Education
La Crosse School Board candidate Kevin Hundt on firing superintendent, supporting most vulnerable students, school meals
La Crosse School Board candidate Kevin Hundt in studio discussing his key campaign objectives, including a push to fire Superintendent Dr. Aaron Engel and his commitment to advocating for vulnerable student populations, including LGBTQ students, minorities, and immigrants.
La Crosse Talk airs weekdays at 6-8 a.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk wherever you get your podcasts.
Hundt also emphasized the need for the district to provide free school meals, arguing that state and federal funding is unreliable.
He highlighted a desire for greater collaboration between the district and the city and shared his opposition to the last two building referendums — the one high school plan and the current new elementary school plan.
We also discussed avenues to provide free school meals, as Hundt said the district can’t hope the Wisconsin state Legislature or the federal government will come through in that regard.
Hundt is one of seven candidates running for board. Read more about them here. The primary voting date ends Feb. 18, when the candidates will be cut down to six for three seats.
Mike Hochertz
February 11, 2025 at 4:20 pm
We already have programs such as WIC, the food banks, and other social programs to ensure children eat. Our education system should focus on teaching not being activis. Get back to focusing on excellence for our children. Being 40th in the world is disgusting.
walden
February 11, 2025 at 7:47 pm
I agree Mike. The District has a budget of $110 million per year. If it cannot reallocate $6,000 to cover school lunches, then they really don’t think it’s that important. With these government outfits it’s never really about the amount of money, it’s the bad choices they make in determining what to spend it on. Results are supposed to matter, no?
I agree with Hundt on his main plank of ridding of Engel. The District’s “funny numbers” and lack of transparency is just too much. Hundt would shake things up.
The effect of increasing school taxes will be more pressure to limit City and County spending. The District needs a “DOGE” type review of its spending. Can’t see anyone on the Board having the cajones to propose such. Last year’s “citizens” committee whose recommendation was discarded agreed not to discuss areas to reduce District costs; just a dog and pony show with willing participants they totally whiffed on an opportunity for reform.
Dylan
February 12, 2025 at 10:48 am
It’s hilarious that children’s meals are being attacked. Just looked what happened with the media attacking Tim Walz for this very thing.
It’s like the democrats trying to justify the border situation… How do you argue that the children shouldn’t deserve to eat… Take cuts from …anywhere else…
I grew up super poor and school lunches benefitting me personally big time.
Mike Hochertz
February 12, 2025 at 2:31 pm
Dylan….when I was 9 my father died and we used to be on what was called welfare. The government provided food stamps, government cheese, whole chicken in a can, and canned vegetables with white labels and just the name of what was inside. My mother had 5 children to raise. We never were hungry or went with our food. As I said there is WIC, SNAP, and other government programs to address food. Don’t conflate this with education. Eliminate the redundancy. $6,000 for LAX school, $6k for Onalaska, $6k for Holman, $6k for Arcadia, etc…pretty soon you have quite a bit of funds year over year
Dylan
February 12, 2025 at 3:28 pm
Mike, when I was 10 my father also died. My mom worked full time and didn’t really cook for us at all… At best we were getting frozen food or snacks…
I understand where you are coming from with your points… Our children are our future, this truly helped me when I was a child… Now I pay enough in federal and state income tax to feed the entire school… I doubt I would have done as well in school as I did eating solely my mother’s cooking and the other junk food we had a home. Good discussion
Mike Hochertz
February 12, 2025 at 4:57 pm
Dylan…. don’t forget about the tax credits that parents get for children, $20,000 for two or more children. Additionally households with children get energy credits, children first program, etc. It is time to hold our education department to be fiscally accountable. As Milton Freeman so eloquently stated, people spending other people’s money on other people provides the least value.
Stacey
February 12, 2025 at 5:39 pm
That entiree family.ily is a plight in our local government system. Just an opinion though. They are corrupt and cruel. Catholic church from Italy gives them specials though. Who would let them near children…
Kevin
February 14, 2025 at 7:42 am
I for one would like to measure the waste coming out of the school lunch program. We are three exchange students past our own child now. Our child took her own lunch to school, she did not like the lunch that was served, spoke of the required ‘takes’ and then the throw away of those same ‘required’ takes. She quickly came to the conclusion that the value wasn’t worth the cost, to her.
Our three exchange students also all spoke of the incredible waste associated to the school lunch programs. First that there were ‘required’ takes and then those same ‘required’ takes were thrown away, typically fruit, milk etc….
Two of the three exchange students said the lunches were dismal and that the ingredients were subpar. The third exchange student of the group ate the lunches and said they were ‘okay’. I believe that student came from a bit more challenging environment and so understood the ‘value’ of the food. It did hurt, the student’s words, to see so much ‘fruit’ & other offerings being wasted and thrown out.
I personally, based on these experiences, do not want to subsidize school lunches for ‘everyone’. If there are students that come from an economically challenged home and need help to purchase their lunches, so be it. That is clearly not ‘everyone’ in the community, we don’t need to give ‘everyone’ a free lunch that a) they don’t need, b) they don’t appreciate c) they won’t eat and d) they don’t like. If there are students that do ‘value’ help with purchasing lunch, AND NEED help purchasing lunch by all means, let’s help. But let us quit with the oh, my family makes well over six figures, and we need help with everything from free childcare to free lunch.
I vote no on ‘free’ lunches for all…. show some need, show some gratitude, and show some respect for the resources.