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Personal Biography
I was born and raised in South Dakota, went to college in Iowa, and have lived in Kansas for almost 15 years. I am married and have one child in USD 259. Public Education is my family business.
Campaign Phone
(316) 680-2108
Education
BS Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University
Community/Public Service
Board Member Wichita Shakespeare Company, Former Board President Wichita Community Theatre, SPEEA, IFPTE Local 2001 union representative, Eight gallon blood donor
I have served for the past four years on the USD 259 Board of Education. I have one child in a USD 259 elementary school. Prior to my service on the Board of Education, I had friendly contact with dozens of teachers and staff within the school district, and had volunteered in various capacities through them.
I filed for reelection because I know the children of Wichita need consistent district leadership to help recover from any learning losses or social emotional challenges they may have developed during the pandemic. I also believe that we need a strong Board of Education in our largest distict to resist any defunding that the state legislature may try to impose on the children of Kansas in the future.
I believe public schools play a central role in providing and connecting mental health resources to students and staff. For some families in Wichita, school is the only safe, consistent environment that they experience in their daily lives. That being said, schools are microcosms of their communities. If there are mental health challenges within the schools, that is a sign there are mental health challenges within the community. In that way, schools can be a bellwether for our wider community on where we need to emphasize community resources.
In some school districts across the country, school buildings are used as polling places for elections. We do not currently use any school buildings for elections, and I would like to investigate if we could start to. Additionally, in a few municipalities across the United States, 16 and 17 year olds can vote in municipal elections, including Boards of Education. I would like to explore that possibility in Kansas.
Some of our high schools have service days, where students go into their community and help beautify their neighborhoods. I would like to see that kind of service work expanded to middle schools if possible.
USD 259 is projected to maintain or shrink in student population, and this will mean some difficult decisions in allocating resources to the remaining students. Additionally, the pandemic recovery nationwide is projected to take years.
I do not believe any state education funds should go to non-public schools.
After the last contract negotiation with the busing company, USD 259 had to increase the line item for transportation by a huge amount. State funding only covers a certain portion of the busing required to be offered to students by state statute, and it is not calculated based on actual costs. Thus, USD 259 and other school districts in Kansas have to make up the difference with local funds. Since the magnet system (and related offered busing) also acts as a racial and socioeconomic desegregation method, I would be hesitant to reduce service to those schools. I would instead look at other districts who offer parental-paid busing options to help shore up the financial aspect of the entire transportation system.
e.thePeople
e.thePeople