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 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?

My definition of student success is realized through our students, employees, families & communities. Four integral components to student success are: schools ready to support students learning; students showing up to school willing to learn; students actively engaged in their learning; students & families working on a mutually agreed upon career and/or college pathway. Many important parts to each of those components support student success such as: teachers ready to teach; school facilities that are comfortable, safe & welcoming; active family involvement; supportive community partnerships; appropriate resources & extra curricular opportunities.

I bring to the role of school board trustee the following: Formal Education- BA in Early Childhood Education; MAT Masters in the Art of Teaching; Education Specialist Degree & PhD in Educational Leadership; PITC and P3 Leadership Certifications. I have traversed teaching infants through adults, preschool through college. I have experienced full-time & part-time teaching roles in Colorado, Missouri & Nevada. I have shared my expertise through a diverse array of venues, to include presentations at local, state & national conferences. I have served locally, state-wide & nationally on licensing & accreditation policy boards. I embrace the work of being a life-long learner & will continue to advocate for every student along their educational journey. Most recently I completed a P3 Leadership Certification through the University of Colorado-Denver. Educators from around the United States studied together while sharing their expertise & vision for the future of our youngest learners. For 25-years I was the director of the E.L. Cord Child Care Center at Truckee Meadows Community College. Advocating for student success is the easy part of the job- enacting advocacy to reality is the hard work!

On the 2022 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), fourth-grade students, in Nevada, scored 6 points lower in math and 7 points lower in reading when compared to 2019. If elected, how can you use your position to ensure Nevada stops following this national trend and starts leading the way for student outcomes?

Stopping a “trend” is where an understanding of learning & the learner comes into play; all while balancing resources. Knowledge of the tools utilized to teach children to read is all over the place. Nevada Read By Grade 3 has provided dollars with little guidance on the Science of Reading. Appreciative Inquiry a Model for Change can help us identify next steps. First: identify What IS Working; Second: Do More of What IS Working & Third: Eliminate What Is Not Working. Through the goodness of our educator hearts we search for “solutions.” The search leads us to the latest & greatest “program with all of its stuff” which often times simply adds more work with marginal success.

If elected, I will continue to review requested resources, and look for alignment to our Strategic Plan, available resources, and measurable outcomes. Student improvement, no matter the subject, is a combination of helping students develop their strengths, shoring up their gaps, finding passion in their studies and enjoying the life-long process of learning; having fun while doing so is important. Students engaged in their learning who take responsibility for their improvements & failures yield greater success. Together the 5 domains- intellectual, physical, social-emotional, spiritual & linguistic form the “whole person,” each domain is integral to the other. In essence, if a student desires to attend school, is an active participant, enjoys their time while at school & wants to return- that, in & of itself lends way to academic improvement. It is important to remember that WCSD Trustees are 7-members; assurances are a Team Effort. As a part of the Team, I will continue to be an informed & strong voice for every student.

What, if any, barriers currently exist to educational excellence and equity for every student? If elected to the Board of Trustees, how will you help eliminate these barriers?

WCSD Schools are open to every child who walks through the door – that is the beauty of Public Education, along with the challenge. Open doors bring a broad & deep array of diverse backgrounds, expectations & dreams. The biggest barrier continues to be funding; substandard funding that sees a drop in the employees needed for maximum student success. The Nevada Pupil Centered Funding Plan aided in closing a gap in the ability of our Public School System to provide the resources required to address the vast array of needs; and the increased current funding is not enough. WCSD was pivotal in creating a Legislative Platform that benefitted all of Nevada’s 17 school districts. The 2023 historic win resulted in substantial pay raisers for teachers & other positions. The infusion was a long time coming & it did not “catch us up!” We must continue to educate our Legislators & Governor to the fact that in order for Nevada to continue to address barriers & educational performance we must increase the funding for every student to the national average of $14,000. Currently, Nevada is 45th in per pupil spending, is it any wonder we have trouble finding & keeping high-quality teachers & other necessary employees? Dare I mentioned the Washoe County Cost of Living factor.

Finally, another barrier seems to be finding & holding onto the “right” WCSD Superintendent. We need an owner, not a renter. We need someone who will see the strengths & possibilities that are within Washoe County School District & the beauty that is Truckee Meadows.

What do you believe are the top three most persistent challenges facing the WCSD Board of Trustees? What is an example of a bold approach you would propose to address one of those challenges?

