WHY I'M RUNNING
After nearly two decades of broad and deep involvement in the Eanes-Westlake community, I am ready and excited to take on the commitment and the challenge of serving as a School Board Trustee. Having raised three kids in the Eanes system, I care deeply about this district and the potential of the youth in it.
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The issues facing us are complex, and I believe bringing my voice to the table will help tackle them. In order to preserve and enhance Eanes’ excellence, we must think holistically, with a keen eye focused on our current challenges but also with a long-term vision of how Eanes can continue to be a nationally-recognized leader in public education.
HOW I THINK:
I believe leadership roles and boards are served well when they have seasoned, passionate members who can offer both a unique perspective and a track record of service and success. I am an experienced parent and volunteer who has served in many volunteer roles at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels over the past 17 years - including campus and district leadership positions such as the Student Safety and Health Advisory Council, and helping community groups like the Westlake Rotary, Westlake HS Interact Club, Young Mens' Service League, and the American Cancer Society. I cherish the numerous friendships I have forged through these experiences!
In my career and volunteer work, I have been recognized by many as an open-minded individual who values stakeholder input in the decision-making process. My background in science and engineering lends itself to an evidence-based mindset and a desire to focus on outcomes and metrics whenever possible. I want to bring this approach and rigor to the Eanes ISD School board. The more we can make decisions supported by data, reason, and community input, the more successfully we can address the challenges ahead.
When making any decision, I seek input. A lot of input. And I listen. I try very hard to be unbiased in decision making and to put myself in the shoes of others. It is when we recognize our biases that we can be the most effective leaders that steer organizations towards success. My interest in seeking input has, quite frankly, made people suspicious of me during this campaign. That is unfortunate. And, it’s extremely frustrating. Please be careful when you hear people say, for example, that I am a book banner. Nothing could be further from the truth. Reach out if you have any concerns related this topic, and I will happily engage. Perhaps you’d like to start with what I have posted on this website. I am not afraid to put what I believe in writing and to go into detail. Every issue is nuanced, and when people take what you say out of context, it is dangerous and breeds misinformation.
The success of Eanes ISD depends upon the partnership of our families with the teachers, administration, and staff that dedicate themselves to the mission of educating our youth. The Board of Trustees plays a vital role in making sure that partnership is properly supported and that the desires of the community are accurately translated each year into strategic directives for the district. However, the challenges of the past several years have made clear that thorough, timely communication is imperative to establishing transparency and fostering trust between the various stakeholders in our district. I believe that Eanes has made important strides in rebuilding trust recently, but that further work can be done. I am committed to listening to all voices in the community to understand the various perspectives on how we can as a district provide the best education possible for our children. I also recognize that often compromise is needed in order to move us forward.
MY PRIORITIES:
MENTAL HEALTH
SAFETY
Eanes, like other districts across the US, is facing a dramatic increase in mental health concerns. Our youth, staff, and community as a whole have all been impacted by the pandemic and uncertainty in the economic and political world around us. Creating a culture of caring and identifying needs early is imperative as part of our focus on student and staff well-being both on our campuses and in our broader community. One of our primary goals must be for EVERY student - no matter their gender identity, sexual orientation, skin color, race, ethnicity, learning ability, or religion - to feel included and safe in our schools so that they are in a mindset to learn and succeed academically. It is also imperative that our staff members feel safe and respected so that they can best perform their jobs as educators. Strong evidence exists that connectedness and inclusion provides a long-lasting impact on promoting mental wellbeing.
We have room for improvement in these areas, and as we work to provide a welcoming environment and equal opportunities within the Eanes experience, it is important that we listen to all stakeholders - students, families, and staff - to understand how we are performing in these areas. We must create a culture where we demonstrate that the student voice is valued and ultimately has impact. Our DEI committee with its campus teams is a great resource to the district for assisting and advising in this ongoing work.
