Academics:  There have been many recent polls asking parents what is most important to them, academic excellence was the number one answer.  I believe our students can achieve higher academics by giving teachers more of what they need to thrive in their classrooms.  One way we can do this is adjusting the budget for more paraprofessionals and other staff to help in the classroom.  With the hiring of more staff, the teachers will have more time to come up with lesson plans without students present.  

Accountability:   Accountability is not just about students and teachers being held accountable for their actions but for the superintendent and school board to be held accountable as well.  I believe that we not only need more discussion in public meetings but I also believe that school wide curriculum (with required student reading) be placed online; transparency will help accountability.  I also believe that a parent’s bill of rights would help hold parents, the superintendent, and school board be accountable for their actions. 

Budget:  Budgeting is not fun.  It is full of sacrifices from many of those who need money.  The school district has to pay its bills but the board has the power to decide what projects/ funds require the most attention from the budget.      

Teachers, paraprofessionals, and staff should be a high priority on the budget.  We NEED these people to effectively teach our students.  These educators will help us achieve academic excellence by reducing the teacher student ratio, which is higher than the state average.

Board Governance:  Board Governance involves setting policies for the district that align with the mission statement of the district.  The policies set forth by the board are enforced by the superintendent and their staff. 

The board has many committees that help gather and relay information to the board.  The committees are a very integral part of the ‘district machine’.  These committees should have more diverse involvement from the community.  There are many committees that the same people sit on.  In order to have proper board governance we should diversify these spots to more members in the community. 

Part of board governance that is most important to me is addressing the concerns of the teachers.  There have been multiple complaints of student violence and inappropriate behavior this last year.  From attending school board meetings, I learned that teachers feel they are not being heard and action is not being taken.  We need to have better policies set in place that are strictly enforced to deter the behavior and violence.  The school board is the body that would change and hold the superintendent accountable for enforcing these policies. 

Curriculum:  Academic excellence is part of the Curriculum and takes the district as a whole to achieve.  A new set of eyes on our current curriculum and teacher input may help achieve higher academic excellence.  We have amazing teachers that are willing to go the extra mile to teach the current curriculum but they do need more resources of educators to help and time to prepare.