The Pierce County Journal composed and sent out election questionnaires to all candidates running in local races, including Pierce County Board, village boards, school boards, city councils, one municipal judge race and three town board races. We tried to craft the questions in order to allow for citizens to get to know candidates and how they feel about local issues, which affect residents in their everyday lives.

The questionnaires were sent by email to candidates almost three weeks ago. For those who did not respond, they were sent two reminder emails. If they did not respond, that is noted below.

Incumbents are marked with an asterisk *. These are the people you will see on your April 7, 2026 ballot.

To find your local polling place, which will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, visit https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/Whats-On-My-Ballot or contact the municipality directly.

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Incumbents Alison H. Page* and Stacy Johnson-Myers* are running unopposed for the two River Falls School Board seats.

Alison H. Page*

Residence: City of River Falls

Occupation/profession: Healthcare CEO (retired), part-time faculty at the U of MN.

Prior elected offices: Board of Education 1985-2002 and 2023-present.

Do you have children who attend or have attended the school district? Yes. Our five children attended the School District of River Falls. Currently four of our seven grandchildren attend RF public schools.

In what school district or community activities/organizations have you been involved? I have served on the board of directors of many organizations in the community and the region including the Family Resource Center of St. Croix Valley, Success by Six, the Kinnickinnic River Land Trust, Adoray Home Care and Hospice, the Workforce Development Board, and the Restorative Justice Program. My husband and I have been foster parents for Pierce County.

Why are you running for school board? What are your priorities? Public education is a cornerstone of our community and essential for a thriving democracy. Public schools are the place where any child from any background can get the education they need to achieve their dreams. My priorities are to ensure excellence in academic achievement of our students, attract and retain great teachers, see that our schools are run as effectively and efficiently as possible, and ensure the future of our educational system. I would also like to see more and better collaboration between our schools and other cornerstones of our community, such as businesses, CVTC and UWRF, and local churches.

What are the three biggest challenges facing the school district? What solutions do you propose? Our schools are faced with many challenges. First among them, is the long-term support and funding for education. It is hard to believe, but there are those who seek to discredit, defund, and destroy the public school system in its entirety. We are seeing that in the incremental defunding of public schools by our legislature as they transfer more and more of the responsibility for funding schools to local homeowners, all while transferring more of our state tax dollars to private schools. We must stand in opposition to these efforts and support our public schools.

A second challenge is providing excellent education and support for children and families who are stressed. Young families are really challenged; the cost of living (e.g. housing, food, daycare) is making their lives hard. These challenges show up in our schools.

The third challenge I would point out are the challenges we will face as our enrollment decreases. We, like other districts, are seeing a slow decline in the number of students we serve. We will need to be creative in how we adjust to those changes. As far as solutions to these challenges, there are things that can be done at the local level, but much more must be done at the State level. We need our elected state officials to work together and reimagine how we support and fund our public schools system. Our local school board can, and will, work to identify ways to deliver education more efficiently. We will work to manage costs. But, we need people in our State Assembly, Senate, and Governor’s office who really value public education and are willing to work together to figure out how to best fund it. Support for young families and declining enrollment are issues that are much larger than our school district. We, as a community, and a state, need to tackle these challenges.

What skills/experiences have prepared you for this role? My experience as a parent, a healthcare CEO, and a seasoned board member have helped prepare me for this role.

