Candidate for
Board Member; Rancho Santa Fe School District

Five Objectives

If I am elected to the Rancho Santa Fe School Board, I will work hard to accomplish the following five initial objectives.

1)We must reexamine our mission. An updated Mission Statement will clearly state the role of our school in the community, the specific characteristics that are vital to its existence and set a standard for academic excellence. Once we know what our mission is, we can then establish specific strategic goals for the school, followed by the steps required to achieve them.

2)We must focus on Education. There are at least twelve nearby public elementary schools that performed better than the Roger Rowe Elementary School on the California State Academic Performance Index (API) last school year. We must make a commitment to high and measurable academic standards.

3)We must unify this community. Having served on the Superintendent's Advisory Forum (SAF) this summer, it became immediately clear that district residents felt a need to heal the acrimony caused by the recent failed election. A shared vision for the future will help mend the past.

4)We must have sound financial management. In recent years we have spent more on legal fees than on school books and materials. There is a fundamental public trust that is attached to tax money received by the School District, and the public deserves to understand how its money is being spent. I will be your financial watchdog on the School Board should you elect me.

5)We must communicate more effectively. More town hall meetings and direct feedback with local HOA leaders combined with updated content on the school web site will help. We must do better than the current http://www.rsfschoolboard.org web site. Take a look at it. Next look at http://www.sbsd.k12.ca.us, http://www.powayusd.com, or http://www.dmusd.org and see if you notice a difference, not just in the look and feel, but in the site's content.

Issues and Solutions

Education - Our Superintendent, Lindy Delaney, has stated that she was very disappointed in the API (Academic Performance Index) results for last year. I agree. I applaud the school's focus on the fundamentals, and I hope that the initiatives taken this year will show in next years results. Over the past few years, we have seen a number of critical programs, like foreign language and instrumental music fade from our curriculum. I believe that these programs are vital components to a child's education, and would like to see them reinstituted.

New School - One of the major issues facing our district is what to do about a new school. I believe that the fundamental reason for the bond's failure was grade configuration, that grade configuration divided our community. Had there been a decision to build a middle school, I believe that the bond would have passed. Now that the School Board has voted to look for a site for a district wide middle school, it must evaluate sites that are suitable to the majority of district residents. A new middle school should reflect the qualities and standards of Rancho Santa Fe, and should include state of the art classrooms, lab facilities, playing fields, a modern gymnasium, and a performing arts center, all of which would be a valuable community asset.

Overcrowding - While a new school is a longer term solution to the problem of overcrowding, short term solutions are indeed problematic. A recent letter by Superintendent Delaney has suggested four possible policy options that could be used to solve the problem in the short term.

1)De-annexation - This "solution" is a non-starter with me. I will do everything I can to equally protect each and every family's right to attend our school.

2)Send Middle School students to the San Dieguito District -- The most recent demographic study shows minimal growth in student population over the next nine years. Our sixth, seventh and eighth graders deserve better from us. Let's build them a great middle school, and not ship them off somewhere else because we cannot work together.

3)Institute year round school -- Somehow I doubt that this solution will work, especially if a permanent solution is on the horizon. Our High School District does not have a year round school program, and family scheduling problems would result

4)Change teacher ratio higher than 20:1 - As many know, the school does receive some funding, approximately $300,000, from the State for maintaining this low ratio through the third grade. I am a firm believer that a class size of no more than twenty improves the learning environment for students and the teaching environment for teachers. I would view this option as a last resort.

Communication - Whoever said "Perception becomes reality" knew what they were talking about. I believe that the perception of some in the community is that the school and the school board in particular have done a poor job of communicating with its constituents. This may not be true, but if it is the perception, it doesn't matter. In today's technology age, one way to communicate better is to enhance the district's web site. I'm not talking about the look of the site as much as the content of the site. Our Mission Statement along with our specific goals and the steps to achieve them should be the first thing that you see on the web site. Additionally, employment listings, salary schedules, all letters of communication, the School Accountability Report Card (SARC), all California Testing Results, and a list of pertinent school policies should be easily accessible to all in our school community.

Finance - I take seriously the definition of the word "trustee". When it comes to a board member's fiduciary obligation to the School District, my interpretation of the "trustee" obligation is to spend the public's money as if it were my own. If we are to take any operating deficit seriously, and raise money through our valuable PTO and Endowment organizations, we must be sure that we are funding our children's education, and not paying interest on ill conceived loans...or lawyers for that matter. As a former Chief Financial Officer, I will be about spending your money wisely.