Vote Dan Stemper for Wauwatosa School Board

ABOUT

Dan Stemper and his wife of more than 42 years, Kathleen, have called Wauwatosa home for the past 17 years. Dan recently retired after a successful 35+ year career at the 114-year-old family business, The T.H. Stemper Company in Bay View, where he served as President.

Dan earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration with a minor in accounting from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. His professional background instilled in him a deep respect for honesty, fiscal accuracy and detailed accountability— values he believes are essential to strong institutions.

Dan and Kathleen raised four children, all of whom now live across the United States. Kathleen spent her career as a longtime school psychologist in the Wauwatosa School District, giving their family a firsthand understanding of the day-to-day realities facing students, educators and support staff.

Dan has a long history of stewardship that extends far beyond his fiscal leadership at T.H. Stemper Co. He is deeply committed to giving back — especially to those less fortunate and to the community he calls home. Through his work with the St. Vincent de Paul Society in the city, Dan has demonstrated a steadfast belief in helping others achieve the best possible outcomes. He brings that same conviction, integrity, and follow-through to everything he does.

Now, he is ready to continue that tradition of stewardship in service to the Wauwatosa School District. Whatever the need, Dan will work diligently and thoughtfully to fulfill the role and serve our community well.

Dan believes that Wauwatosa’s dedicated teachers, administrators and staff deserve the resources they need, along with transparent leadership, open communication and meaningful collaboration. He looks forward to the opportunity to serve on the Wauwatosa School Board and to help ensure thoughtful stewardship of the district in service of students, families and the community.

Summarize your experience, qualifications, and community involvement that you believe will help you to be a successful board member. 

My wife Kathleen and I have called Wauwatosa home for the past 17 years. I recently retired after a successful 35+ year career at our 4th generation family business, the T. H. Stemper in Bay View, where I served as President. I earned my bachelor’s degree in business and a minor in accounting from UW-Eau Claire. My professional background instilled in me a deep respect for honesty, fiscal accuracy and detailed accountability. Kathleen spent her career as a school psychologist. The majority of those 40 years were in Tosa, giving me and our family a firsthand understanding of the realities facing students, educators and support staff.

Describe your priorities for the Wauwatosa School District over the next three years. How would you advance these as a school board member? 

My priorities: Improve Student Performance, Stabilize Leadership, Restore a Culture of Trust, Require Accountability, Better Detailed Financial Reporting and Responsible Fiscal Stewardship.

As a board member, I would encourage a new mindset. We all need to focus on our STUDENTS and the FACULTY who together are the ones that will deliver educational excellence. We will provide the proper solutions as long as we keep STUDENTS and FACULTY in the front of our minds.

What do you see as our district’s greatest strengths that need to be maintained or built upon? What about our biggest areas for improvement? 

I think teachers and staff are our district’s greatest strength. Many live here and raise their family here. They are invested in providing our students with an excellent education. Unfortunately, our retention rate has deteriorated and the turnover rate is unacceptable. Their voices have been stifled, their contracts have been ignored and their compensation has not been updated in a timely manner. No wonder morale is so low. We need to shift our attention away from the buildings and concentrate on these extremely valuable assets. 

Using the governance tools available to you as a school board member, how would you work to support and improve academic excellence? What specific policies would you recommend / support to improve academic achievement?

As newly elected board members, we need to systematically identify the problems, listen to our community, listen to our teachers and staff, access the professionals necessary to design, document and communicate our solutions. One by one we will vote, pass, and implement change.