Baltensperger

HOUGHTON — Even with the difficulties of schools over the past decade, Brad Baltensperger still enjoys being on a school board.

Baltensperger is one of three candidates running for three terms on the Houghton-Portage Township Schools Board in the Nov. 6 election.

This year marks Baltensperger’s 30th on the board. He tried to balance his knowledge of how things have been done with ways the district can change.

“I think, a lot of times, people who are in positions for a long period of time assume that they’ve done everything they can do,” he said. “I see education as an area where there’s so many influences that are continually changing that I want to help the district respond to those changes as they come up.”

Baltensperger sees his biggest contribution to the board being ways to bring people together in support of solutions. The board has been able to set aside some of its former tasks to focus more on core issues, he said.

As has been the case for the past 15 years, the biggest challenge over the next term will be maintaining programming for students with budgets that don’t keep pace with inflation, Baltensperger said. While the district doesn’t have much control over things at the state level, it can contact its legislators to let them understand what changes in the funding level mean for students, Baltensperger said.

Most construction related to the $10.9 million bond passed in 2017 is complete, Baltensperger said. That should leave the district in good shape for facilities for the next 10 to 15 years.

With that done, he said, the board can return to its main goal of maintaining programming. Another focus will be meeting the state’s mandate to improve reading among third-grade students. Social studies test scores have also been a concern among districts statewide.

“We set some of the expectations and goals for teachers and administrators, and how we can best meet those needs to demonstrate top-notch student achievements,” Baltensperger said.

The board has three roles, as Baltensperger sees it: hiring the principal, making sure the district operates fiscally responsibly and setting policy.

“The public likes us to do more, and we want to do as much as we possibly can, but recognize we have people who are working really hard, long hours … our job when we’re setting policy is also to set priorities and identify resources if those resources can be found,” he said.