VOTE411 Voter Guide

I am running for the school board because I have a passion for education. Without a solid education system, our society suffers tremendously. We need a school board that focuses on our students, is teacher centered, and data driven. As a professional and community leader, community representatives must play a crucial role in shaping education policy and decision-making. In our school district, we have many students that are marginalized or underserved that are being left behind and we must work to bring equity to all our students so they are prepared for Post-Secondary success. If elected, my priorities is to address the teacher shortage, address Post-Secondary Prepardness, and Community Involvement in the School Board governance.

A School Board Member's role is Policy Making, Fiscal Oversight Hiring and Evaluation, Community Representation, and Accountability. While school board members set policy and provide oversight, the superintendent and administration are responsible for executing those policies and managing the day-to-day operations of the school district. Together, they collaborate to ensure the effective governance, leadership, and management of the district, ultimately working towards the common goal of providing high-quality education and support for all students.

Open communication is fundamental to the parent-school partnership. Schools should establish regular channels of communication to keep parents informed about their child's academic progress, school events, and opportunities for involvement. Parent involvement is another critical component of the partnership between parents and schools. When parents actively participate in their child's education by volunteering in the classroom, attending school events, and joining parent-teacher organizations, they create a strong sense of community within the school. Supporting learning at home is another area where parents and schools can collaborate for the benefit of all students.

I am running for re-election to the board because I am passionate and personally invested in our community and our schools. As a father to two young children, I understand the importance of a high-quality education. As a board member I have worked hard to improve curriculum across the district at all levels, including what will be seven full scale curriculum adoptions this year alone. I have worked to completely reform the way OPS addresses turnaround schools by rebuilding the way we evaluate low performing schools and assign resources, I have been a staunch advocate of increasing standards and pushing the district to new heights, and supported our amazing teachers. I will continue to make these issues my priorities moving forward.

The role of a school board member takes many forms. In law, the role is simple, a board member hires a superintendent, passes a budget, and approves curriculum. It reality, the role is much more complex. A good board member knows when they need to step in and but also when to step back and trust that the superintendent and experts we have hired are doing their jobs. A good board member can’t be afraid to say no or push the district to make changes where necessary. They listen more than they talk, visiting our schools, talking with teachers, principals, and families about their experiences in order to better formulate opinions and policies.

Families and schools must work together for our children to receive the education they truly deserve. To succeed, the district must have the trust of families. We can’t do that without listening. We need to be actively pushing information out to families, but also actively listening to any ideas, concerns, or feedback. We just finished a superintendent search, and the board did it really well and we did it right. We solicited and acted up family feedback. We engaged with more families than the last two searches combined, we held townhalls and meetings across the district, and we listened. As the Board President, OPS isn’t my district alone, this is our district as a community. We need to have a district we can support and be proud of.

I’m a successful product of public schools and the parent of three happy kids actively enrolled in OPS. Before the United States even had a Constitution our founding fathers were advocating for the creation of public education systems. I am running for the OPS Board to improve and protect this system on which so many of us rely. In office, I will prioritize addressing the underlying causes to our critical staffing shortage, including finding ways to attract and retain quality educators and staff; ensuring educational material is updated, robust, and meaningful; and maintaining our fiscal soundness responsibly while also investing in ways to increase our value to the public, such as bolstering our special education programs.

The role of a board member is to represent our community in establishing vision and goals for their school district. Some of the attendant responsibilities would be determining appropriate policies; managing the district's budget and expenditures; engaging in good-faith collective bargaining; and remaining accessible and accountable to their electing public. This is different from the role of superintendent, who establishes a leadership structure and manages the school district, but is still held accountable to and evaluated by the Board. This is also different from the role of administration, which holds a closer relationship to schools by virtue of their direct supervision of staff and keeping the schools functional.

Mutual respect and collaboration is essential. The number one factor for student success is parental involvement. Finding ways to involve parents and families effectively has always been challenging, but as a parent in regular receipt of communication from our district, I believe OPS has made great strides with the many different modes of contact used for family outreach, not to mention family-friendly events that enable students to show off their schools, classrooms, and teachers. The district should continue and enhance these efforts. Effective progress in moving the needle on student achievement also relies partially on remembering that we are all in the room as a team, for the shared goal of supporting our students' learning and growth.