League of Women Voters - Part 1 Meeting

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[0] SPEAKER_16: The purpose of the League of Women Voters is to promote political responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in government. The League is nonpartisan. The League does not support or oppose any political party or candidate. It is political in that it reaches positions on selected government issues after member study and agreement. and then takes an active or positive change on those positions. Here are the ground rules for tonight's forum. And please, people, come on in and have a seat. Okay. Questions have been collected from the audience and have been sent to us. We will sort them to ensure that a wide variety of issues will be covered. Due to time constraints, we may not be able to ask every question submitted. Each candidate will conclude with one and a half minute closing statement. Our timekeeper who is seated in the front will raise a 15 second card to warn the speaker when 15 seconds remain, and then a stop card when time is up. The speaker must immediately conclude his or her remarks. Time limits are closely followed to ensure fairness to all our candidates. If you would like me to repeat a question, please just ask. Also, do not feel that you have to use up the entire minute and a half for a reply. We expect the audience to give each speaker an opportunity to be heard. And please hold your applause until the end of the evening. So now that you know the format, Let's meet our candidates who are running for Newark School Board. And I have Nancy Thomas up in front and Alisa Martinez. And is this Mr. Brazil? Yes. OK, have a seat. We're waiting for you. And coming to his chair is Mr. Ron Brazil. All right. Sorry I'm late. That's OK. We're here. Did you hear the ground rules? Minute and a half, and you'll get a time card and a stop card. All right, for the questions. All right. Well, we'll let you get your breath. All right, and we'll start our questions with Alisa Martinez. This is the question that I think all three of you will have challenges with. State the top three priorities you will focus as a Newark Unified School District board member.

[179] Elisa Martinez: Top three priorities. The first one is the enrollment situation that we have, the declining enrollment challenge. That is, of course, hand in hand with our financial challenges that we have as well. And I think the third item that I would say is the culture that exists between our administration and our teaching staff and the overall culture of the district. So I'll come back to the issue around enrollment. This is an ongoing issue over the last three to four years. I'm sorry, the last five years. Accelerated in the last couple of years where we have been seeing a decline of enrollment of over 100 students per year. In talking to the community, there's multiple reasons for that. So we need to really understand how much of that we can stop, how much of that we can recover. And obviously, as we grow our population in Newark, how much of the new student population can we capture? That, of course, ties into the financial challenges that we have. That the amount of funds that we have is obviously compensatory to the amount of students. And again, with less money to compensate our staff.

[275] Jodi Croce: Ms.

[276] Nancy Thomas: Thomas? Hello. I think we have three what I would call strategic imperatives that the board has been working on in the last year and I think those are what we should be working on. The first is academic excellence with an eye on equity for all students. I think we need to really look at all of our academic programs to make sure that they are implemented with fidelity and doing everything we can to ensure our student success for all of our students including our subgroups. I think the second is that we need financial stability in an age where we have declining enrollment and we can't count on enrollment increasing. We had a big surprise this year with an unexpected decrease in enrollment. We need to look and make sure we have sound budgets that are based on realistic enrollment projections because that's the engine that drives our funding. the amount of enrollment that we have. So that leads to the third strategic imperative, which is to increase enrollment. There are a lot of things we can do immediately to increase enrollment, such as having a better process and really making people, when they apply to the district, feel welcome and encouraged to attend our district, and showing them what we can offer them that other schools, private schools, or other districts can't.

[370] SPEAKER_03: Mr. Brazil? OK, well, I think it's a case of the chicken or the egg, which came first. What is the cause of these? I agree that the problem is, can you hear me? No? The button.

[389] Nancy Thomas: The red button. The red button. There, now they can.

[393] SPEAKER_03: Testing. OK.

[394] Jodi Croce: There you go.

[395] SPEAKER_03: OK, so as I was saying, it's kind of a case of the chicken and the egg, which came first. Low enrollment, poor budget. But I think the real cause is low test scores in the 30% getting threes and fours and 30% getting being prepared for college, 60%. The 11th grader is not prepared. So I think that is the ultimate cause for these other problems, which leads to low enrollment, people with means, pulling their kids out, probably maybe higher achieving students. And this brings the scores down again. And then it just becomes, then we have a low Our budget is underfunded, and this leads to low morale with teachers. So everything is sort of connected, but I think it all starts with the test scores. And it leads to these other problems, budget and enrollment problems.

[483] SPEAKER_16: All right, let's move on to question number two. Is the Newark Unified School District budget balanced at this present time? If not, what current budget items should be reduced or cut in order to balance the budget? Ms. Martinez.

[511] Elisa Martinez: As of the last meeting that I attended, we are facing a significant deficit going into this year and to next year. So I would say that we are not balanced. What are the opportunities to reduce? We need to look at, the obvious is the salaries, right? If we look at what comprises our budget, it's over 80%. of the total dollars of the budget are in salaries. We understand what that means and I don't think any of us are looking to have any significant reduction in our teaching or support staff. So we must look at operating costs, understand the footprint, understand our capacity that we have. We have capacity in the district for over about 9,000 students, and we're at about 5,500 in enrollment. So we really need to understand, besides salaries, what are some of these additional opportunities to reduce in operating expenses and capital expenses.

