By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
Three school board seats are up for election. The incumbents are Stephanie Hicks, Lisa Huempfner, and Christy Linse. Christy Linse has filed a noncandidacy statement. Lisa Huempfner told this writer that she will be running again. The Gazette recently published that both she and Stephanie Hicks have filed for re-election.
The Whitewater Banner is unable to provide the names of any other candidates for the School Board. For a number of previous years both the district and city personnel immediately provided updates on filings whenever requested by The Banner during the filing period. Last year the district declined to provide this information until their press release after the filing deadline passed, even in spite of an open records request that was filed by us. This year the district stated in a December 3 press release that “Per WASB [Wisconsin Association of School Boards], the names of any person running for School Board will not be released to the public until January 7, 2026. The names should stay confidential until that point.” An attorney and a journalist, both of whom are knowledgeable professionals, have told The Banner that refusal to respond on a timely basis to the open records request was a violation of the state open records law.
Again this year City Clerk Heather Boehm routinely provided The Banner the names of the persons who had filed for Common Council. This article names the candidates as of January 2. It is our view that it is in the public interest to know the status of candidate filings, as this may be a factor as to whether an interested person wishes to consider candidacy. If there are insufficient candidates to fill the expiring seats, a write-in candidate could win a position with a minimal number of votes; otherwise, the governing body would be able to make an appointment.
Interested in Running for the WUSD School Board?
All School District candidates must complete and submit the required forms to the filing officer no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2026. Candidacy paperwork, Ballot Access Checklist & Campaign Finance Overview – Local Candidate Committees is available at the Central Office, 419 S. Elizabeth Street, Whitewater. The Whitewater Unified School District does not require nomination papers for School Board candidates.
*If you have questions or need assistance with candidacy paperwork, please contact Christine Dodge, School Board Secretary, at 262-472-8713 or cdodge@wwusd.org.
The district office will reopen from the holiday break on Monday, January 5. Regular hours at the district office are 7:30 am to 4:00 pm. The office will remain open on Tuesday, January 6 until 5:00 pm. The candidacy paperwork may be completed in a matter of minutes.
