My name is Trevor Sprague. I grew up in La Crosse and received a great education in our public schools that I want to make sure is available for my three children. Our oldest daughter is in kindergarten, and with two more coming behind her, I know we need long-term thinking to provide the best education possible for every student in our district.
I was not surprised by the results of the referendum, and my biggest takeaway is that the community is invested in maintaining the two high schools. We’ve heard about the costs of keeping both schools, and the results show that we’re more willing to pay those costs than to lose a high school. I do think there are good reasons for this.
The high schools anchor our communities in big ways. The cross-town rivalry, at its best, is healthy and gives us great sports and entertainment culture and opportunities for each student body. Finally, the burdens of travel and family logistics shouldn’t be minimized. I am a father of three young kids, and sometimes getting things moving on schedule is an excruciating game of minutes, especially for those who live in our further neighborhoods.
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I supported the referendum because I support giving all our students the best possible facilities, fully resourced, with excellent extra curriculars, arts, music — everything. Currently, we have not always had equal access to those resources. A brand new campus would have been exciting for students and would, over time, develop a unique community and culture with experiences and resources from across the city.
I am a Central alum and was active in band, drama and sports. I remember very well driving from the far South Side to Logan for 5 a.m. swim practices. For a long time, there was no consistent drama program at Central, and students from both schools still collaborate on the spring musicals. There won’t be one perfect answer for providing every activity or facility to students at each school, but we can and should look at ways of expanding those enriching opportunities at both.
Looking forward, I believe it’s critical for the district and the board to find creative solutions to our infrastructure and demographic challenges. Our first priority needs to be finding new ways of communicating with the community so that all the different parts of La Crosse feel their needs are being considered. The best ideas will come when we invite as many people to the table as possible to get a variety of perspectives. I don’t believe there’s a single one-size-fits all solution for us, and I’m ready to be an advocate for all our students in this challenging process.
