CANDIDATE PLATFORM

By Anna M. Sanchou

This paper contains a brief background on myself and lists my reasons for running. Change is needed and I'd like an oportunity to offer that change.

I want to state right off the bat that I am not a politician. I am running for School Board because I am concerned about the educational achievement of students in the district and want to ensure our children obtain the best education possible to prepare them for the future.

I worked on the Committee to pass Measure C, the Bond Measure in SSF to be used for structural improvements of school buildings and am currently a member of the Bond Oversight Committee appointed by the Board to make sure the Bond funds are being administered as planned.

A brief summary of my platform consists of:

· Improving scholastic achievement, initially in Reading and Math, where many of our schools are below the county average and in many cases below the state average. Some of the candidates have stated the fact that the tests given to our students were not reflective of the curriculum taught in the District and were off-the-shelf tests. That may be true. Unfortunately, when our students go to take an employment exam, they will be getting, most likely, an off-the-shelf test. The employer will not care, they will merely review the results. There are some fundamental requirements that must be met and our test results reflect we are not meeting them.

· Raise school standards and challenge current school policy for Grades K-12. A good example of this is with the current promotion policy in the Middle School. The current policy is you must pass 9 of 12 classes with a "D" or better during the last two grading periods to be promoted. It's a sad day when we tell our children you only need to pass 9 of 12 courses. In order words, we are telling them it's OK to fail three classes. It is not OK to fail any class.

· We need to send the message to our young people that "good enough isn't" and they must take their education seriously to succeed.

· Promote Volunteerism. Corporations, such as PB have programs that allow employees 2 hours a week as part of their workday to Volunteer at local schools as teachers aides, tutors or whatever the classroom teacher needs. In SF they do this in collaboration with a non-profit organization called SF School Volunteers. There's no reason a program such as this could not be implemented in our District.

· Build open communication between the Board and the Community. Let's face it, times have changed and there just aren't enough hours in a day. Between parents taking time to attend school functions, PTA meetings, Little League or sporting events, Association Meetings around community issues, when are we spending time with our children? School Board meetings are important to parents, and so are PTA meetings but when you have to make the trade off, these things lose. Just because parents don't attend school board meetings or PTA meetings doesn't mean they don't care. If there's a hot agenda item, people attend. If nothing earthshaking is on the agenda, many people ask someone going to the meeting to fill them in on what transpired. I would like to see the School Board meetings televised, so more people can follow what's going on. Remember, School Board meetings aren't just for parents. Students, teachers, homeowners and community members are all impacted by decisions made by the School Board.

· The school district has made improvements in getting more technology in the schools, however, some of our schools still have a high student/computer ratio. While the middle school county and state ratio is 9 students per computer, one of our middle schools has a ratio of 25 students per computer. Not everyone embraces technology, unfortunately, it is what many of our children will need to be competitive in the marketplace.

· We are fortunate that we have many highly skilled and experienced teachers in our District. We need to create an environment that is conducive to retaining and attracting those type of resources. This includes salary and wages as well as having adequate materials to teach our children. My son, who attends school in the District, brings home math ditto sheets and asks for help. Having graduated from school many years ago, my mind sometimes needs refreshing. I ask to see his Math book and he tells me they are to stay in the classroom. Teachers cannot teach in isolation. They need parent reinforcement to help in teaching our students. How can we do that if the resources needed are not available. We must give the teachers the tools, better tools, that allow them to give our children a better education.

· And last but not least, we need to look at expanding our Community Service Programs in the District. Many colleges now review applications not only for academic achievement but to see the Community work a student has done as well as involvement in athletics, Band and the Arts. The identification of these additional programs may make the difference between acceptance into their school of choice.

As the old saying goes, I wish I were a teenager, because they have all the answers. Unfortunately, they don't . What we need to stress to them is, that - what they learn in school will render what they have to offer in the workplace.

I am a candidate who has an open mind and a willingness to listen and learn and that means to listen and learn from the experts. Those experts are the students, the parents and the teachers.

I don't have all the answers and I won't try to convince you that I do, but I'm dedicated to do my best to continue to build a strong, healthy, financially viable School District.

I believe all of these issues that I've addressed are vital to the success of our students and the District and hope I have your support in achieving these goals.

I'm just a working mom who wants to get things done.

Thank you.

Priorities

1. Raise Scholastic Achievement.
2. Raise the Standards. Challenge their minds.
3. Improve communication between the Board and others.