FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What are you most proud of having accomplished during your first What are you most proud of having accomplished during your first term?

I am most proud of our board for establishing Goals and Guardrails and implementing a process for monitoring progress toward achieving them. For too long, our district (along with K-12 urban districts across the country) has been chasing after the state report card while also tending to the individual agendas of board members – essentially rendering everything important. The problem with this is that ‘when everything is important, nothing is important’ and we fail our students. Our board is working hard to disrupt this culture, by establishing strategic, long-term goals that focus on student outcomes. Every month our agenda includes a monitoring session during which we have an honest dialogue about whether we are on track, and if not, what are we doing to get on track. (Click here to see a board monitoring session.) The good news is, we are starting to get traction.

For a more detailed understanding of our approach to governance see Great on Their Behalf written by A.J. Crabill, the Executive Director of Governance for the Council of Great City Schools. He and his team have been coaching our board since July 2022.

See also The 4 Disciplines of Execution for an explainer video of the research/theory that is foundation of our approach.

2. Have you accomplished what you set out to do in your first term?

Not entirely. During my time teaching in the district, it felt like Board decisions were not informed by the day-to-day challenges of teachers, staff and students. I ran in 2019 to be that voice. Once elected, I quickly learned that my voice, alone, was not enough. What was needed was culture change – that established a throughline from the day-to-day experience/challenges of teachers, staff and students to the decisions of the superintendent and the board. We have not yet accomplished this culture change but we have begun to make progress -- by insisting that the superintendent identify and address the root causes that are preventing our students from achieving our district’s goals. I believe that student outcomes don’t change until adult behavior changes and that change has to begin with the board. I am running for a second term to ensure that the behavior/mindset change that we have started takes root and begins to cascade down to every classroom throughout the district.

3. What is the most important lesson you learned from the strike?

At the end of the day, it is always about relationships -- whether you are teaching children or running a school district. We need to work at these relationships 24/7 – every day of the year. Every single one of our employees needs to feel respected and supported. Period.

Labor movements have a rich history of initiating much needed societal change. I am completely in support of our teachers demanding the respect they deserve and I am committed to working to pass the levies that will reflect that shift in societal values.

4.Why are many of CCS buildings in a state of disrepair?

Many of our buildings have fallen into disrepair due to the absence of an adequate, dedicated capital improvement fund. (One of the many complexities of school finance I learned upon joining the board.) Our Board took the long overdue vote to place the necessary levy on the ballot -- despite significant headwinds due to competing levies and the economy. Ultimately those headwinds proved too great and we had no choice but to withdraw the levy. In order to improve and maintain our buildings, we need to join forces with our labor partners, fellow elected officials, faith leaders, community partners, parents and business leaders to ensure a successful levy campaign to establish a dedicated capital maintenance and improvement fund.

5.What is the status of the Facilities Master Plan?

Upon the completion of a year-long, community engagement process led by regional community leaders and family and student ambassadors, the District generated a Facilities Master Plan. This plan calls for construction of 21st century, state-of-the-art buildings that would decentralize career tech and facilitate achieving the Portrait of a Graduate for all our students. It includes consolidating and, in some cases closing (or repurposing) some of our current buildings. In May 2022, the Board voted to place a levy on the November ballot that would fund this plan – despite significant political headwinds including potential competing levies and concerns about the economy. Ultimately, however, those headwinds proved too great and we had no choice but to withdraw the levy. We need to join forces with our labor partners, fellow elected officials, faith leaders, community partners and business leaders and lead a successful levy campaign to fund our facilities plan.

6. Is the District top-heavy?

The short answer: it is too soon to tell. We can’t know what is or isn’t top heavy until we have figured out what level of support our students and staff need to be successful. Across the country, large urban school districts are struggling to figure this out. What is critical is that we hold our administrators accountable. This is why I am such a staunch supporter of our Board’s governance framework which intensely focuses on student outcomes. The more we focus on outcomes and identifying the strategies that actually get us there, the closer we will be to a right-sized staff. (See answer to Question 1 above.)

Please see ODE's Cupp Report that indicates that CCS actually has fewer administrators per student than other districts across the state, including similarly sized districts.