Candidate for
Board Member; Paradise Unified School District

My wife, Shannon, and I have lived in Paradise for almost 35 years. We have raised five children, who have all attended Paradise schools and graduated from Paradise High School. We currently have a granddaughter attending Pine Ridge. We are members of a local church and have participated in scouting programs, youth activities and local sports programs and are members of the Sterling City Historical Society. I am currently a teacher of Special Education for Sutter County, teaching a living skills class of 18 to 22 year-old students with a wide range of special needs. I have officiated college and high school sports for over thirty five years and have coached and participated in Paradise Little League. As a softball coach at Biggs High School, I was selected by Cal-High Sports as the 2002 Small School Coach of the Year for the State of California. For the last seven years I have been the President of a California Teachers Association unit in Sutter County.

The voters have elected me three times to the Paradise Unified School District Board where I have served as its President, Vice President and Clerk. While I have served on the Board, we have had to make difficult, life changing decisions by cutting our budget from approximately $34,000,000 to $25,000,000. During the last ten years I have been an instrumental part of the board making sure that our school district was able to pay our bills, hire a Superintendent and administrative officers who understand the vision of the board. I promised that when the lean times were over, we would put back in place the programs as our budget would allow, which we have done. With the new Local Control Funding Formula, we have been able to reduce class sizes, hire additional counselors and rehire employees whom we previously laid off. I believe that our employees need staff development to increase skills need to educate our students, so I have supported that training. I have taken a lead in getting the district to open up two rooms at Horace Brakebill School in Sterling City to be used for the education of students and community members. I have lobbied in Sacramento and Washington D.C., at my own expense, to help get the funding needed for vocational and academic classes.

After many years of waiting for the high school gym bond money to be used for its intended purpose, we now have the plans and contracts in place to begin construction as soon as the state approves the funds. During my time on the board I have not accepted the free health insurance that is offered to Board members, instead choosing to pay for mine where I work. I do accept a stipend of $240 a month and it is used in classrooms for projects that the district budget doesn't cover. The money has been spent on various items such as: library shelves, books, art projects, sports equipment, kindergarten packets, band uniforms and fundraising activities, all of which support the students in Paradise.

I have seen many changes over the last twelve years as our district has improved in test scores and programs for students. I have the experience, knowledge and the desire to watch the growth of our students and to establish a new vision for Paradise Unified School District and would appreciate your vote to continue with work I have started.