Seeking the votes of River Falls School District residents this Tuesday April 6 are six candidates for three seats. First, the challengers.

A practicing River Falls chiropractor, Dr. Joshua R. Cleveland was born in Wilminton, Delaware and grew up on Long Island, New York until the age of 15, at which time the family moved to South Florida. Attending Coral Springs High School before doing undergraduate college work in Biology at the University of Florida followed with graduate studies in the Chiropractic Sciences at Life University, Dr. Cleveland moved to River Falls after meeting wife Gina in graduate school and getting engaged, coming to Wisconsin to start a family.

An adjunct instructor at CVTC in the Criminal Justice Program, Dr. Cleveland has trained and coached Martial Arts since 1997. In addition, Dr. Cleveland has served locally with the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program, along with being a board member on the Chamber of Commerce and being involved in youth sports as a coach.

Sharing that he had decided to run for school board after being asked to take part in local government many times, Dr. Cleveland is getting off the sidelines to throw his hat in the ring.

Admitting wrong in a past assertion that teachers were fairly compensated, Cleveland says that teacher’s responsibilities are greater than he ever fathomed and of his prior assertion that it simply wasn’t true. “I stand corrected,” he says of his past understanding of teachers in the district.

At the same time, and if elected, Dr. Cleveland would use his experience in developing and running small businesses to reclaim money from “community contracts” he said were not in the district’s best interest and redirect those funds to better serve the district. After Dr. Cleveland is board hopeful Jeff Johnson.

Growing up in New Berlin, Wisconsin and attended New Berlin Eisenhower High School, River Falls School board candidate Jeff Johnson graduated in 1987 from the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater with a degree in Business Administration (Finance). He then went on to graduate in 1998 from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Working in banking and industry for the past 34 years, Mr. Johnson has served locally as President and CEO of First National Bank of River Falls since July of 2009. A father of five children with wife Lori (including five currently in the local school system), Mr. Johnson says that he and his wife “are both heavily involved in our local community.” Lori is a self-employed photographer, while Mr. Johnson’s involvement in the community includes serving as Treasurer and Board member for the River Falls High School Athletic Booster Club, a Board member and coach for River Falls Youth Boys Basketball; a member of the River Falls Chamber of Commerce, and a past member of the River Falls Character Education Committee.

With children in elementary, middle, and high school locally, Johnson said that his viewing of meetings since the pandemic has lacked broad-based parent representation.

“I have taken a keen interest in watching the meetings online since the beginning of the pandemic,” he says. “While the existing board members have all been passionate toward their roles and their viewpoints, I think it is crucial that parents have a voice on this allimportant group,” he says. With the pandemic having “a significant negative impact on families and children throughout River Falls,” Johnson is running for office in part that he might lead by example. “After all, he says, “what could be possibly more important in life than to help children become successful adults?” What indeed. Next and last for the list of candidate challengers is Josh Kluge.

A married resident of Troy with three school-aged children, Mr. Kluge is a Global Sales Director for Thomson Reuters and oversees an organization that sells software “to the world’s largest law firms.” With more than twenty years of corporate experience and winning numerous awards, the pandemic forced Kluge to stop traveling for work “for the first time in ten years” and reassess just where he was dedicating his time. Although he was already involved with endeavors like coaching t-ball, those commitments have snowballed over the years and “I realized I have been blessed with a wide variety of leadership experience in both my professional and personal life,” Kluge said. As such, he is running in part because “I felt a draw to give back to our broader community and support the next generation of kids,” he said. “As our community grows, it is important that we remain loyal to traditional core values, but progressive in how education is delivered. If elected, I will work diligently to advocate for kids, so they are prepared for life after graduation.”

Asked next to identify current district strengths and challenges, Kluge said in part that, “we live in a booming area of the state, so my primary concern is keeping an eye on the future. As the population and student demands change, we need to strategically plan what our district will need to look like 5 and 10 years from now. It is important we stick to the basics of literacy, mathematics, and science, but still be progressive in how that education is delivered,” he said. Adding that his faith was important to him, Kluge said of the community that, “we must drive progress and not rest on our past success.” Shifting from challengers to incumbents, first up is Alan Tuchtenhagen.

