League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund
Hamilton County, OH November 8, 2005 Election
	Mary R. (Ries) Jensen Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Wyoming City School District

Questions & Answers

1. What are your Qualifications for Office? (50 word limit)

I have managed complicated R&D organizations globally. This entailed creating and managing budgets, strategic planning and hard priority choices, keeping my work force and management informed and happy and creating a superior product by understanding what people need/want. These skills would benefit a school board.

2. What plans do you have to address your top three priorities? (100 word limit)

Maintaining the excellent product that is Wyoming Education by ensuring we are being creative in our approaches. We need to find the "yes, and" answer rather than the "either, or" answer. How can we have all the programs we want inside the budget we have? What technology would bring the board closer to the community? What technology would make the cirrocumuli come to life? What is the right balance of control and responsibility for students? I don't have a specific agenda; rather I hope to bring passion and creative problem solving to the problems that will undoubtedly emerge.

3. What will you do as a Board of Education member to increase parental involvement in your school system? (100 word limit)

Wyoming has an excellent tradition of parental involvement and that is a very critical element of its success. Volunteering opportunities are one way to bring parents in and many take advantage of them. But not everyone is available for that kind of interaction. New technology programs which allow parents to monitor a student's class work and progress are an excellent new step which almost everyone can use. Continuing to find ways to let parents into their student's educational lives should be a priority for the district.

4. As a candidate, how can you improve community relations with residents?

By looking for every opportunity for face to face communication, neighborhood coffees and board meetings themselves are important. Not to beat too much on technology, but having individual Board members available via email is a priority. It would provide rapid turn and better information. In the absence of clear, transparent communication too many things get distorted. This causes a lot of wasted energy.