School districts across the state are facing budget challenges and declining enrollment, resulting in going to taxpayers for referendums. Why is this happening? What's your solution? Our country is seeing a shift in population. As people are choosing to have fewer children school enrollment is dropping. River Falls is actually seeing less of a decline than other communities, but it is happening. School budget challenges and the need for districts to go to referendum are the result of a lack of leadership by our representatives in the State Legislature. A little background - Public schools are funded through a combination of state and local revenue. State revenue comes from income and business taxes and fees. Local revenue comes from our real estate taxes. Over time, the state has been lowering the proportion of funding it provides to communities. Education consumes a large chunk of the state biennial budget. In 2002, 43% of the state budget went to education. In the last budget cycle, 36% of the state budget was for education. Why? Our legislature has systematically reduced funding for schools. In 1993 Wisconsin put a revenue cap on school districts, requiring them to limit any increase in revenue / spending to no more than the consumer price index (CPI). Prior to that, school districts decided what was needed to run the district well, and set their budgets accordingly. The revenue caps limiting the district increases to the CPI were tough, but livable. If a district wanted to spend more than the cap allowed, they had to go to the voters and get approval - a referendum. But, in 2009, the legislature decoupled the revenue limit from the CPI, saying they would decide how much more in revenue districts would get. That has resulted in chronic underfunding of schools and increased need for districts across the state to go to referendum to increase their revenue, just to keep up with increased cost of living. In River Falls, if the state legislature had left the revenue cap linked to the CPI, instead of decoupling it in 2009, we would be receiving an additional $3,000 per student from the state funds per year. We currently receive between $11,000 and $12,000 per student (one of the lowest funding rates in the state). The real kicker is, that when we increase operating revenue through referendum, 100% of that revenue comes from local real estate taxes, not state funding. The solution is to elect people to our state legislature and governor's office who actually support public education and are committed to working together to solve the school funding challenge and not make it worse.

What do you think a parent's role should be in their child's education and how should that be balanced with respecting teachers' expertise and training? Parents are a child's first and best teacher and should be actively involved in their education. Teachers and parents should work together, in a mutually respectful manner, to ensure the best educational experience for a child. In my experience, this is generally what happens.

Elected officials often face strong public opinions on social media and at meetings. How would you approach decisions when the community is divided on an issue? I assume that all members of our community want what is best for our children. If there are differing opinions on an issue, I seek to understand and appreciate the perspective of all parties and take those opinions and perspectives into consideration as a decision is made. We may not always agree, but we always need to show respect and care for all members of our community.

What makes your school district special? River Falls is a community that supports children. That support is visible across the district, whether it is volunteers reading to children, community members coaching athletes, or businesses sponsoring learning opportunities. Our school children feel the love of this community, and that is really special.

How can people contact you? People should feel free to call me at 715-821-8820.

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Stacy Johnson-Myers*

Residence: River Falls

Occupation/profession: Clergy

Prior elected offices: River Falls School Board

Do you have children who attend or have attended the school district? My three children attended River Falls schools from kindergarten through grade 12.

In what school district or community activities/organizations have you been involved? I am heavily involved in school district work and service work through my church.

Why are you running for school board? What are your priorities? I am running for reelection to continue serving the community I am delighted to call home. I am a fierce supporter of public education and am eager to use my background, experience, and leadership skills to contribute to excellence in education in River Falls. If I am reelected to the school board, I will use my next term to focus on: establishing a new district strategic plan to begin the fall of 2027; increasing academic achievement for all students; ensuring students feel connected to and supported within the school community; and attracting, supporting, and retaining the highest quality teachers and staff. I will also advocate for sustainable school funding practices and ensure the River Falls school board is an effective, collaborative governing body.

What are the three biggest challenges facing the school district? What solutions do you propose? Three significant challenges facing the School District of River Falls are: 1. Supporting student achievement. 2. Managing district finances given a flawed school funding formula. 3. Navigating the opportunities and challenges of Artificial Intelligence.

To support student achievement, I advocate for strong curricular resources, professional development for teachers and paraprofessionals, and a collaborative professional environment so educators are supported and able to work together to meet educational goals. Students also need to be supported socially and emotionally so they are ready to learn and make academic growth.

To manage district finances given a flawed funding formula, I support carefully aligning priorities and budget realities, reallocating and reducing expenditures as necessary, while advocating with state legislators for appropriate, sustainable funding for public education. I question public investment in private schools that siphon funds from public schools.

Navigating the opportunities and challenges of AI is a significant difficulty for the RFSD. We will need to acquire additional expertise regarding ways to use AI to enhance (and not detract from) learning and knowledge while continuing to prioritize teaching students to think comprehensively and critically. Educators will need to both require students to use AI in specific circumstances and also restrict AI in other settings. Most importantly, students will need to learn how and when to effectively and ethically use AI tools.

