Press release

Sobol to run for Monona Grove School Board
Press Release December 11, 2007

Peter Sobol announces candidacy for the Monona Grove School Board.

“A few years ago Kristin and I brought our family to Monona from California, driven in part by a desire to find better school options for our children. Our research convinced us that this area has some of the best public schools in the country. The tangible community support and pride for the Monona Grove schools convinced us that this would be an excellent place to educate our children.”

Sobol will seek to maintain the range of programs and improve the quality of education that brought his family here, and believes it will continue to attract other young families. “I consider this successful school district as the most important asset of our communities, and a continued quality public education as key to its future.”

Sobol consistently supports the continued unity of the school district, “The partnership between Monona and Cottage Grove has been successful for more than 50 years, and we have every reason to believe that it will be successful for the next 50. On the other hand we see that school districts much smaller than ours have trouble offering the full range of program options that this community has deemed important.”

Sobol has also supported the construction of the new middle school approved by voters in last spring’s referendum as the best option. “I believe the new school is, in the long term, the best and most cost effective way to meet the district’s need for improved middle school facilities. I look forward to my children attending what will be a fine facility”

Sobol believes that the Monona Grove school district needs to find ways to meet the needs of every student, through expanded Gifted and Talented programs at the elementary level and AP programs in the high school. “Our teachers need to have the support and resources to service the unique talents of all students, and challenge and develop the abilities of even the brightest. I can see how the World Languages at the elementary level and International Baccalaureate programs that are being evaluated by the district may be important steps toward meeting these needs.”

Sobol also seeks to improve the communication between the school district and families by soliciting input from parents through systematic surveys and evaluations. “The families of our students are the school district’s “customers”, and their evaluation is a key measure of school performance. I have yet to meet a parent in the district who did not have unique and useful insights into the education of their child”.

As a homeowner in Monona in the MGSD, Sobol appreciates the need for careful fiscal management of the schools. “I came here from a hi-tech manufacturing company in a very competitive market. As a department director I was constantly working to find ways to achieve goals most efficiently and made choices that would be both less costly and most effective in the long run. Just as it is crucial that every decision that School Board makes be examined for long-term cost effectiveness. Our experience in California shows that the broad educational programs we value here (including music, arts and sports programs) can be lost without careful management of resources.”

Currently Sobol works with a partner developing scientific instrumentation under federal contract, and as a consultant in analytical chemistry. Previously Sobol was for several years a technical manager and department director for a Fortune 500 company in Silicon Valley. Born and educated in the Midwest with a Master’s degree in Physics, he has worked in Minnesota and California as an analytical chemist and in scientific instrument and software design. He has co-authored several scientific papers and one reference book on Photo-electron Spectroscopy. “I believe my background as a scientist and corporate management experience will bring useful skills and unique perspectives to the school board.”

Sobol and his wife, Kristin, an artist and free-lance illustrator, live in Monona with their two children Katherine and Will. Both children are students at Nichols Elementary.