Candidate for
Board Member; Scotts Valley Unified School District

I am passionate about learning and believe there should be no greater cause than to foster and improve our public education system.

Nearly every famous person in history has a teacher to thank for his or her achievements. In fact, I will venture to say that each of us has had teacher that has inspired us or changed the course of our lives. Today¡¦s key technological advances; medical breakthroughs and scientific discoveries have come from brilliant minds all shaped by educators.

Scotts Valley has long enjoyed a reputation for having exceptional schools and providing students with an excellent education. My wife, Meghan, and I moved into the Scotts Valley School District for the sole reason of wanting to provide our daughter, Devin, with the very best public education in the County.

We were pleased with the phenomenal education she received during her years at Brook Knoll Elementary and Scotts Valley Middle School, but we¡¦ve seen the cohesive education shift at the High School level. It has become increasingly apparent that the growing pains and turnover at the High School have created a disconnect in the quality of education the District has been able to offer and the overall ability to attract and retain new students.

My Platform I believe we need two basic components to have successful school district. We need students and we need educators. If we desire the best school district we need the best students and the best teachers.

We can no longer afford to trade experienced teachers for inexperienced ones and we can no longer afford the toll it takes on our students to ¡§train¡¨ new teachers year after year. I also believe that teaching experience and long-term dedication runs deeper than classroom time and that our students deserve to leverage this experience.

I believe it is important for our teachers to be able to work and live in our community so that they can fully understand our goals and needs. This is why we need to hire excellent teachers and find a way to keep them in our District.

My commitment is simple. "Ï Our teachers need to be our priority, second only to the students. "Ï We need an interactive administration that collaborates seamlessly with our teachers and administrators. "Ï Performance goals must be in place for our superintendent. "Ï A marketing plan needs to be implemented to increase our enrollment and keep students in our District from kindergarten through high school. "Ï Continue to provide a safe and secure learning environment for our students