1. What inspired you to run for a position on the school board?

I became a member of the school board in 2016, because of how my job and volunteer efforts intersected. As one of the pediatricians in the area, I have a unique population of patients who are students. I have been an active volunteer in the community and through the school district in PTOs, coaching, and mentoring activities. The intersection of those interests was the school board. I have learned a lot and I have been an advocate for all students. I am proud our commitment to low class sizes, increasing staff, increasing mental health resources, and maintaining a healthy budget.

2. What do you hope to bring to the school board?

I hope to continue to bring knowledge, compassion, and strong work ethic to my role. I have a background and base of knowledge about youth that benefits my work on the school board. I feel compassion is essential in the job of the school board. It has been a rough few years and looking at how to improve and regain lost opportunities for education through the lenses of empathy and equity are so important. Finally, I will continue to bring a strong work ethic toward all the jobs and committee work I do, including communication of that work to the community.

3. What do you believe are the biggest issues faced by our schools and how do you plan to tackle them?

Mental health of our students is of primary importance. With the funds from SIA we have hired counselors/support staff in every school. We still need more. We also need to continue to look at our district through the lens of equity to make sure that all students including those in minority groups as well as differently abled students are getting the education they need. We need to close gaps in testing and graduation while maintaining challenging curriculums for all students. Transparent and direct communication continues to be a priority. We tackle these issues by being a strong board team.

4. Nationally, there are a lot of questions regarding the appropriateness of some curriculum. Do you have any concerns with the curriculum in our schools? If so, what are they?

I do not have concerns with our curriculum. We have renewed our curriculum in all areas in the last six years. The curriculum committee works to ensure that the curriculum is both appropriate and meets state guidelines. They take a year to research curriculums and then debate and test them. They then let our staff help discover which is best for our students. Our curriculum committees consist of teachers, administration, and board members. We also encourage community members to review curriculum options. I have served on several curriculum committees and the work they do is inspiring.