It is imperative that our schools and families have a mutual understanding of student needs, resources available, and policies in place. As a 5 year member of the Eanes Student Safety and Health Advisory Committee (SSHAC) and its newly formed Mental Health Subcommittee, I have been actively engaged in conversations at the district level regarding what Eanes currently does to support student health and what it could do better. Recently, the administration has taken steps to increase counseling staff, but resources are limited and we still fall short of recommended counselor to student ratios. When a student is struggling, it is important for parents and staff to work together as a team but also listen to the student voice. We must continue to empower our youth and families with tools and knowledge that support mental wellbeing. Fostering resilience in our youth while they are in the Eanes system is a key factor to their future success.
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DEI
SUPPORTING
TEACHERS
Eanes has faced and continues to face both budgetary and strategic challenges as it strives to provide an excellent, rather than adequate, education. Teacher quality is widely recognized as the most important variable in a student’s education. As such, we must continue to advocate for policies that increase teacher salaries and positively impact teacher recruitment and retention. We must also continue to focus on making Eanes a place teachers WANT to work. Excellent teachers are the heart of providing an excellent education.
COMMUNICATION
My community service has taught me that bringing together a diversity of ideas and experiences is incredibly valuable - but also time consuming. I recognize that the role of Trustee requires that one dedicate time to not only attend meetings, but to study the issues thoroughly and continuously keep abreast of community sentiment and policy developments. I am eager to serve our community in this regard.
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Additionally, continued focus on doing our best to provide timely, comprehensive, and easily accessible information about what is happening in our classrooms and across our district as a whole is vital to developing trust, building community, and ensuring that Eanes operates as efficiently as possible. We must continue to explore how parents want to receive information and use multiple channels to connect with not only families in the district but taxpayers who do not currently have children attending Eanes schools. Communication styles and tools are advancing, and we must remain on the forefront of this and be innovative. Eanes does not fund communications at a level comparable to other districts its size and as the community continues to stress the importance of transparency, we must consider adding additional support to this vital role.
Bonds are an important element of budgeting that in recent years have strategically aimed to move expenses from our Maintenance and Operations budget to capital budgeting, freeing up as much money as possible for staff raises within M&O. To accomplish this, our bonds aim not only to keep our aging infrastructure operationally efficient, but they include funding for a wide variety of Eanes’ programs, campus safety, and digital initiatives. I have closely followed the bond advisory process leading to the development of the ~$130 million bond that will be on the May ballot I have talked with parents and administrators to understand the concerns and complexities of financing our district needs through the bond process. Our financial leadership is highly competent, working responsibly to maximize every dollar that comes in the door via the early retirement of debt and the matching of the portfolio of bond debt instruments with the lifespan of the investment. I fully support the spending and see it as an imperative part of funding the work that our district needs to do to educate our children.
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Want to learn more about what is in the 3 Bond Propositions on the ballot? Visit www.eanesbonds.com.
My hope is that every student can learn to love reading and have access to books that inspire them to do so. Reading is vital for neurological development as well as opening up the world beyond our walls. For this reason, I believe that we must offer a broad selection of age appropriate materials in our school libraries. Of course, the challenge we face is that our community holds widely varying definitions of age appropriateness. I do not believe that LGBTQ+ or racial content alone defines a book as being age-inappropriate.
I support the two-pronged system Eanes has in place for parents to (1) express concerns about and challenge the placement of specific books on the shelves in our libraries and (2) set clear & transparent guidelines for which books their own children are allowed to check out of the library. The district is listening to concerns, and it is working to address them. To conclude, I believe that parents should have the right to decide what their own child checks out of the library but not the right to dictate what children of other parents check out of the library.
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LIBRARY BOOKS
BONDS
VISIONARY
PLANNING
We are reaching a critical point where we must seriously consider sizable investments in major capital improvement projects to address aging facilities that are no longer able to adequately serve the various programs that use them. Eanes, like the Austin-area as a whole, has grown considerably over the past several decades. In many cases, small modifications are simply not possible. This was made very evident in recent discussions related to the 2023 bond. It is imperative that we gather broad stakeholder input so that we can smartly navigate the process of the long-term strategic master planning. We are fortunate to have many creative minds with varied expertise in our district to help us develop a vision for the future. It is exciting to ponder the possibilities that lie ahead.