Why are you running for WCSD Trustee? What is your vision of success for this role?

As an incumbent, I am running for WCSD Trustee, District G to continue the work of maximizing what is working, eliminate what is not needed & concentrate on continuous improvement. I will continue to develop diverse & much needed Career Pathways, throughout the grades, to address the question: “Graduate To What?” Pathways begin in our early learning classrooms & continue to graduation through hands-on experiences that engage students, spark interest & build intellectual understanding. I will continue to champion the importance of building diverse educational frameworks that recognize “1-Size Does Not Fit All.” As an integral framer of the current WCSD Strategic Plan, I will continue to develop the Why, What, When, Where & How. I possess the requisite education, experience & intentionally to serve as a collaborative team of 7- Trustee decision-makers who are Stewards of the taxpayer dollars. As a WCSD School Board Trustee, I will continue to work diligently to provide students with the education they deserve, employees with needed resources, and families with opportunities for involvement in the education of their most precious gift -Their Child. As an elected official I respect, understand & embrace the role of providing our community with an informed, dedicated & kind voice. I am fortunate to have received a strong & life-fulfilling education. Ensuring that every child receives that opportunity has been & will continue to be a life-long endeavor.

My vision of success for this role is realized through our students, employees, families & communities. Success for this role includes: maintaining a balanced budget- one that intentionally & structurally supports the needs of all schools. Working collaboratively with fellow WCSD Trustees to hire & provide direction to the superintendent. An understanding of & adherence to Nevada Revised Statutes & Nevada Administrative Code is paramount. Operational success is achieved through the development of substantive Board Policy. The cultivation of authentic & honest relationships throughout Washoe County Communities is key in developing collaborative partnerships. Ensuring the integrity of the taxpayers dollars through informed oversight of the WCSD budget, building an understanding of academic programming & business operations via attentive communication is on-going homework for a school board trustee. Ultimately my vision is accomplished through active engagement, “doing the homework,” review of current research & successful educational practices & spending time in our schools & throughout Washoe County Communities. Being present & ready to listen & learn is a key role – Trustee As Student.

How do you define student success? What experience do you have and what role do you intend to play in advocating for student success?

Generally student success can be defined in several areas:

1) Attendance – students being in school

2) Ready to Learn – students who are prepared & willing participants who are excited & challenged to reach their full potential & feel that attending is worth their time

3) Welcoming Schools – actively involve parent/families

4) Teachers & Staff – employees excited to come to work & do the job because the workplace is joyous, challenging, fun, fulfilling

5) Resources – students & adults having, & using the tools necessary to be successful

6) Graduation – being a new chapter well-prepared.

EDUCATION:

1) 50 years in education- teaching, educating & training- ages birth-higher education & adult education (Colorado, Missouri, Nevada)

2) BA- Early Education

3) MAT- masters in the art of teaching

4) Education Specialist

5) PhD – educational leadership

EXPERIENCE:

My husband I have children & grandchildren who attended & currently attend public schools, including WCSD.

Service on local, state & national educational boards, committees & councils: current service as a WCSD school board trustee, District G, At Large (student enrollment 60,000, employees 7500, 103 schools PreK- adult education, county with 550,000 residents; appointed by the Governor to the Nevada Early Childhood Advisory Council; Washoe CASA Foundation Board member; National Accreditation Policy Council member-AELL

ADVOCATE ROLE:

I will continue to read to understand research & trends, ask to listen & learn from others.

Continue to stay actively involved in local, state & national educational endeavors.

Continue to be an active community member on many diverse levels.

Continue to work collaboratively with fellow board school board members to address the work at hand.

Continue to visits schools to develop supportive relationships.

Continue to spent time with students to gain an understanding of their lived-experiences.

If elected to the Board, how would you approach challenging conversations and/or criticisms that might arise from fellow Board members, stakeholders, and the broader community?

I will continue to approach challenging conversations, accolades & criticisms with an listening ear, open mind & open heart. Sharing data & relevant information goes a long way in directing a conversation to a space where solutions can be found.

I have learned that managing challenging conversations begins with working to understand what a person is trying to tell me through active engagement. Are they worried, upset, has their child been mistreated, do they think taxpayer dollar’s are being misused? My approach is to ask, listen & learn so that as human beings we can come to a place that is non-threatening with a level of mutual understanding. I offer to provide additional details and/or set a time to hold a deeper conversation. Everyone has a right to be heard – and some people are easier to listen to than others. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity & respect. Having said that – if I feel setup & threatened, I will gracefully retreat.

