2015 PSD Board Election Questionnaire

As PSD has grown, we have seen school of choice become

limited at many sites. How do you preserve that choice in a
climate that had made it difficult to support it?
I fully support school of choice. It works best when seats are available
to accommodate those wanting to leave their neighborhood school.
Unfortunately, our district is experiencing explosive growth and many
of the highly sought after schools are in the areas that are growing the
fastest. It becomes a game of numbers as schools, naturally, serve the
students in their attendance area first. Choice seats are approved
based on the districts eight-tier process and only if space is available.
Although this can be frustrating for parents who feel the need to leave
their neighborhood school, caps are placed on the enrollment numbers
of our schools to preserve an optimum ratio of teachers to students. I
would offer that charter schools might be a solution to the problem.
They offer choice and may not be under the same overcrowding
constraints the public schools face.
As a PSD Board of Education Director, I believe that every school in our
district is well equipped to offer a quality education to our students. I
believe that neighborhood schools are a choice, too.
The district ha a long-term plan to deal with growth in the
district. However, new schools are years away. How do you
deal with that growth today? Modular units? Later start
times?
Our PSD Long Range Facilities Planning report is an excellent resource
for details on this matter. Although our first school (elementary) will
not open until fall of 2018, we do have plans to accommodate growth
with modular classrooms. We can also move students to classrooms of
adjacent schools where crowding is not a problem. For example,
housing some of Wellington Middle School classrooms at Eyestone
Elementary School and creating a joint campus has been considered.
Another strategy would be to re-allocate certain classroom spaces as
was done when Early Childhood classrooms were move from
Riffenburgh to relieve overcrowding. There is also the consideration of
adjusting attendance boundaries to alleviate crowding. A committee of
stakeholders is currently studying these options.
The school district will soon put a bond to the general public to
pay for construction of several new schools and needs at other
existing schools. Does it go far enough? How will you sell the

idea of hundred of millions of dollars to those who dont have

kids in the system?
I believe that the projected amount for our bond will meet our needs
for construction and maintenance of existing buildings. I am
confident we can pass our bond election if we market it carefully. It
begins with educating the public and Sandra Smyser has begun that
process by taking the time to personally visit with every sort of
community member to share our growth numbers and what we
propose to do to meet the challenge. We have a wonderful and
generous community that realizes, on the whole, that prosperity is
derived from an educated community. . When families are looking for
places to live, they look to see which schools are the best performers.
When businesses are contemplating coming to Fort Collins and other
adjacent communities, they check out the school district. And
residents with no children in the system understand how important it is
to have strong schools in order to enjoy a prosperous community. Not
passing the bond only ensures that overcrowding will continue and that
the district will have to implement strategies that may result in
diminished productivity. The key lies in educating the public about the
importance of passing the upcoming bond election. We have always
had a very generous and supportive community. Our community
needs to know that good thing are happening in PSD and we need to
keep it going!
Whats the top priority/goal for you as you consider taking a
seat on PSDs board in the 4-year term to come?
I plan to continue advocating for more funding and less testing as we
have over the last two years. However, Im excited about our new
district goals (ends) and how to begin implementing them. I would like
to see an emphasis on vocational training make its way back to PSD.
When my kids were students, our schools offered cooking, sewing,
carpentry, auto mechanics and many more skill-based learning. It has
disappeared over the years and been replaced with an abundance of
academic courses. I would like to balance the academic with the
vocational education courses that train our students in the skills they
need to graduate and enter the world of work on a career path. I
would like to explore more extensive partnerships with Front Range
Community College and CSU to make the necessary coursework
available and create some valuable mentorships/internships. And, I
would like to hire more counselors to help our students identify their
passions, identify their interests and then create an academic map to
get them to their destination by graduation time.

What does student success look like to you at the conclusion of

a students senior year in high school?
By the time our students complete their senior year, several important
things should be evident. They will have completed all graduation
requirements. They will have possibly completed additional postsecondary credits through concurrent enrollment. They will have
mapped out a clear plan for college attendance or a career path in the
workforce. Most importantly, they will be physically, socially and
emotionally equipped to navigate the outside world and become selfsufficient and contributing adults.
What can you do as a board member to evaluate and improve
on the number and time spent on mandatory testing?
Just as we did this past year, wethe school boardneed to continue
to lobby our state legislators to increase the funding and lessen the
time we have to spend on testing. We achieved some tiny victories in
that the number of testing times for PARCC was cut in half and the
duration was lessened by about 90 minutes per test. We need to
continue working toward creating our own authentic assessments
unique to our district like end of course tests and gradually moving
away from so many standardized tests.
What will you do to engage the significant block of the public
that doesnt have kids in school in this election?
Funny, I was just asked this same question by a friend of mine who is in
hi 70s and considers himself out of the loop It all comes down to
communication and we need to create as many community
engagement venues as possible where citizens can come to ask
general questions and also receive information from the board about
growth, the bond and other pertinent and timely issues. We need to
keep these folks in the loop. Another great resource we have for
community members is the PSD website which is regularly updated
and offers an abundance of valuable information. We need to share all
the good things that are happening in PSD!
Should PSD work toward free all-day kindergarten?
I wholeheartedly agree that all-day kindergarten is crucial to getting
the kids ready to learn and a huge investment in their future academic
success. Year after year the topic comes up and is shortly shot down
for lack of funding. I believe in the value of it and I will continue to
advocate or all-day kindergarten.

Should PSD consider a year-round school calendar?

This is definitely another way to deliver our education to our students,
but Im not quite sure why we would pursue it. One of the formidable
obstacles would be to cool the schools during the summer sessions.
Another is the tremendous disruption to families as they try to arrange
vacations and childcare. Also, we would need to get plenty of input
from our parents and community as to whether it something we should
pursue.