a need for flexibility
Start with the big picture: I'm doing this because I love our community, and I want to see it flourish. Our schools are an asset we need to grow and nourish.
Let's also make another point clear: The Board of Trustees acts as a board. Little gets done individually; big decisions require consensus.
So the most important position is flexibility, an ability to listen to and understand different perspectives - and be open to those perspectives. As a journalist, I know I don't have the full story unless I've sought out and understood the myriad disparate perspectives on an issue. And often, as I gain perspective, my initial assumptions change.
I'll serve you the same way.
Let's also make another point clear: The Board of Trustees acts as a board. Little gets done individually; big decisions require consensus.
So the most important position is flexibility, an ability to listen to and understand different perspectives - and be open to those perspectives. As a journalist, I know I don't have the full story unless I've sought out and understood the myriad disparate perspectives on an issue. And often, as I gain perspective, my initial assumptions change.
I'll serve you the same way.
The issues (in no particular order)
The May 4 tax levy: A no brainer: Vote "yes" on both the high school and elementary school levies. We're offsetting the $7.06 increase per $100,000 of home value with a $6.97 decrease, thanks to the astute fiscal management from our business office. That means these levies will cost you 45 cents on a $500,000 home. If you can't support this, don't waste your vote on me.
Equity: What happens when you split students and resources between two high schools? Twice as many students can play varsity soccer. We gain diversity, opportunities, voices – I'm so thrilled to see the Gallatin High community develop its own culture ("Fear the claw!").
But the risk of the district gradually diverging into "have" and "have not" schools is real. Our job as trustees is to maintain equity among all our schools. Ensuring our children get a high quality, stimulating education regardless of school is an issue the board and district must continue to closely monitor.
Safe routes to school: Why is there no safe way across Kagy Avenue to for Sacajawea Middle School kids? Why no clear and safe bike route connecting Gallatin and Bozeman highs east to west across town?
True - this is really a city issue. But there's a role here for the board to make sure our kids can safely walk and bike to school.
Innovative buildings: Our beautiful library is a community gem. Our schools can serve the same role. Cost is a huge issue. This is, ultimately, one of many small issues that must be considered as we plan facilities. But our schools define neighborhoods and become landmarks (My mother-in-law started school as a kindergartner at the "new" Longfellow School, in 1939). What we build will last a while. Let's try and make them worthy of that goal.
Student success: I want every child coming out of Bozeman's public schools to be prepared for a productive and creative life. I want us to serve the needs of all students. If we set up our system - the whole system - for success, many of these other details and debates and issues fall into place.
Pre-K reading and preschool: In some ways, the most pressing issue facing our district isn't the high school or taxes. It's how to get all our third graders to read. That starts early. Plenty of data shows this. I'm proud our district has focused on this goal. Let's continue this work.
Testing: I fully understand that teachers know where their kids are academically. No question there. And I've seen how our tendency to test takes considerable chunks out of the academic year.
At the same time, tests take what the teachers know and aggregate it across the district. They give administrators a snapshot of what's happening in classrooms across the community. I get that: The district and its long-range plan are justifiably data driven.
Here's where my ignorance as a parent and community member is exposed. I'm not an education expert; I have questions, not answers. Data are good. But data have limits. Matrixes and measurements devalue things we can't measure - "soft skills" such as interpersonal relationships or flexibility or the ability to work in partnerships, for one. How to apply and interpret data, especially from standardized test scores, is a crucial question I want our board to be continually asking.
Equity: What happens when you split students and resources between two high schools? Twice as many students can play varsity soccer. We gain diversity, opportunities, voices – I'm so thrilled to see the Gallatin High community develop its own culture ("Fear the claw!").
But the risk of the district gradually diverging into "have" and "have not" schools is real. Our job as trustees is to maintain equity among all our schools. Ensuring our children get a high quality, stimulating education regardless of school is an issue the board and district must continue to closely monitor.
Safe routes to school: Why is there no safe way across Kagy Avenue to for Sacajawea Middle School kids? Why no clear and safe bike route connecting Gallatin and Bozeman highs east to west across town?
True - this is really a city issue. But there's a role here for the board to make sure our kids can safely walk and bike to school.
Innovative buildings: Our beautiful library is a community gem. Our schools can serve the same role. Cost is a huge issue. This is, ultimately, one of many small issues that must be considered as we plan facilities. But our schools define neighborhoods and become landmarks (My mother-in-law started school as a kindergartner at the "new" Longfellow School, in 1939). What we build will last a while. Let's try and make them worthy of that goal.
Student success: I want every child coming out of Bozeman's public schools to be prepared for a productive and creative life. I want us to serve the needs of all students. If we set up our system - the whole system - for success, many of these other details and debates and issues fall into place.
Pre-K reading and preschool: In some ways, the most pressing issue facing our district isn't the high school or taxes. It's how to get all our third graders to read. That starts early. Plenty of data shows this. I'm proud our district has focused on this goal. Let's continue this work.
Testing: I fully understand that teachers know where their kids are academically. No question there. And I've seen how our tendency to test takes considerable chunks out of the academic year.
At the same time, tests take what the teachers know and aggregate it across the district. They give administrators a snapshot of what's happening in classrooms across the community. I get that: The district and its long-range plan are justifiably data driven.
Here's where my ignorance as a parent and community member is exposed. I'm not an education expert; I have questions, not answers. Data are good. But data have limits. Matrixes and measurements devalue things we can't measure - "soft skills" such as interpersonal relationships or flexibility or the ability to work in partnerships, for one. How to apply and interpret data, especially from standardized test scores, is a crucial question I want our board to be continually asking.