What skills/experiences have prepared you for this role? I bring the following qualifications, experience, and skills to the school board: 1. Concern for all students, teachers, and staff: I work, to the best of my ability, to support what is best for students while being committed to a supportive, family-friendly workplace for all employees. 2. Education: I hold a Ph.D. from the School of Education and Human Development at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. I am familiar with a range of educational issues. 3. Experience: It takes time and effort to become an effective board member. I have a wealth of past service to bring to continued service on the school board. 4. Leadership: I understand how to be a successful link between the school board and the district’s administration. I presently serve as the School Board president. 5. Community understanding: I have experience discerning community values relative to education. I have a history of interacting with the community and state legislators to seek the wellbeing of the district. 6. Common sense: I bring common sense and a commitment to transparency and integrity to school board service. 7. Hard work: I have a track record of devoting considerable time and effort to school board service.

School districts across the state are facing budget challenges and declining enrollment, resulting in going to taxpayers for referendums. Why is this happening? What's your solution? The major reason for declining school enrollment in River Falls is due to shifting demographics and to a lesser degree to an increase in homeschooling and online learning via districts beyond RFSD. While districts cannot control demographic trends, we can strive to ensure that education in the district is as strong as possible to attract families with children to the community.

The RFSD faces budget challenges due to a flawed school funding system at the state level that is not keeping up with inflation or the demands of 21st century education. Additionally, while overall enrollment is slightly down in River Falls, we have an increase in the number of special education students which causes strain on the general budget because the state’s special education funding reimbursement level does not cover expenses. A significant challenge for River Falls is that our per pupil funding level has historically been at or near the bottom in the state. In 2024, the RFSD community approved an operational referendum to bring per-pupil funding in line with the regional average. However, local referenda are not a sustainable answer to the systemic flaws in the state’s funding formula to support public schools. My solution includes: 1. Calling on the state legislature to significantly overhaul the public school funding formula. 2. Limiting the impact of public school funds that are diverted to private voucher schools. 3. Increasing the special education reimbursement rate. 4. Correlating school funding to inflation. 5. Addressing the extremely high cost of health insurance and health care costs. These solutions are beyond the power of local school boards. While those with the influence and power to address systemic issues do their work, the River Falls school board will need to conscientiously align expenditures to income, making budget cuts when necessary.

What do you think a parent's role should be in their child's education and how should that be balanced with respecting teachers' expertise and training? Parents and family members are children’s first and lasting teachers. Parents teach values, expose children to experiences, and support them with love and grace as they grow up and find their place in the world. Teachers have the background and expertise to systematically and strategically support students as they grow intellectually and acquire the skills for creative, critical thought. In the best cases, parents and teachers work together with mutual respect toward students’ best interests. Parents are responsible for monitoring, encouraging, and keeping students accountable to meet school expectations and requirements. Teachers are responsible for maintaining communication with parents throughout the learning process.

Elected officials often faces strong public opinions on social media and at meetings. How would you approach decisions when the community is divided on an issue? In the event a community is divided on an issue, I maintain my commitment to: carefully exploring issues in their complexity, listening to a variety of points of view, and considering administrative recommendations. When decision time arrives, my guiding principle is to align my decisions with what is best for students and can be accomplished within the constraints of the budget and in compliance with applicable laws and policies.

What makes your school district special? The RFSD’s culture and community support are exceptional. There is widespread agreement to put students first in decision-making and day-to-day practice. The RFSD exhibits authentic care and concern for members of the district—students and adults alike. The district enjoys an authentic culture of respectful collaboration among teachers and staff, between educators and administrators, and between the school board and administrative team. The district upholds transparency and constantly strives to be trustworthy. The school board sets an example of dignified, respectful, effective civil discourse that positively impacts the district.

How can people contact you? To contact me, please email me at stacy.johnsonmyers@rfsd.k12.wi.us or call me at 715-426-2075.