The candidates statements from their written applications:

Transcription

1 The candidates statements from their written applications: Why do you want to be an MSDWT School Board member? As I indicated when I first ran for the Board in 2006, our family chose Washington Township because of the Township's many strengths including its diversity, its strong academics, and a continued focus on the future. I am proud of having been a part of the Township, including serving on the School Board, for many years and I would very much like to be a part of planning and making decisions regarding what I believe is the Township's bright future. I am a committed parent, grandparent, and community member who genuinely enjoys working with our Township's different constituencies, including the approximately 80-85% of Township residents who do not currently have children in our schools, and with our Township's talented faculty, staff and administrators. I continue to believe that we are stronger when we work in partnership and I genuinely care about the entire Township. I will continue to be objective and to work hard as a member of the Board where consensus is important but where Board members have a responsibility to raise and consider different views. Please sec below regarding what I believe I bring to the position. I have served on the MSDWT School Board for over 4 years. During that time I have learned much more about this great district. What believed to be true about the district when I ran for this office back in 2010 has only been strengthen by my tenure on the board. It continues to rank highly in providing quality education not only within our city but within the state of Indiana as well. I still believe that in order to maintain our current level of excellence we must be willing to improve and change. We have been striving to improve upon our overall excellence. One example is that we have now been authorized by IB for our entire district! I am running for re-election because I believe we can get even better with the programs and solutions that have been recently put into place. I feel that the district continues to strive of excellence and the School Board members do too. As I have stated before, we must do what it takes to maintain the mission of helping our entire student population obtain a quality education. Page 1 of 7

2 How do you define a quality education? (Use additional pages as necessary.) Washington Township's mission statement reads as follows: "The mission of Washington Township Schools is to develop lifelong learners and globally-minded citizens by fostering the academic, creative, and social skills needed to achieve excellence in a multicultural environment." I sincerely believe that a quality education is achieved by the combined efforts of parents, guardians and teachers providing students, regardless of their economic or other circumstances, quality instruction and guidance, and providing students real opportunities for growth and reflection (in the classroom and elsewhere). I also believe that we are living in a time when teaching our students about global mindedness and the benefits to students, their families, and to society of students being lifelong learners has never been more critical. As a public school system, we are charged with providing the very best educational environment possible for every student who enters our doors, rather than merely providing a narrow range of opportunities for a particular group (or groups) of students. Accordingly, the Board and Administration should focus on the elimination of barriers to student learning and achievement. I may define a quality education a little differently than others. I believe that each student has a different level of learning. Because of that difference, each child should be assessed as best we can on how they progress and grow. A quality education is one that helps those individuals strive to be the best that they can be. Access to this excellence must be made available to all students regardless of levels of learning. A quality education also involves letting children explore and ask questions about different topics and lessons. Some may not believe in the IB form of inquiry based learning best but I do. The reason I do is that it allows students to question why and then go find the answer for themselves. These are skills that will be needed later on in life and it is best if they can be learned at an early age. I have stated this before but I believe that a quality education has to be conducted in an environment that is conducive to learning. This would include it being clean, safe and nurturing. This environment must be accessible and provided to all students. The environment should also represent the students that it serves. Students must get some feeling of hope that they can achieve more. Page 2 of 7

3 Please explain what you think of Parent Council's Mission Statement. Parent Council is a group of parent advocates of Metropolitan School District of Washington Township students who represent a diverse community and believe that quality public education is an investment in the future. With a collective voice, we actively influence the direction of the District and support positive learning experiences that result in students who are productive contributors throughout their lives. As a long-time member (and former President) of Parent Council, I firmly believe in Parent Council and its powerful miss ion statement. Historically, Parent Council has been comprised of strong parent advocates who have generally spoken with a collective voice, actively influencing, during significant periods in the history of our diverse Township, the District's direction regarding important issues facing our schools, parents and our community. From educating parents regarding a multitude of educational issues, to endorsing and helping to elect School Board candidates, to advocating the passage of referenda which are critical to the Township fulfilling its critical educational mission, Parent Council has played an important role in continuing Washington Township's tradition of excellence. I hope and expect Parent Council to continue to serve this important role in our Township. Parent Council is a major voice in our community when it comes to the education of our children because it is comprised of parents! I think that it explains what the Parent Council was created for and what it as a body should be doing. Having that collective voice is powerful when there are factors set in place to decrease the ability of our district to educate all students. I think this mission statement works explains it all. Page 3 of 7

4 What is your leadership style? (Describe and give at least one example.) I am a collaborative leader who also believes in institutional discipline. During the eight (8) plus years that I have been on the School Board, with the exception of the last month, I have served as an officer (President, Vice President or Secretary). During the three (3) years that I served as Board President, I made certain that Board members were aware of upcoming meetings and events and of what was going on in the District. Significantly, I also worked very hard to make certain that all Board members had access to the same information (whether every Board member was prepared was obviously up to each member), that the Superintendent and Administration was aware of Board members' concerns and questions, that items were placed on or removed from the agenda depending upon the circumstances, and that Board members articulated the reasoning underlying their individual votes or the Board's decisions whenever possible. My practice was never to embarrass the Superintendent but rather to present issues in a fair manner and to focus on what the Board was seeking to accomplish rather than our individual differences or different positions. Two examples of my collaborative style of leadership are (1) the role I played when the Board was engaged in the process of making decisions regarding our facilities (including leading the Board meeting which allowed for significant public comment), and (2) the role I played as a Board member when the Community and the Board was compelled to deal with the reality, which was difficult for many, of closing two of our schools. I have learned my leadership style through my work and community service experiences. Now I have added what I have learned while being a member of the board the past 4 years. I still look for ways to allow everyone to win. I strongly believe that listening to what both sides have to say and then working toward a goal that helps both sides win is the desired outcome. I make sure that I am inclusive to all that are involved in a situation such as discussions or debates. I do this to make sure I hear from all sides. During the time that I served as President of the school board, I was really able to use this listen first approach as I was the voice of the board so that any and all complaints from the public would filter through me. My leadership style helped me to resolve many concerns so that the parents/community members and district staff walked away with the issues resolved. This leadership style has worked for me. Page 4 of 7

