Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Templeton Unified School District

Loss of Common Sense and Respect: An extreme loss of respect has occured between our current board and our teachers after two grueling years of negotiations. Our board meetings have become shouting matches, egos have been let loose and the atmosphere has been terribly hostile. Our teachers have been shown no respect and it is my belief that the negotiations would have ended sooner if the Board and Superintendent had not taken this battle persoanlly. With the exception of one Board member, our board seems no longer capable of making it's own decisions. All the decisions seem to be directed by our Superintendent, rather than the Board making decisons and our Superintendent carrying them out. I would like to the the return of sound and rational decision making returned to the Board.

Loss of our Para Educators: The impact of our loss of Para Educators, is being felt this year with a vengence. It is my belief that no one, including our teachers were prepared for the void that has been left.The benefit of our para educators and the services that they provided have been felt in areas stretching across the spectrum. Safety alone has become an area of school wide concern. Our teachers are being asked to not only teach with little or no prep time, but run yard duty as well. Our para educators were the extra body to help in all of these areas, as well as the director during drills where students are forced outside. The para educators would go ahead with the students outside while the teachers were back in class ensuring that all children were removed from danger.What happens now, do our teachers go out at the front of class and hope that all the children arrive to safety? Or do the teachers let the children fend for themselves and wait with the last of the students emerging? There are many areas of concern in Safety issues, this is but only one.

Budget Reform: While serving as President and Treasurer of our PTA's,I have been witness to the shortfalls of our current budget on children's programs, supplies and services. After also attending the Community Budget Meetings last year, I saw first hand that there is room in the budget for cuts and revisions, and I believe that every effort should be made at reform.The Community Budget meetings were never taken seriously, and reform was never really a goal for those meetings. Overspending, highly paid Administration, and large amounts of contract spending are just some of the areas where I would like to see changes.I have seen large amounts of money being spent, yet there seems to be no money for our children's basic education, and plenty of budget cuts made at all elementary levels.