League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 6, 2007 Election
	Wynn Hausser Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Palo Alto Unified School District

The questions were prepared by the the League of Women Voters of Palo Alto and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What problems do you see facing the school district and how do you propose to address them?

Decision-making: The board must have a clear and transparent decision-making process to be credible. When looking at new programs or evaluating existing ones, we should first make sure the program fits within our strategic goals and priorities, then address district-wide policy concerns, and only then evaluate how the individual program meets identified needs.

Enrollment Growth Planning: We need to ensure demographic projections accurately reflect reality, consider a variety of alternatives beyond facilities to addressing growth, and be proactive in moving forward with solutions.

Facilities: Our physical plant doesn't support the level of infrastructure required to ensure top-flight programs. Facility decisions should be based on our vision and philosophy of what we want our schools to be. Then we need a forward-thinking, district-wide, comprehensive facilities plan that reflects these priorities. Finally, we need mechanisms to ensure funds are efficiently and effectively spent.

2. What steps need to be taken to foster better communication among the school board, superintendent's office, and local school management?

As a communication professional, I know the importance of having multiple mechanisms for open communication between board, superintendent, district staff, and local school management. I support holding annual retreats for goal and priority-setting, and quarterly closed session meetings between board and superintendent. I believe in the concept of 360° feedback to gain a variety of inputs on the superintendent's performance, including from local school management. I also believe holding study sessions on key issues can help us gain in-depth and shared understanding of issues.

3. What approaches would you support to help all students achieve their educational goals, whether they are college bound or not?

The role that social and emotional health has on a child's ability to learn is well-documented. Achieving our academic goals requires healthy students in healthy schools. However, our current system tries to address this issue in a piecemeal way, and there is no organized district-wide health education. We need to take a comprehensive approach to this issue, including school-based programs, system and policy development and school personnel education and training.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates in this race must limit their answers to 300 words total so that a paper Voters Guide may be published by LWV Palo Alto. After 8 p.m. on Sept. 12 word limits will no longer apply. Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 16, 2007 18:10
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