"Every child in this district deserves to have a safe, welcoming, and well-resourced place to learn."
Hello neighbors! When my wife and I were deciding where to settle down and start a family, one of the driving factors was the quality of local schools. We've happily lived in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District for almost 14 years now, and we have two wonderful children, one of whom will soon be entering kindergarten this fall.
Playing around in Oregon City, 2022
Like many parents, we tend to worry about the future our kids will be facing... and whether they'll be adequately prepared. We do everything we can, but we are also counting on a K-12 school district that is able to provide them with a quality, welcoming, and safe space to learn and grow. I'm proud to have helped contribute to that through a career of driving supportive public policy for our K-12 system, and I'm asking for your vote to continue on that course as one of our school board members.
Every child should have an opportunity to learn in a space that is welcoming, safe, healthy, and well-resourced enough to allow them to grow and learn and explore and unlock their individual potential.
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In order to make that happen, I believe that our school district needs to renew its focus on financial prudence and the needs of its students. I'm running for School Board in order to:
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Renew a Focus on Financial Strategy
Ensure that we're making smart, long-term decisions driven by best practices. Lately the district has steered itself into questionable fiduciary practices, and we need to take stock of what our long-term fiscal strategy should look like.
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Adequately Resource our Classrooms
​This budget cycle is wrought with tough decisions as a result of a legislative K-12 cuts budget as well as climbing PERS rates and ill-timed pension obligation bonds. Tough decisions need to be made, but our touchstone value should be resourcing classroom instruction.
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Ensure Every Child Feels Safe and Welcomed
Too often, the needs of students from marginalized and vulnerable communities are discussed in terms of complex legal discussions and debate that ignores the actual effects on individual students. Whether a child is a part of an immigrant community or the LGBT+ community or any other walk of life, our goal should be to ensure that every student feel safe and included.