5 What do you feel you bring to the position? I have been and I will continue to be passionate about our District and public education, and I do not focus exclusively on anyone group of students or anyone issue. This is reflected in the fact that during my years as a Board member I have regularly attended many events throughout the District and over the course of the year, and not merely at the schools that my children attended when they were students in the Township. While I hope that this demonstrates how I feel about our students and the District as a whole, I know that attending various events throughout the District allows me the opportunity to talk with parents, faculty, staff and administrators, including those who are not as comfortable expressing themselves at a meeting or over the telephone, and to be more knowledgeable regarding the concerns of parents and guardians, faculty, staff and administrators. I have also been active in the Indiana School Board Association, serving on one of its committees and attending its regional and other meetings. As a Board member I have consistently been on time for and I have been prepared for our Board meetings, study sessions and executive sessions, missing no meetings and being late to only one meeting during my eight years on the Board. I have asked, and I will continue to ask, probing questions in advance of and during our meetings, study and executive sessions. The questions I ask during Board meetings are designed to lead to the Board making the best possible decisions and to the public understanding the issues we are discussing and ultimately our decisions. While I believe that my questions specifically focus on issues relating to our students, I also believe that (1) collectively we ask a great deal of our teachers and that we therefore must continue to seek their input and to consider how particular policies and practices affect them, and (2) the Board must continue to seek community input and to make fiscally responsible decisions. While I believe I am a knowledgeable Board member, I realize that [ am not a trained educator and that each of us has our own perspective. Additionally, I have been and will continue to be accessible to the Township's various constituencies. While all Board members obviously include their contact information on the Board's website, I actively encourage parents, community members, and Township faculty and staff to contact me whenever they find it convenient to do so and for them to use whatever means they prefer. The valuable conversations which often result frequently occur over the telephone, over a cup of coffee, or in the hallways of our schools. I genuinely love serving on the School Board and have welcomed (and will continue to welcome) calls from and conversations with the members of our community. I still believe that one of the main things I bring to the position is my strong belief in the MSDWT School system. Having spent time as a board member the past 4 years has only strengthened that belief. It is documented that I am a graduate of North Central High School; all 3 of my daughters attend Washington Township Schools and graduated North Central as well. I know from a personal level how superior this school system is for our students. My experiences serving on other boards continue to be an asset to this school board. The MSDWT School Board is not unlike the other boards I have or am currently participating on. In the past I talked about how all boards have some basic similarities. That is still the case but over time there is another aspect of how some of my current board/council activities can actually directly affect students in a positive manner. Page 5 of 7

6 How do you make decisions? Board decisions of course have different starting points. In addition to actions that are required by the State of Indiana, or policies which may be initiated by the Board, faculty and staff, or parents, the Administration regularly makes proposals which the Board carefully considers and which are generally the subject of a vote (or votes). In general, I make decisions by first reviewing the materials which the administration provides to Board members in advance of our regular Board meetings and study sessions. I then determine whether I have sufficient information to enter into a meaningful discussion of the issue or proposal. If I do not have sufficient information, I ask the Superintendent for more information, I research the issue myself (realizing the inherent limitations of this method given the fact that I am not a professional educator), or I do both. As our Board meetings are not always well attended, I try very hard to be mindful of whether the Board has heard from the particular individuals or groups who I or we would expect to address certain issues or a particular constituency which might be expected to offer valuable input. In this regard, even when I do receive phone calls and s from our constituents regarding various issues, I attempt to gauge whether what I am hearing is representative of what the community thinks, if different viewpoints are included, and whether we are doing a disservice to those who have not communicating their views. Once an issue or item appears on the agenda for one of our meetings, I ask the presenting administrator or staff member respectful questions which are designed to enable the undersigned and my fellow Board members to determine whether the proposal is a good or bad idea, whether certain facts or considerations are undeveloped, whether there are potential unintended consequences Board members should be concerned about, etc. If we are at the point where we are voting on a proposal, I weigh or consider what we are attempting to accomplish, the likelihood that the proposal will be successful (or not), the costs (both in dollars and in terms of how the proposal will affect our teachers, staff and others), and how we will measure whether or not we have been successful. Again, I tie this question in with the leadership style. I still believe that listening is the major component for effective decision making. I begin with wanting the decision to be a win for all parties involved. I listen to all sides of a topic or issue and then make the best decision based on this knowledge. Should more information be needed I do not have a problem with asking for assistance from others or doing further research to find the answers. Some decisions need the input others and some do not. Leaders have to make some decisions that will be popular and some that will not be popular. The key is making sure the decision is in the best interest of the whole. Page 6 of 7

7 Will you run for School Board if you do not receive the endorsement of Parent Council? Why or why not? Yes. While I have twice been endorsed by both Parent Council and the WTEA, and while I am hopeful that I will be endorsed by both organizations this year, I firmly believe that I am qualified for the position of School Board member, and that I have been an effective and hard-working School Board member. If I am elected I will continue to work hard, to remain informed and accessible, and to exercise my best judgment to do what is in the best interest of our students, faculty, administration and staff, without bias in favor of or against any group or individual. Yes. I strongly believe that the Parent Council is a strong voice for the students of our district. Having the support of your organization is very beneficial not just for the campaign but as another voice. I believe that the work that the current board is doing along with our Superintendent and staff is making educational progress and I want to continue to be a part of that progress. Page 7 of 7