[578] Nancy Thomas: Ms. Thomas? Yes. We developed a balanced budget that we approved in June. However, in the middle of June, the assembly, And they took out money, one-time money, and they also increased slightly our base LCFF funding. But that resulted in a $500,000 deficit that we didn't anticipate and didn't plan for in our budget. There was also another $300,000 that resulted because we projected enrollment increases based on our studies It didn't happen. We lost about 134 students. Coupled with that, we are going into this year with deficit spending that we didn't plan on. Things that we can do immediately to address this, I think, is we can freeze vacant positions that are noncritical. We can stop noncritical spending, such as conferences, consultants, and food. We shouldn't be adding any new programs or any new curriculum adoptions until we know we can afford them. We should increase average daily attendance by whatever means possible, incentives at each one of our school sites. Every 1% gives us about $500,000 more. I think we need to open negotiations as soon as possible. Our costs and salaries and benefits and furlough days, we need to think about right-sizing our schools. And we need to maybe ask the public for a parcel tax. This is a serious thing, because next year it'll be even another additional million we need to cut.

[680] SPEAKER_16: Mr. Brazil?

[683] SPEAKER_03: OK, well, I guess budget is not really my thing. I don't know that much about it at the present time. A couple of things I do know is I understand we're going to spend $60,000 moving to the district office, but I would vote no on that. I would vote to use that money to start a program in the schools of some sort. I think we have to energize our junior high students. I noticed here on the Healthy Kids survey that meaningful participation on school students is in the teens and I think one way to, you know, increase meaningful participation where the students feel like what they're doing is meaningful is to give them some technology. I would have one-on-one, I would put that 60,000 towards one-on-one laptops for the junior high students or at least one grade in junior high to get them started. The junior high is bleeding students. I lost dozens of students this year, and we need to do something to energize the junior high population and community.

[766] SPEAKER_16: Thank you, Mr. Rizzo. Our next question, what is Newark Unified School District doing to address the issue of bullying? How would you strengthen the present policy on bullying? Ms. Martinez?

[787] Elisa Martinez: So I can speak to my school. I think as a district, I think that that is an opportunity. And I'm not sure that we have a really cohesive program for anti-bullying. We know we have our positive behavior initiative. But as I think about the recent program that our Birch Grove schools had, where we the Parent Teacher Club sponsored a very well-developed anti-bullying assembly. So those things and children in, my son is a fourth grader, he was very touched by it. It was really resonated to him. And so I think that we need to really understand the needs of each of our student populations and really develop the programs that will meet their individual needs and that will speak to them again at their age of development. I don't know. I haven't seen that happen in our junior high. I don't know what we do in high school. But I do know that those are critical populations for us. And we need to, again, be very deliberate in what those needs are, develop a program, and execute against it. Of course, that requires funding. So again, this is something that is, I believe, a non-negotiable in our current culture. So we need to start working and understand what those needs are.

[873] Nancy Thomas: Ms. Thomas? Yes, the board has updated and has passed our board policies regarding bullying. And we have informed staff about their responsibility. But beyond that, we have done what I think is good, positive behavior incentive programs at most of our schools. And they are showing results. If you go around at Open House to our classrooms, you'll see posters that talk about being respectful, being honest, being nice to one another. And I think our schools are really working hard to have that positive message to all of our students, especially at the elementary level. We recently have put in place a program at the high school headed up by an individual that's called Alternative to Suspensions. We are targeting students that are disruptive and bringing them in and supporting them with all of their needs with a whole group of hosts of support mechanisms and mental health, other kinds of supports to get at the root cause of what is causing them to be disruptive bully other students. So I think another thing that we need to do is we need to make sure that all of our adult employees, students, I mean, teachers, administrators, down to the campus monitors, when they see bullying, they need to immediately deal with it.

[971] SPEAKER_16: Mr. Brazil?

[973] SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think this is a critical issue when you're dealing with you know, parent perception of schools, and if their child is experiencing bullying, how is the school responding to it? I heard a mother speak the other day about her child in first grade, right here at this podium, about how her child was treated, you know, physically hit, and she was only in first grade, and bullied, and it didn't seem like there was much done about it, according to the mother anyways. And I look here on the Healthy Kids survey again, it says 45% in ninth grade said they experienced bullying, 40% in seventh grade, and they don't have survey, I don't know why they don't have surveys lower down, because apparently it does start earlier. I think there's a need for a comprehensive program, zero tolerance, not in a punitive way, but I like what the high school's doing in that they're looking at a way of dealing with the behavior. There does need to be consequences, especially when it's physical, but it is something that is needed from day one and needs to include all the people in the school, need to be trained from the cooks to the kitchen staff, janitorial, yard duty, and of course everybody else involved.

[1072] SPEAKER_16: All right, moving on to question number four. What further steps need to be taken by the Newark Unified School District Board to support the needs of our LGBTQ students? Do you have a timeline in mind for implementation? Ms. Martinez?

