew reference to how they secure their IT infrastructure. This lack of understanding is alarming.

Because I have attended hundreds of local, state, and federal governmental meetings in the past, as part of previous work experience or as a private citizen, I know after attending my first Wrightstown School Board meeting, I could have a positive impact on the board by providing leadership in creating a digital safety policy, protecting our children, teachers, administrators, and staff online.