Candidate Profiles

I am running because I am passionate about public education, and I believe I can continue to offer steady leadership to keep our district thriving for all students, staff and families. I believe my experience and skills will be valuable as the board navigates a changing education landscape. My priorities are completing Facilities Master Plan 2.3, enhancing preschool offerings with more full day options, providing our teachers and staff with adequate supports inside of classrooms/buildings, and continuing to address achievement discrepancies with specific student populations, including students with IEPs and students who qualify for free or reduced lunch.

I have rarely missed a meeting and if one was missed, it was due to emergencies, illness, or for other related school board commitments. 

Since joining the board in 2017, I worked to represent the entire ICCSD community and address the needs we face as a whole community. One priority that I would want to see our district focus on would be to attract and retain top teachers and paraprofessionals. As a district and a board, we would need to work together to ensure that we are providing comprehensive training/support for inside our buildings/classrooms as well as competitive wages.
Additionally, I would also want to work with my fellow colleagues and administration in expanding full day preschool options across our elementary campus with access to services for students with different learning and physical abilities.


Finally, I want to also ensure that we are preparing all of our students for a variety of paths post-secondary. Whether our students are planning to continue their educational journey or entering the workforce, as a board member, I want to ensure that our district is providing them the tools needed to be successful through our curriculum and work readiness programming.

I believe our biggest strength is our community, which remains strongly committed to public education for all. Even in the face of rising competition from private schools funded through ESAs, our enrollment has increased because our community believes in what we are doing and the boundless opportunities ICCSD offers to our students. That broad scope of opportunities is another strength. From preschool through high school, from construction and trades to fine and performing arts to college-prep, there is no match for what we can offer students regardless of their learning needs. All that is made possible by another strength, which is our outstanding teachers and staff who are committed to meeting every student where they are and helping them grow.

On the other hand, our weaknesses can also be tied to our financial outlook and expected declining enrollment due to birth rates. Without adequate state funding that keeps up with rising costs, mandatory mandates, and the growing needs of our student population, ICCSD will need to make tough decisions that are kept as far as possible from the classrooms. We are also waiting on what experts have called an "enrollment cliff" d8ue to the drastic decline of school aged children related to lower birth rates.

The guiding principle that I have used has always been to protect funding that directly impacts classes. This means looking at other options instead of cutting teachers as the highest priority. Downsizing our teaching staff will have an effect on class sizes, morale in our schools, and overall learning outcomes for our students.  

I support our facility master plan and believe it balances the need to continue expanding opportunities while also being responsible stewards of our financial resources. We are also faced with an unprecedented need to compete not only with other public school entities but also those in the private sector. Some parents and students look at the courses, educational successes but also facilities. We have to ensure that we can stand in comparison with others to keep our enrollment steady.

One of the best things we can do for our students and teachers is to keep our class sizes small, especially in pre-school and early elementary, which is a critical time for laying the foundation for all that is to come. I would look to direct additional funds to hiring more teachers to help us achieve our aspirational class size goals while also offering competitive salaries that attract the best teachers to the district.

I believe our district has an effective system of regular curriculum review, and I have personally served on curriculum review teams for history, art and music. Our teams include teachers, board members, and community members who all work together to ensure that our curriculum is meeting or exceeding state standards and offering our students the best paths to learning. When issues do arise, this has been the best mechanism to address them to ensure that we are preparing our students to successfully move through ICCSD and for their journey after ICCSD. When I have additional questions, I speak with our well trained and qualified Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment.

I enjoy hearing from our parents, teachers and staff, as well as students! I make it a priority to respond to emails in a timely manner and try to address their concerns which sometimes does involve bringing in our administration staff if it pertains to a day-to-day issue/concern. I also make it a priority to visit schools throughout to see how the Board's policies directly impact our buildings and classrooms. These visits allow me to interact with students, teachers, staff and administration in a personal way.

As a district we have to ensure that our teachers are prepared for the many different students that they will encounter in our buildings. I want to work with our staff and administration to ensure that we are providing adequate, appropriate and timely training so that our teachers feel well equipped when entering classrooms across our district. Having teachers who are prepared for a variety of classroom events makes our students safer as well.