League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Board Member; Saratoga Union School District

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Funding, Curriculum, Goals Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. How would you determine that the schools are using federal, state and local funds wisely and fairly and how would you report your findings to the community? Answer from Susan Germeraad: Making the best use of the limited funds and keeping the District solvent are two of the top priorities of any board. The Board sets the direction for all major spending. Expenditures should be tied directly to educational priorities and the Board's strategic plan. When making the budget plan for the year, the Board needs to make decisions with those priorities in mind, balancing expenditures to address all goals. SUSD has used a budget advisory committee with parents, teachers, and administrators to collect some input from different stakeholders and help them balance priorities. The Board follows through by hiring competent leadership, a careful business officer and by approving independent audits. Regarding fairness: Budgets of individual schools should be roughly equivalent when adjusted for student number and proportion of students with special needs. Budgets should encourage spending money in the year it is collected. Reporting to the community: The Board currently directs the District Superintendent to make a summary of budget process and spending available through the District's web site. The web site has links to relevant documents. The Board approves interim operating budgets, unaudited and audited actuals in open board meetings, so budgeting changes can be reviewed throughout the year. All of the supporting documents are available through Board meeting agendas which are archived digitally and available online. Bond and parcel tax spending are reviewed by oversight committees consisting of community members. Their findings are mailed to taxpayers. Answer from Patty Buchanan: The budget process in any district should be a transparent one. Community members should always be welcome to attend any meeting or proceeding where discussions about revenue and expenditures are taking place. That being said, I realize it is difficult for parents and staff to attend all meeting dealing with this subject. It is the board's responsibility to ensure that information regarding any budget issue is communicated to all stakeholders. This can be done using district-wide email communication tools, putting information on the website in a timely and accurate manner, and making ourselves available to discuss this with any member of the community. The annual Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) that every district has to file requires that conversations be held with stakeholders in the community when setting goals for student achievement and determining a spending plan to reach these goals. Making sure that our community is engaged and a part of these conversations is important when determining if the schools are using funds wisely. As a board member, I intend to be an active partner with our community when crafting the LCAP. 2. Are the schools offering instruction appropriate to the diverse educational abilities of all the students? Answer from Patty Buchanan: Our students have a vast array of educational abilities and interests. Although our teachers do a great job of differentiating instruction so that they can engage every learner, there is still room for improvement. I plan to champion new, innovative programs that enhance our students' learning experience, focusing on student well-being as well as academic rigor. These programs need to include the use of technology as a tool for learning and professional development for our staff so the technology can be used effectively. Answer from Susan Germeraad: Our schools take their responsibility to educating ALL children seriously. They practice curricular differentiation to address students with different learning styles. They offer significant support in reading, math and organizational skills for students who need it. SUSD schools compare very favorably with others in the successes of different student populations, as revealed by the narrowly-defined benchmarks of standardized testing. In addition, the schools, in successful collaboration with the parent community, have developed outstanding music and athletic programs that offer opportunities for all students. In collaboration with the recreation department they also offer extracurricular programs after school. As a teacher in our schools I was continually impressed with the creativity and understanding exhibited by students in their classroom projects and presentations. The motivation and hard work of the students in this District is truly inspiring. As a parent I was grateful for the opportunities our schools provided to my own children to stimulate their growth. We have an obligation as a community to provide for the general education of our children, but our children challenge us to expand our efforts to help them enhance their personal development, recognize their potential and achieve at their highest level. 3. Where do you want the District to be five years from now? What steps should the District take to get there? Answer from Susan Germeraad: Maintain and advance first-rate educational opportunities for all students: SUSD is currently recognized as top-rate based on its core academics. This should not change with the advent of the new curricular standards and tests being introduced. The Board should support continuous evolution of the curriculum and pedagogy to meet students in an increasingly fast-moving, complex world. It is critical that we identify and utilize known best practices and seek out and adapt innovation that is appropriate to our mission. As different ways of delivering instruction are developed, we have to be open to trying and assessing different ways of organizing the curriculum and schedule. Promote mutual respect between stakeholders by improving communication: The entire community values education and expects educational excellence. Based on our different personal experiences, this often looks different to different individuals. We must do our best to recognize, value and respect the different views. The mutual respect must be continually built. Like any personal relationship, work is required to maintain the relationship. Teachers and students constantly interact. It is crucial to their relationship. We need to foster frequent bidirectional communication within the community, between parents, teachers, staff and Board. Our youth will thrive as we find ways to maximize contributions of talent and experience from the entire community. Strive for operational excellence by the Board: High quality, sustainable decision-making (timely, informed by all stakeholders and transparent) I pledge to do my part to make the operation of the Board exemplary. This requires energy, hard work and focus. Answer from Patty Buchanan: Five years from now, I hope we have fulfilled our mission statement; to create an innovative public school system that stimulates intellectual curiosity, providing academic rigor for each and every learner, and instills leadership, responsibility, and global citizenship in a safe and nurturing environment where learners thrive. In order to do that, we need to be committed to a culture of continuous improvement. We need to try new programs and learn from best practices so the we can help each student achieve at their highest potential. We also have to engage our community, our parents and our staff to work together toward this goal. We have to do all that while maintaining a safe, caring environment where learning takes place. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. The answer to each question should be limited to 400 words. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.