Members of the Board of Education
Shelley D. Burns, President

Elected to the Board in 2018, Shelley and her husband Doug are longtime Mequon residents and their two grown daughters are graduates of the Mequon-Thiensville School District.
Shelley has a long history of involvement in the district through volunteering in classrooms, field trips, athletics, and special activities. Shelley served as Treasurer of Safe Play 4 All, raising $60,000 to replace playground equipment at the elementary schools. Notably, Shelley found her niche in PTO newsletters, migrating the Wilson and Steffen newsletters from print to online and developing the Short Kilts, the weekly, online, high school newsletter.
Shelley has earned BS degrees in Biology and Chemistry from Heidelberg College; an MS in Clinical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University; and an MBA in Operations from the University of New Hampshire.
Currently, Shelley works for iVantage Health Analytics, helping hospitals and health systems improve performance with a combination of consulting, software products and data analytics. Her job didn’t exist when she graduated from college: similarly, one of the challenges Shelley is most excited to address as board member is preparing children for futures we can barely imagine.
Jason P. Levash, Vice President
Elected to the Board in 2022.
Paul H. Buzzell, Treasurer
Elected to the Board in 2022.
Andrew Hopkins, Clerk
Elected to the Board in 2021.
Kate Barikmo
Elected to the Board in 2023.
Wendy L. Francour

Elected to the Board in 2014, Wendy has over 35 years of experience in sales, marketing and fund development. She presently represents Kellogg’s in a sales capacity.
Wendy has served the school district for more than 20 years in volunteer roles ranging from high stakes committees, advisory boards, task forces, PTO leadership and fundraising.
Wendy received a bachelor of arts in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She and her family have lived in Mequon since 1989. Her daughter attended the district from kindergarten through 12th grade, graduating in 2007.
Paula G. Taebel

Elected to the board in June 2017, Paula is serving her second term. She brings in-depth knowledge and extensive involvement in the district, having served for the past 12+ years in a variety of leadership positions, including co-vice president and co-president positions on the Lake Shore PTO and Homestead PTSO, several district level committees, the Mequon-Thiensville Education Foundation (MTEF), and the community at large.
Paula has a spirit of helping others. In addition to her extensive volunteerism for the school district, she has been actively involved in her church, Junior Woman’s Club of M-T, the Red Cross, the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, Stars and Stripes Honor Flight of Southeastern Wisconsin, and she currently volunteers as a preschool teacher, helping to instill a passion for learning to the next generation.
Paula completed her education at the University of Cincinnati, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor of science in health care administration and planning, and completing graduate studies at the School of Business Administration. She then built her career working in strategic planning, marketing and regulatory compliance for large health-care organizations, with her final position being that of Director of Strategic Planning at the Mount Carmel Health System in Columbus, OH.
Paula and her husband Scott moved to Mequon in 2001, and share a love of their community with their two boys who are both Homestead High School graduates.