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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
State and Federal Funds,
Instruction,
Future
Click on a name for candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
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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?
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Answer from Robert P. Zager:
The existing School Accountability Reporting framework provides a good system to report to the community.
Answer from Rosemary Rossi:
Hiring the best leadership team possible is the first step in assuring sound fiscal management of funds. Establishing clear educational goals commensurate with community standards and values and having measurable outcomes is essential in allocating federal, state, and local monies. Then making certain that clear, easily read board policies that ensure funds are wisely and fairly allocated are in place, and put into practice. Hiring a reputable auditing firm (as required by the state) to review all accounts.
Answer from Lorrie Wernick:
I have been a board member for the past 12 years. I have always taken care to assure that we have a budget that is accountable and appropriate. We have always put student needs and safety first. During my tenure as a board member, we passed a $79 million dollar construction bond. For ten years, we were then in a construction phase. As a board, we spent many meetings going over the developments and expenditures. We also had a Citizen's Over Site Committee. Taking the time and doing it right is important to me. We also communicated our progress in Superintendent Newsletters to the community.
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2. Are the schools offering instruction appropriate to the diverse educational abilities of all the students?
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Answer from Robert P. Zager:
While the schools offer a diverse course offering, there is a need to offer support to students who are struggling.
Answer from Rosemary Rossi:
The wide range of courses offered at our schools is a start in meeting the diversity of students who attend our high schools. We continue to provide our staff with up-to-date teacher training that helps them to adjust their teaching to the many learning styles of students in their classroom.
This is an on-going challenge which our administrators work on daily.
Answer from Lorrie Wernick:
I am very proud of the large variety of course offerings at both Los Gatos and Saratoga High School to meet the diverse educational abilities of all of our students. Every year that I have been on the board, teachers have shared new opportunities to meet the needs of all students and new course offerings. My personal passion is student success for all students. My doctoral dissertation is on Student Success because it is so important to me.
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3. Where do you want the District to be five years from now? What steps should the District take to get there?
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Answer from Robert P. Zager:
The district should have at least 50% proficiency in every class and grade level as reported by the STAR tests. This will require taking steps to address non-proficiency.
Answer from Lorrie Wernick:
Five years from now, I want to assure that we have the professional development and infrastructure in place to help our students meet the challenges of living and working in the 21st Century. I also want to assure that we maintain our fiscal accountability as we could be looking at tough economic times in the next five years both from a revenue basis and from the support that our community has so generously shared with the schools.
Answer from Rosemary Rossi:
Given the pace of change, it is hard to determine where our schools should be in five years. But technolgy is surely going to be on the forefront so our schools need to be ready with the latest technolgical infrastructure available and have a plan in place that allows for flexibility. Our school facilities need to be updated so that we can offer the latest instruction in areas that are compatible with 21st century learning skills. I would like to see our schools on the forefront of providing the newest strategies to prepare our students for this global economy and having a strong, forward-looking administrative team in place is the first step.
Responses to questions asked of each candidate
are reproduced as submitted to the League.
Candidates' responses are not edited or
corrected by the League.
The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.
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League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
