Candidate Profile: Patrick McCaffery For Waukesha School Board

WAUKESHA, WI—The 2021 election is heating up in Wisconsin and there are plenty of races with candidates eager to serve in elected office. Voters will also decide the outcome of state representative, senate seats and local government and school boards.

Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.
Three people will be elected to the Waukesha School Board in April.

Patrick McCaffery hopes to be retain his seat on the Waukesha School Board.

Age (as of Election Day)

50

Position Sought

School District Of Waukesha School Board Member

Party Affiliation

None

Family

Shannon (Wife), Hannah (daughter), Alice (daughter), Jack (son), Mary (daughter).

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

I work for the Oconomowoc School District.

Education

Bachelors of Arts Carroll College

Occupation

Educator

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Board Member Waukesha School District

Campaign website

None

Why are you seeking elective office?

I feel that there is no higher calling than serving your community and with my experience both on the Board and in the classroom I am uniquely qualified to serve in this capacity.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The most pressing issue that the school district is currently facing is the achievement gap. In Waukesha we have always dealt with an achievement gap but the shut down of the schools at the end of the 2019-2020 school year and the decision to use a hybrid model for the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year has made the situation even more dire. We need to make sure that appropriate resources are focused on the appropriate programs to address the achievement gap in a meaningful way.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am the only candidate that has from day one, consistently voted to return our children to five day a week in person learning and to keep them there. I have the experience and the commonsense to make decisions that work for our children and keep the District moving forward.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I think that the decision to close the schools in the fourth quarter of the 2019-2020 school year was ill advised. One-size-fits-all decisions rarely accomplish their goals and are often knee jerk reactions.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

A couple things that I concentrate on within my role as a member of the Board would be debt management, hiring and retention of qualified employees, broad based initiatives to promote equality across the district, and providing a safe and secure environment for our students and staff.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Over the course of my tenure on the Waukesha School Board I worked hard on the Technology Committee to make the Waukesha One project a reality. I have been part of two successful superintendent searches. My work on the Safety and Security Committee has made all of our schools safer and more secure. Being the chair of the Finance & Facilities Committee I fight for fiscal responsibility. As a member of the Human Resources Committee I work to hire and retain qualified employees.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

If you fight for what is right you can never lose.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I have the best interest of the community as a whole in mind when I make decisions at the board level because in the end if the schools fail everyone fails, the schools and the community are inseparable.