Informed by what you have learned during your campaign, what key indicators would you use to assess the performance of WCSD’s Superintendent? How would you hold the Superintendent accountable?

Washoe County School Board (WCSD) utilizes a Balanced Governance Approach (BGA). (Alsbury & Gore, 2015).

BGA cultivates a mindset & framework that leads to informed & intentional school governance. It is an approach that finds balance between over-prescription & willful ignorance. BGA enlists school board members to work side-by-side with their superintendent to embrace data, knowledge & thoughtfulness though inquiry & dialogue in order to improve student learning. A duality exists in BGA – supportive relationships that ask the tough questions in order to tackle tough problems & celebrate together.

WCSD incorporates its Strategic Plan & measures into the yearly superintendent evaluation process. The process includes a 360 approach to collecting data from students, employees, families, community members & school board trustees.

Several Key Indicators:

1) Hard data such as student progress, school improvement plans, family involvement, business operations & many other factors.

2) Strategic Plan alignment- gaps & strengths.

3) Community engagement.

to name several.

Holding someone accountable begins with ongoing discussions, not an end of the road brick wall.

Attending to Day-To-Day successes & failures.

Trust, clear expectations, dialogue, ability to pivot & kindness are key factors in designing performance factors; I see the process as a road to development & improvement.

Assessment is a dynamic process that, when properly utilized, grows the person & the work.

In 2023, the U.S. Department of Education identified three key areas of importance for improving student achievement: Addressing chronic absenteeism, providing high-dosage tutoring, and providing summer and expanded/after school learning programs. Do you agree? If so, how would you work with the Superintendent to prioritize these areas? If not, what key areas would you identify and how would you work with the Superintendent to prioritize those key areas?

I hold 3-key areas in the forefront of my work.

1) Students attending school feeling safe, ready, willing & excited to learn.

2) Parent / Family involvement in their child’s educational experiences.

3) Class-size reductions: Teacher to Student ratios.

Please understand that the above 3-key areas are complex with many layers of nuances.

The three are intermingled & strategic attention, aligned with sound budgeting, must be paid to all three.

I will continue to work on these key areas because they are relevant to Washoe County School District students, families, employees & the communities.

We are onboard to find & implement solutions to these and others- including the Superintendent.

A nationwide study conducted by TNTP found that students received a passing grade on 71% of their assignments–with more than half of those students receiving an A or B. However, only 17% of those same students demonstrated grade-level mastery on their assignments. How can Nevada schools make sure that the grades students receive in the classroom demonstrate grade-level mastery of the material? How can you support this change from the position you are seeking?

There are several components to grade-level mastery. Following are 3:

1) Students attending school feeling safe, ready, willing & excited to learn.

2) Parent / Family involvement in their child’s educational experiences.

3) Class-size reductions: Teacher to Student ratios.

I already support rigorous assignments that are age & skill appropriate.

A major element in the above components are offering diverse pathways that excite, engage & prepare students for the future- these begin in preschool!

Community partnerships, hands-on experiences (less “seat time”) & teachers properly prepared for educating students for the future.

Teachers as THEE Forever Student.

Institutions of higher education & school district’s must continue to collaborate rather than isolate.

We in WCSD are successfully working toward that endeavor – one which I fully support.

As a former TMCC instructor & administrator and a UNR graduate, I see great things happening that are moving us forward.

In closing: Mastery is a Life-Long Adventure!

If elected, you will take office when the new superintendent has been in the job for about six months. How will you work with other trustees to influence accountability in the District and support student success?

I have full faith & trust in Superintendent Ernst’s abilities, desires, experiences, internationalities, motivations, skills & vision.

I do not worry from one nanosecond about the accountability factor. Superintendent Ernst, like myself, holds the bar high. And we recognize the WCSD ship cannot turn on a dime.

Joe is a complete package. And, his greatest learning curve will be balancing the internal leader with the external leader: teacher/leader V. community liaison/politician

Superintendent Ernst & I have spoken about this challenge & he is aware of the time that will be spent away from schools & colleagues while authentically & honorably representing WCSD. I have questioned, in my own thoughts, “what if WCSD hired an internal & external superintendent’?

Alas, my answer is always, “Nope we must spent THAT $$$ on our students & employees.

I have a trusted track record in working with my fellow trustees, we do not always agree & yet we find balance that supersedes our own agendas.

I will continue to “do my homework,” ask-listen-learn, while remaining an active participate in the education of our most precious gifts- Children.

One eye on the waves; the other eye on the horizon.