My Vision for our County
Why I ran for the board
I'm a teacher and local trustee who ran for my home county’s school board in the city that I was born, raised and educated — because our teachers need support, our parents demand innovation, EVERY kid deserves success and it's time our county office of education delivers.
Read below about how I plan to achieve that for our 260,000+ students.
Student and staff safety
I would advocate to increase safety for both students and staff. This can be done by strengthening our alternative education programs with additional investment. I would do this by creating a task force composed of all stakeholder groups that would assess the state of our alternative education programs, including safety of both students and staff. To increase investment, I would utilize my fiduciary duties during the budget process to prioritize additional spending that would improve safety outcomes of our alternative education programs. As a trustee, I would also use my seat to advocate with our staff members for working conditions improvements so that safety issues such as injuries decrease.
special education
As a special education student, general education teacher who teaches special education students, and trustee who has fought for special education investment, I know firsthand the importance of effective oversight in terms of services rendered, intake from our 31 local school districts, and budgeting. Connected to safety, I would advocate for safer working conditions that prioritize additional staffing, increase in de-escalation training, and increase in communication about our special education programs from county office of education leadership so that both the board and the public are always informed.
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
With expenses growing faster than revenues for many of our local school districts, we need to get creative with how we will actively seek new revenue streams and eliminate unnecessary spending so that our tax dollars are spent responsibly. As your trustee, I would do everything I can to focus our tax dollars on increasing student achievement with math and reading, work with local school districts to stay fiscally solvent and seek additional revenue sources, and promote higher standards for public participation with the budgetary process and bond oversight. I would also use my platform to advocate for higher investments in public education with state and federal goverment.