Newly Elected Hamilton School Board Member Addresses Rumors

“First, is this call being recorded, is it?” asked Brian Schneider, Hamilton’s newly elected school board member.

I laughed and said "no."

He’s referring to the his opponent Lynn Kristensen faced while battling over the Menomonee Falls seat on the School Board. After the public first learned , , eventually leading to with almost 70 percent of the votes.

“It’s something I didn’t expect would happen,” Schneider said. “It’s something that came up, and I don’t know if I really have a lot to say about it. I got questions myself on whether I signed the petition. People called. I guess it’s just something that can happen. Once you step out into the public arena, things are different.”

Schneider said he didn’t know what to expect when he entered the race, let alone what to expect election night, calling it all an “interesting experience.”

“It wasn’t so much changed that needed to be made, but I’ve been following education issues since before I’ve been in college.” 

The Menomonee Falls seat is up for grabs every three years, and six years ago, Schnider said he was ready to go for it. However, after talking with Hamilton Superintendent Kathleen Cooke and getting together all the necessary paperwork, he decided against it in favor of focusing more on his three children.

With his twins now in sixth grade and his oldest in eighth grade, Schneider felt it was the right time to try going for it again. He admits to only have attended a few School Board meetings in his lifetime, but said: “It’s been something I’ve been thinking of doing for a while.”

Why did he run for office?

However, lack of specifics led some Patch readers confused as to why Schneider was even running in the first place. Without citing specific enough examples of changes he planned to make,  one Patch reader, Emily, considered Kristensen the better candidate.

“Mr. Schneider doesn't even have policies in mind,” “All he says is he wants change. Nothing specific. Doesn't sound like new, solid ideology to me.”

But according to Schneider, it wasn’t so much drastic changes he was after, but fulfilling a passion to be a part of his children’s school district.

“It wasn’t so much changed that needed to be made, but I’ve been following education issues since before I’ve been in college,” he said. “I thought I could make a positive impact if I won. Now I plan to look at the issues as they come up and apply my skills, make decisions and hopefully improve the district. It’s just an interest I’ve had.”

One topic he showed interested in changing, however, was a part of the school’s math curriculum called “spiraling.” He says it involves studying for a short period of time on one topic, doing something else for a while, then coming back to the original topic. He even wrote a letter to the school about it, he says.

However, with nearly double the amount of eighth-graders at scoring in the “advanced” category on the latest WKCE test as the average Wisconsin public schooler, some are questioning his concerns.

Links to the Taxpayers Association

Since Jeremy Halcomb that he recorded a phone conversation with about her signature on the recall, people have asked what Schneider’s relationship was with him.

Along with Steve Welcenbach, Halcomb was seen as someone "masterfully" behind taking down Kristensen by spreading the word about her political missteps. Patch reader Rachel Holley Sciortino commented on the alleged relationship, and also asked why Schneider was linked with the Menomonee Falls Taxpayers Association.

“The new school board member was endorsed by an organization (MFtax.org) that is exclusively focused on lowering taxes,” “The work to unseat Ms. Kristensen and advance Mr. Schneider's candidacy was masterfully handled by two men whose children attended private school outside the district. Now I ask you — what is the motive here?”

“The work to unseat Ms. Kristensen and advance Mr. Schneider's candidacy was masterfully handled by two men..."

Schneider said it was just a political endorsement, and he was treated the same as Kristensen during the initial interaction with Holcomb. In addition, he said he is behind the message the taxpayers association preaches because it’s all about using taxes wisely.

“(Welcenbach and Halcomb) called me several weeks after I had announced my candidacy, and they asked me some questions,” Schneider said. “They asked how I felt about certain issues, if it was true I was running, and after asking a number of questions said they were interested in supporting me. A lot of people called and asked me those questions. It wasn’t the other way around, like I was looking for them. They just heard that I was running and I told them how I stood on certain things.”

He says his backing from the taxpayers association went about the same way, with representatives contacting him for endorsement.

Problems with his family ties?

Other readers had another question on their minds: How will Schneider vote without bias if his brother is working for Templeton Middle School? Active Patch commenter Mark Hoppus said Schneider would hardly be able to vote on anything once elected.

“Have you people even done your research?!” Hoppus asked. “Because he has a brother in the district, he won't be able to vote on 95% of the votes that the school board will have to make! He legally cannot vote on anything from teacher salaries to work conditions to where money is appropriated.”

While Schneider might have to withstand from voting on a few movements, 95 percent is a bit of a stretch. Denise Lindberg, the spokeswoman for the , said there are anti-nepotism policies, but the School Board votes on much more than family related personnel matters.

“Because he has a brother in the district, he won't be able to vote on 95% of the votes that the school board will have to make!"

“I think that the issue readers are thinking of are personnel matters, but that’s not 95 percent of all the things the School Board does,” Lindberg said. “It would have to be personnel matters related specifically to having a family member benefit from a vote. For example, if the board is looking to hire a head custodian at a school, he could vote on that because it doesn’t affect him in that way.”

In the end, Schneider says he’s ready to improve the district in any way possible.

“I’ll approach each issue as it comes up,” he said. “I will study it and listen to input from everyone and consider each individual problem as it arises.”