Candidate for
Board Member; Elk Grove Unified School District; Area 6

When elected four years ago I had five concerns, Academic Achievement, School Safety, Mentorships, Technology, and Class Size Reduction.

Statistics show that our test scores and student academic achievement continue to rise. Greater percentages of our students are moving on to higher education and we have increased programs that allow vocational opportunties for those who want to move into the workforce.

I have developed youth programs on many campuses which address school and community safety. I have provided hands-on role playing regarding life like tragedies on campuses giving students, staff and responding emergency agencies an opportunity to work together to design emergency plans that could save lives.

Mentoring has positive impacts on our young people. When they feel connected they are less likely to become involved in gangs, drugs, teen-age pregnancy and school violence. I am personally involved with the mentoring programs in our school district and support new and innovative plans tht help our students such as the PAWS Program.

We have developed technology in our district which allows parents to contact teachers, view grades and homework and track their own student's progress. Teachers and parent/guardians can be in direct contact with each other 24 hours a day.

Our student population is growing faster than any other district in the state. We pride ourselves on our small town atmosphere and accomplish this, in spite of our rapid growth, by providing class size reduction in grades k-3. We have also been able to maintain our promise to teachers in that we have begun class size reduction in grades 4-6 in spite of the major budget cuts we have been facing.

As you can see, i kept my promise to this district that I made four years ago. There is still much to do and I am prepared to continue to provide the educational opportunties that will make our students successful. We attract the best teachers in the state and nation to our district. It is important that we continue to keep their salaries competitive, maintain standards but give them the academic freedom to teach to all kids and provide them with the materials and classrooms which will allow them to teach to their utmost potential.