Questions for a School Board

Why should voters choose you over the other candidates

Although I am a Republican I am filed on both ballots because voters from both parties wrote in my name.  I am independent in thought.  I value education.  I am fiscally conservative in politics and finances. Adequate resources need to be expended to educate our children.  This includes properly rewarding teachers.  Without that we will not attract and keep the quality of staff we need.  It also means not squandering resources for what is not education.  And it is not allowing artificial rules to drive up costs and when they do we work to change those rules to contain costs.  I will be one to look at every possible expenditure and will likely question more than a few of them.  My goal is to do that in the inception phase of expenditure, not after the money is committed and we can do nothing or it creates chaos.  I value the professional staff and their expertise but I expect them to recognize that I bring to the table background in cost containment and efficiency increases in business.  Integrity issues plague school boards.  I will either be able to maintain integrity or I will resign. 

What do you think are the biggest issues facing your school district and how would you address them?

The three biggest issues facing the district are education, safety of students and staff, and finances.  We MUST provide a quality education for the children of the district.  We correspondingly must not drive the district into bankruptcy or raise taxes to levels that drive out business and residents.  It is a process of making sure every dollar is spent for the most value.  We can no longer afford what is not essential.  We must consider every option.  Past boards have spent for buildings that cost more than requirements dictated because the money could be spent.  We are now paying the debt service for those. We cannot afford to repeat that action. We must see that each and every student is safe and that means the teachers and staff must be safe. This includes protection from all threats, physical violence to unwarranted action against a them. Likewise students must be free to explore ideas, even those that may not be the most popular even with the teacher while being guided to stay within reasonable bounds and not placed in a mold to be like everyone else.

How would you address the problem of rising property taxes while still finding funds for academics and other costs?

Most of the people in the district know and live what administrations and school boards have failed to do in the past, live within means.  The mantra has been, if the money is there, spend it.  If it is not there, raise taxes. Positions are created and the cost goes up.  Work expands to fill the time allotted and more staff is added.  Generally speaking in most businesses when there is a need to cut the most fertile place is the middle levels of the organization.  My first goal would be to question any addition or replacement of personnel with the idea of position consolidation before replacement.  Classroom teaching positions would not be exempt from scrutiny but in most cases this is not a place for significant gains.  The job of a school is education.  Teachers are the front line troops.  To get the greatest value from this very costly resource they are to be utilized but not abused.  They are to be encouraged and empowered, not beaten down and restricted.