The MVLA Board of Trustees is made of five members who make decisions for the district. In the November 4 elections, board elections were contested for the 1st time in 10 years. Both incumbents were re-elected. The board as a whole now looks to work around impending school budget cuts.

Joe Mitchner
Joe Mitcher finds his position to be “extremely satisfying” because he can “help see that all students in the MVLA District receive a quality education.”
Ultimately, when it comes to making tough decisions, Mitchner believes it is best “to step back and ask which alternative is the best for the students … Student achievement must be at the forefront of all decisions.”

Doctor Phil Faillace
Doctor Phil Faillace views his board membership as an “opportunity to … promote the highest academic achievement.”
Faillace believes the board functions because of community support, noting property taxes that local homeowners pay as “evidence that people value what [the board] is doing.”

Judy Hannemann
Judy Hanneman feels it is the Board’s responsibility to “get the very best teachers and the best staff people.”
Hanneman believes the board is “prepared” for budget cuts and hopes the effects will be minimal.

Julia Rosenberg
Julia Rosenberg has served on the board for the past six years.
According to Rosenberg, the district has “limited information at this time about the magnitude of the cuts.” However, she says the board “will make every effort to minimize the [cuts’] impact on our students.”

Susan Sweeley
Susan Sweeley believes “success is different for every student” and wants “each student to achieve at their highest potential.”
She says the budget cuts are “not a big shock,” and the board has a “reserve fund just for this.” However, she is slightly uneasy as the district does “not yet know how severe the budget cuts … will be.”