Activist Toolkit

1. What motivates you to seek this office? What skills, experiences, and perspectives would you bring, and why would those contributions be valuable in the office you are seeking?

I have served on the school board since 2016 and have learned a lot during my time. What motivated me then is the same now, and that is to ensure that we provide the absolute best pre-school and elementary educational experience for all the students and families in our community. Every decision I have made since I was initially appointed to the board in 2016 has been with that in mind. 

2. When in the past have you had to balance competing interests? What process did you use? What did you learn?

I can’t identify a particular instance because this happens quite frequently. It could be a program that would be helpful to our students but we need to weigh the cost, or a change to a schedule that everyone is on board with but doesn’t align with the teachers’ contract, etc. My process is to listen as much as possible to a few different perspectives, do my own research, connect with my peers on the board and perhaps district staff, think about the impact to the students and community, then figure out the best way forward with the least amount of disruption to our community. 

3. What does transparency in government mean to you? How would you put it into practice?

Being transparent in government is the cornerstone of how any high-functioning school district and board should operate, period. Certainly there are some topics that aren’t available for public consumption like student details, employment concerns, litigation and a few others. But, I absolutely want and need the community to ask questions of the district and board. That is the only way to shine sunlight on the happenings within the district, good and bad, and as long as the board can answer questions and be transparent within the law, we will. 

4. As more of our local discourse happens in social media, what is your view on how local elected officials should communicate with and respond to constituents? How will you engage with the breadth of the community, and not only those on social media?

I believe that local elected officials should engage in social media in the way that they and the school board, as a whole, are most comfortable. There are many positives and also challenges to social media, so in my opinion, as long as the elected officials are available via their official channels (email, meetings, meet & greets, community events) those should suffice for people who prefer to engage minimally in social media. Currently, the school board, like many, doesn’t have a policy mandating engagement on social media for its members. With that in mind, I like to leave this decision to the discretion of each member. My engagement on social media is very minimal. For my own mental health and other life commitments, I don’t see this changing, though I remain very accessible via email, phone, Zoom meetings, in-person meetings (where appropriate), and other ways.

5. What barriers do you see for community members who wish to engage with District 91? How would you work to reduce or eliminate those barriers?

I recognize that formal board meetings can be intimidating and I know that some see them as a barrier to engagement. When they were only in-person, it could also be challenging for families who need childcare. The board re-established a “Community Engagement” committee to plan ways for the board to be in touch with the community informally and not in a board setting. We look forward to continuing these and brainstorming other ways, beyond meetings, email and public comment, now and post-pandemic. 

6. What do you feel are the three biggest issues facing District 91, and how do you intend to address them?

• Providing an equitable education for all in our district by holding the district accountable to the work done in partnership with the National Equity Project 

• Attracting more families to enroll in our schools by post-pandemic. One approach is to invite not just families but community members into our buildings to see our teachers in action. Also, continue to nurture relationships with realtors who will positively engage with new families in our community around our schools. 

• Helping our students and families re-integrate into our schools post-pandemic. Our district is perfectly sized to safely educate students in-person, while keeping appropriate precautions in practice to keep everyone safe. I’m hoping for innovation and creativity post-pandemic to see what lessons have been learned that can make going back to school even better for our kids. 

7. How do you define equity? Have recent events and discussions in the larger community informed or changed your thinking?

I define equity as providing an educational experience where everyone has the tools they need to succeed. This means that everyone is not given “equal” tools. Rather, it means that needs are assessed on an individual basis for a solution where success is in reach for all. It also means that everyone in the district believes and works toward fostering success for all students, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, religion, ability, and identity, among others. 

8. How do you plan to solicit feedback from people who may be experiencing this community in a different way than you? What barriers do you believe may exist in this process?

I find that people will always find a way to tell you their opinion, particularly when it’s different. In terms of soliciting it, we hope that the “Community Engagement” events are a way of doing so. 

9. Name an influential local community member. How did this person’s influence change Forest Park? As an elected official, what do you imagine your influence will be on the community?

I think there are many people doing great work in Forest Park, so I’m not going to name one. In terms of my own influence, I’m not looking for recognition or praise, but if the

community believes the direction of the schools has been positive since I’ve been on it, I will see that as the board having had a positive influence. I’m much more comfortable seeing my contribution as part of the greater whole, rather than the individual. 

10. Educational and business leaders have begun to use a "cradle-to-career" framework when talking about education. Please discuss the role of District 91 within the “cradle-to-career” framework.

With our preschool program, District 91 begins its engagement with our community at a much younger age than many of our neighboring towns. That is just one example of our “cradle-to-career” framework. Beyond that, there is plenty of age-appropriate discussion within curriculum around technological readiness (even before the pandemic) and career exposure for life post-high school.

11. What lessons learned from the implementation of remote and hybrid learning during the pandemic do you believe will be applicable going forward, even after the pandemic abates?

The lessons learned during the pandemic are vast and eye-opening. My hope is that we will think big, as a district, even if that means there are bad ideas before good, and honest mistakes in pursuit of greater learning for our kids. Obviously, we will continue to utilize technology, which the district has been committed to for years. I’m also hoping we will continue to think about purposeful scheduling, and is the “old way” the “best way” to keep our students engaged. I’d like to be intentional about how we assess gaps that might have been further exacerbated within our student body. And, I hope to spend a lot of time on social-emotional learning to help our students and staff move out of the trauma of the last 12 months. What the world experienced should not be glossed over in an attempt to “get back to normal”. We need to provide ongoing support for our students, staff and families to help them process what they have been through. 

12. Special education is mandated by federal law. How will you set up structures to ensure ongoing concerns of families engaged with special education are addressed? What do you believe are the biggest issues facing families and children with special needs, and how will you work to see their needs are met?

The board takes recommendations on meeting the federal mandates very seriously, and we lean on our Dir. of Special Services and Dir. of Innovative Instruction to guide the work. Our district has always strived to be as inclusive of a district as possible, and especially as we come into our “new normal” after the pandemic, putting extra emphasis on the needs of special education students will be paramount. For so many of these families, the pandemic has been exponentially more challenging as the way in which their students received services was dramatically different. We are committed to getting these students back to their usual accommodations not in the same way, but even better than March 2020.

13. One of the School Board’s primary responsibilities is oversight of the Superintendent. What criteria will use to evaluate the success of District 91’s new Superintendent?

The board enters into an evaluation period with the Superintendent during the winter months. She will complete a self-evaluation and the board will do theirs both individually, then as a unit. Some of the metrics are around achieving the goals that have been set, working toward our equity milestones, communication and a host of others. This year will likely look a little different than others since she will have only been in the job for under a year, but the process will still happen. 

14. School boards receive feedback from many different interests, including parents, teachers, administrators, and community members. How will you ensure that, as a District 91 School Board member, you are able to receive input and feedback from students themselves?

As a PK-8 district, we don’t typically receive feedback from our students. But, when students have expressed concerns around their schooling experience with parents and/or staff, sometimes the board is made aware and is able to have a dialogue with them. I appreciate the question and will do some thinking about encouraging more direct feedback from our students, themselves.

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[The above answers were supplied on 3/3/21.]