1) People who make up information for some personal agenda and narrative. Cruel misinformation negatively impacts the morale of students, families, employees & the community. I will continue to do my homework to be an informed voice for What Is Working and What Needs To Be Improved in WCSD. Identifying wrong information & sharing correct information is part of the job.

2) Current Per Pupil Funding is below what is needed to build a World Class School System. I will continue to champion increasing funding to our public school system as well as monitoring how the money we receive is spent.

3) Hiring, developing & retaining highly-qualified teachers. We need to slow down purchasing the the latest & greatest “educational solution,” & spend the dollars on people. We must continue to focus on hiring, developing & retaining the “right” teachers. I will go so far as to say. hire, develop & retain the “right” employees throughout the District. We need more people & less programs. The yet-to-be-hired Chief of Human Resources will be closely scrutinized & I look forward to asking, listening & learning.

Research suggests that more than 50% of a board meeting should be focused on student outcomes. How would you ensure the board allocates this amount of time to student outcomes?

I will continue to align my meeting discussion to relevant decision-making responsibilities. Public Comment is important & takes up a considerable amount of time. At my request, Quality of Education has become a monthly standing agenda item. This agenda item provides a “look-see” into how our students and other educational factors are progressing. I will continue to request agenda items that relate to student outcomes. Of note is this: across the educational elements everything, in some way, is related directly to or indirectly to student outcomes. Continuing to adhere to our Balanced Governance Model & Board Policy is key.

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 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 treated I am comfortable retreating gracefully.

What key indicators would you use to assess the performance of WCSD’s Superintendent? How would you hold the Superintendent accountable?

KEY INDICATORS I use to assess the WCSD Superintendent’s Performance: Student Performance Data, Family Engagement supports, successful implementation of the Job Description, demonstrated comfort in speaking to & sharing pertinent WCSD information in a large group, political savvy especially during a legislative session, clear examples of building a strong, healthy & kind organizational culture, examples of supportive community partnerships, demonstrated respect from fellow Nevada School Superintendents, proven ability to lead others as well as follow; sense of humor, ability to articulate a vision & implement student success strategies, employee retention, – a general sense of respect for & trust in our Superintendent.

Knowledge of a person’s work & how to hold them accountable comes in several ways. I utilize Informal Assessment strategies through asking, listening, watching & learning. Formal Assessment strategies through the utilization of a reliable & valid evaluation tool. Accountability is not a one & done process. Holding a person accountable, especially the CEO of a large organization, is an on-going endeavor. I participate in regular 1:1 conversations with the Superintendent; conversations that are probing, honest & information sharing. There is much to be gained by visiting schools, attending events & holding friendly chats with the Superintendent.

In a recent survey, 77% of Nevada residents agreed that parents should be able to send their children to the public school they feel is best for their child, even if it is outside of their neighborhood. Do you agree? Please explain your reasoning.

I believe in the right & responsibility of a parent/family to choose the best educational pathway for their child. For me, a bigger question is this: do we create wait lists at our public schools and shuffle children around when openings occur? If a school has space according to clearly identified policy & procedure, everyone follows, I agree. In my mind, the BIGGEST Question is this: how do we ensure EVERY SCHOOL is best for children? To that point, not every school can provide every thing, every student & needs; and we certainly must try!

The following question was submitted by a current public high school student: How will you ensure students are put at the forefront of the decision making process as a member of the Board of Trustees, and what accountability measures would you put in place to make sure this happens? 

“Students” is a collective concept; one size does not fit all. The context of ensuring students are put in the forefront is a singular question, with multiple answers. Every student is unique with unique needs & dreams. I hold three tenets up to my decision-making lens: Safety, Fun & Education, in that order. As a School Board Trustee, I hold every student in the forefront through informed decision-making. Decisions surrounding safety are top of mind. Students must feel a real sense of physical, mental, social, intellectual & creative safety. Fun is right next to Safety; without Fun (and I do not mean disrespectful funny business) why come to school? Education is the reason public schools exist. If students are safe, having fun – learning will happen. How I ensure students in the forefront of my decision-making is through asking, listening, learning, doing the homework, visiting schools, attending school events, attending & participating in school board meetings. One of the best ways I keep students in the forefront is via their voices, I especially appreciate receiving & reading handwritten letters that share personal ideas, concerns & solutions to worrisome problems. I wholeheartedly support & want to grow our Student Voice Program- It ROCKS! The trustees are fortunate to have a student representative as a member of the WCSD – Board of Trustees. As far as “accountability measures,” I will continue to show up ready to understand & be a heartfelt voice for students- It is a gift!