Higley Schools Blog

There will be a candidate forum for the five people running for three open seats on the HUSD governing board. See here for my current take on the five candidates. The forum will be from 7:00-8:30 PM a “The Barn”, a facility off of Ranch House Road in north Power Ranch. Everyone is invited.

Here are the questions that each of the candidates will be asked tonight and some of my thoughts on the subjects:

1) Is teacher input a component you’ll find useful in your decision making? If so, how will the input be obtained?

Yes, teacher input will be a vital data point for me if I am elected to the governing board. As I have stated elsewhere, good teachers are the core of a good district. If we take care of our good teachers and listen to them and do what we can to support them the word will eventually get out that HUSD is a great district to work for. That will attract more and more good teachers and we will see an upward spiral of district improvement. Better and happier teachers, leading to happier and more confident parents, leading to more students returning to the district, etc.

Teacher input is obtained by communicating directly with teachers. I have heard rumors that teachers are currently discouraged from talking directly with board members. If that is true I find it unacceptable.

2) How important is the override to the district and how will the board utilize the additional funding if it passes?

The override is deeply important to the district. It provides the extra funds necessary to pay our teachers competitively and to keep other programs running. This relates directly to my answer above.

3) The board set quality communication as a goal for the district several years ago. How do you propose to help the district do a better job of communication?

I believe that district must be much more aggressive than it has been in its communications and marketing efforts. I think the internet is an underutilized communications method in HUSD. With my history in marketing/communications I hope to help the district a lot in this area. (One major change that I would push for is to make the district and school email announcements “opt out” instead of “opt in”. That is, every parent with an email on record should get them unless they consciously choose to opt out of the announcements. That would probably make a ten-fold improvement in communications alone.)

4) If elected, what are the benchmarks you will use to decide if your term as a board member was successful?

I think the most telling statistic is the percentage of children living in the district boundaries that actually attend HUSD schools. I am not certain we have access to that data but if we do I think that is the crucial measure of success or failure. For instance if 80% of eligible students living HUSD boundaries are now enrolled in HUSD schools that means that 20% are attending other districts, charter schools, or are being home schooled. If that 20% raises from year to year the I would consider that a failure. If that number decreases I would consider that success. Attracting more students means that more and more parents are gaining trust in HUSD to provide their children with a quality and safe learning environment. That sort of improvement will be good for our children and good for all of our home values as well.

5) How are you qualified for this board position? What activities, training or leadership capacities have you had in the past, and how do they apply to the position you are seeking?

I have spent the last 12+ years running, managing, or working in fast growing internet businesses. I have seen the struggles growing organizations deal with and have helped overcome those struggles in the past. My masters degree in business helped train me in organizational development issues as well. In addition, I have worked in many leadership roles in my church over the years so I have some experience in working in volunteer organizations. With any successful organization there must be accountability at all levels and I am not the type to shy away from the sometimes difficult tasks of holding all parties in the organization accountable for their performance.

On top of that, my four children are going to be products of the HUSD educational system so I have a deeply vested interest in making HUSD the best district in the West.

6) Describe the top three educational challenges the Higley School District will face in the coming years and explain your strategies to overcome those challenges.

I will need to do more research with the teachers to see where problems might be now or where they could be in the future. I do know that there have been significant complaints about the special education programs at HUSD and I think they will be at the top of that list.

7) What effect has the emphasis placed on high results on the AIMS test had on Higley schools and personnel? Do you think it should be a high school graduation requirement?

Once again, I will need to do more research with the teachers before committing to any position on AIMS testing.

8 ) How will you communicate to teachers and staff that you value what they do for children?

Well, I would tell them. But more than that I would fight hard to be sure that teachers and staff were as shielded from bullying as we demand that our students are shielded from bullying.