APPLETON SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE
David Moscinski
Personal Statement
My name is Dave Moscinski. I am seventy-three years old, but younger than 20% of the US Senate. I have an Education Specialist Degree in School Administration from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and am a candidate for the Appleton Board of Education.
My career has been in public education as a school psychologist, director of special education and pupil services and sixteen years as a superintendent. I have enjoyed a rewarding career working for school boards, now I would like to give the other side of the fence a try.
I am married to a retired teacher and we have three sons all of whom are products of the Appleton District, two of whom are educators, plus their amazing spouses and several grandchildren.
Among my goals are to make each student count. We need to encourage sense of “industriousness” in every student so that each will realize their efforts make a difference in the world in which they will live.
Another goal is to deal with teacher retention. We need to ask teachers what they like about teaching and encourage others to join the profession.
Do you support using COVID precautions such as wearing masks in school and requiring vaccinations of eligible students and staff? Explain
I support measures that will keep students safe. As for myself, I wear a mask to keep my neighbors safe and I would appreciate the same from my neighbors and their children. As for requiring vaccinations, I support current Wisconsin law which “requires each student to present evidence of completed basic and recall (booster) series immunizations unless the student, if an adult, or the parent, guardian or legal custodian of a minor student submits a written waiver to the school board under s. 252.04 (3)”
Do you support teaching fact-based and accurate history of events that have and continue to shape our nation? Explain
Mark Twain once wrote, “The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why?” Education helps a student to discover the “why” of life. Discovering the “why” means looking at a multitude of reasons as to why you are here in the first place.
It is important to discover the “why” as quickly as possible because of what I term the “Senior Gap” in Wisconsin. Based on data from the Wisconsin Blue Book in 1955 there were over 92,000 children born in the state with a birth rate of 25.0. In 2022 they will ready to retire.
In 2022 there will be a little over 70,000 high school seniors ready to replace them based on their birth year of 2004 with a birth rate of 12,7. This is a “Senior Gap” of over 22,000. It has been this way in Wisconsin since 2012 and will continue into the foreseeable future. It is important for every student to count.
What are your thoughts about the AASD referendum that is proposed for November 2022?
Class size reduction and an increase in expenditures for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics are of the utmost importance. There is a significant demand for the skills developed in this area and Appleton needs to devote much more attention to it. In the 2019-20 Appleton School Report Card, 963 students took an Advanced Placement Course, 1,543 completed a Dual Enrollment Program, and yet only 37 were enrolled in an Industry Related Program and 30 were in a Work Related program.
The data on which the referendum is based however, is from five years ago. At that time Appleton’s enrollment stood at 16,501 and its membership was 15,001 based on the district’s annual budget. For 2021 enrollment had decreased by 8% to 15,186 and membership dropped 5% to 14,292.
As for future growth, based on numbers from the Wisconsin Department of Health, there were 60,491 children born in 2020 with a birth rate of 10.4, or the lowest ever recoded in the state. This compare to 67,004 born in 2015 with a birth rate of 11.6. This means that state-wide the four year old class of 2024 will be 5% less than year’s four year old class.