A 35-year resident of River Falls with three sons as alumni of River Falls High, Tuchtenhagen spent 25 years at UW-River Falls before taking a new position at Augsburg University in Minneapolis upon retirement. Listed at the Augsburg University website as a member of the River Falls School Board, Tuchtenhagen is also “a frequent presenter at regional and national forums related to education policy, workforce development, and leadership,” the university website says. With an educational background listed including a Bachelor’s of Science from Westmar College in History, Tuchtenhagen also holds an Master of Arts in American History from the University of Nebraska and a Doctorate in Public Administration from Hamline University more locally. An Associate Vice Chancellor Emeritus and former Admissions Director at the University of Wisconsin at River Falls and experience as an aid to U.S. Senator John C. Culver, Tuchtenhagen says he is “a lifelong student myself” as well as an active member of First Congregational UCC in River Falls, where he is an Adult Sunday School teacher. A former Boy Scout Leader of Troop 54 and troop committee chair, Mr. Tuchtenhagen represents the River Falls School Board on the local Chamber of Commerce and believes in educational advocacy.

“I regularly engage legislators regarding issues facing education and the needs of my rural community,” he says, with election to different offices and leadership roles over the years.

Calling his school board service “rewarding” and asked to identify different strengths of and challenges facing the board, Tuchtenhagen says that the board has community support and “is very functional,” with an exceptional district staff and common sense budgeting that creates “stability for the district,” alongside building community trust.

As to district challenges, Tuchtenhagen says, “the pandemic is real,” and that the safety of students and teachers along with the community is important. Another challenge he said, relates to the need for ongoing support from the state for public education, closing out by saying that “we will be successful as a district only if we can hire and keep good teachers and staff.” After Tuchtenhagen comes Cindy Holbrook, also an incumbent school board member.

Living in River Falls for ten years with three children who attend River Falls Public Montessori Elementary School, Holbrook describes herself as “a mom with children currently in the school district,” which keeps her connected on a daily basis with district goings- on. Alongside being a mother, Holbrook holds a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Minnesota, specifying that this is in “Sports Psychology.”

Now the Assistant Director of Admissions at the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, Holbrook has been the Head Basketball Coach and taught in the Health and Human Performance Department. As to family outside children, Holbrook says that, “my partner is a teacher of preschoolers (4K) and college students at UW-River Falls. Saying that there’s a difference between business and public education with strong representation by the former on the school board, Holbrook says that “my background in education has been extremely beneficial in balancing the focus in Board conversations.”

Now seeking another term, Holbrook lists the following accomplishments from her first term for voters to consider:

• Two counselors, two school psychologists, and a social worker added to district staff for student support.

• A half-time Gifted & Talented coordinator • Special Education support for River Falls PME

• Change from 30 to 28 credits to graduation creating a more personalized and less stressful education

• Her initiation of a compensation study “to identify salary and benefit disparities

• Her promotion of a grant opportunity to support district staff continuing their education.

With strengths and challenges listed at the River Falls School District page on the 2021 Spring Election School Board Candidate Questionnaire, Holbrook seeks your vote this April 6. Last but not least for school board candidates is incumbent Bob Casey.

Beginning his pitch by saying that he has lived in River Falls for 27 years with a wife and daughter as proud graduates of the local school system, Casey said that this education has provided a strong foundation for them “to go and do great things.

“I am so proud of them,” he says. Going on to say that he has over 30 years of experience in financial and human resources management, Casey said that he is running for reelection in part because “I believe that high-quality public education adds social and financial value to the community.” As an example, Casey says that his firm frequently hires former students from the district. “I love the River Falls community,” he says, saying that it is where he and his wife “have chosen to raise our family, worship, and volunteer.”

Going on to list district strengths and weaknesses, Casey had the following to say, beginning with strengths.

First, the district has teachers and staff “who are committed to educating the whole student” and who “go the extra mile to do so.” Additional strengths include the fact that River Falls “places a high value on education,” and also that the school district “has a strong relationship with the community.” A final strength listed by Casey is that the district “has adequate financial reserves that reduce the cost of operations,” though without naming a figure.

As to district concerns, Casey cites “Student and Staff safety,” along with a need to make better progress with social and emotional learning.” In addition, Casey says the River Falls School District needs to close the achievement gap left from the pandemic,” with a commitment to “Equity, Inclusivity, and Diversity” as well as attracting, retaining and compensating teaching staff.”

Now awaiting the results of the April 6 election, candidates for the River Falls School Board ask for your consideration and vote.

Joshua Cleveland

Cindy Holbrook

Jeff Johnson

Josh Kluge

Alan Tuchtenhagen