[1098] Elisa Martinez: So I don't have a timeline. It's something that I need to learn, that I obviously would need to understand more about, just to understand how large is the gap in this particular area. I think that is how I attack all my problems that I need to solve. So if this is, in fact, an issue with a vulnerable community, as our goal is, students are, we need to understand what those needs are. So in order for me to say, do I have a timeline? No, because I don't understand exactly what those issues are that our kids are facing. And it's not just the LGBTQ community, but really all our vulnerable students. We need to understand what those vulnerabilities are and then develop the right solution for them. The timeline, of course, given the urgency and given the situation, we would either accelerate, again, depending on what those conditions are. I am not aware. Again, I am not part of the current board, and I haven't seen any specific communication that helps me understand what the urgency and the complexity of those issues are.

[1183] Nancy Thomas: Ms. Thomas? Yes, well, we have updated all of our policies to include the LGBTQ community. I think it's really important that we are accepting of all students. I think when it comes to LGBTQ students, we need to have bathroom facilities, for example, that are gender neutral so they can go to the bathroom that they feel comfortable with. I don't know that there are critical issues in Newark. based on staff bringing them to the board. But I think we certainly have to ask, and maybe it would be good to have a workshop to understand what we are doing to make sure we're protecting our most vulnerable students. And I know that there is an LGBTQ club at the high school. I think it would be very important to hear from them what issues they face and what they would like the board to do to make all of their treatment the same as any other student. Make sure they're not bullied. Make sure that we are meeting their needs and make sure that we are accepting of them and that staff is accepting of them. That's what I would say.

[1262] SPEAKER_16: Mr. Brazil.

[1265] SPEAKER_03: Well, I agree that addressing this issue is is important, that we're responsible to teach everybody, and that all different sexual preferences need to be accepted. And students might need some sort of training, especially along the lines of being involved in the anti-bullying training. Whatever program that is picked would include maybe a component dealing with people of different sexual orientation as well.

[1307] SPEAKER_16: Moving on to question number five. Newark's test scores continue to be lower than surrounding districts. Do you see this as a problem? And what are your suggestions to remedy the situation?

[1327] Nancy Thomas: Are we going to rotate, maybe, who starts first?

[1331] SPEAKER_16: OK. All right. I'll do that. Ms. Thomas, we'll start with you.

[1335] Nancy Thomas: We'll put you in the middle there, too. Well, OK. No, our test scores are not where they should be. When compared with surrounding districts, they're not what they should be. However, it's complicated. I think you have to look at our demographics compared to the demographics in our surrounding districts. We really need to start concentrating more on our academic program. I think we've done a good job in the last few years of working on positive behavior and the social emotional growth of our students. I hope it hasn't been to the expense of our academic program. One of the things we just did that I think is very positive is we had a comprehensive K-12 math adoption. I would look forward to us doing the same thing when we can afford it. for language arts because sometimes it feels like we have a Heinz 57 of options for teachers to pick materials to teach from and I wonder if they feel comfortable. So I think we really need to evaluate our current programs and not put in any new programs unless we have evaluated the success of the programs they're replacing. I think early learning is extremely important. I would like to see more Cadango preschools at our sites because the more you come to school ready to learn and our full-day kindergarten shows the success already because our third graders are experiencing success. I think we need to increase parental involvement and we need to... Mr. Brazil.

[1435] SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I agree it's a very complicated issue and I think it... goes all the way to the state department, where our state gets reimburses per child on a 50% rate compared to Newark. We only get paid half as much. So that is going to cause limitations on what we can do. But on the other hand, yeah, our district has roughly 50% economically disadvantaged. And and but if you just go right on the other side of the freeway is Kennedy High School with similar demographics also 50% You know economically disadvantaged yet they have their scores are in the over 50% both for college prepared and also for You know also their test scores are over 50% so I think there's a lot of room for improvement And we've got to start making those improvements yesterday.

[1508] SPEAKER_16: Ms. Martinez?

[1510] Elisa Martinez: So yes, in my weekends of knocking and meeting the community here in Newark, that is absolutely the one thing that I've heard consistently, especially from the folks that are not sending their kids to our schools. So they are looking at test scores, they're looking at grades online for our schools. So what can we do about it? I agree with Member Thomas from a stability of curriculum. We need to, I know just as a parent, it seems like every year we're launching a new math program or a new set of materials. So I think stability is very important. But I think we also need to understand the needs of the whole. Just really understanding our demographics and many times I find that we tend to focus on the high achieving population of our kids and that's absolutely we must have that. We must have enrichment programs and programs that are challenging. However, we must be meeting the basic needs of the broader population. That is the only way we're going to bring the overall scores of our tests and of our schools up. We can't focus just on the minority, if you will, that are performing at the highest levels. We will never change the average that way. So really understanding the demographics, really building the curriculum and building a plan for all the different types of students that we have will deliver the results.

[1608] SPEAKER_16: All right. This is our next question. And we'll start with Mr. Brazil on this one. There has been some concern that in some schools, sex education is not compliant with the California state law. Do you feel that your school district, Newark Unified's curriculum is in compliance?

[1631] SPEAKER_03: Mr. Brazil? OK, I'm not familiar with what Newark is doing, but I know it's an important topic that needs to be addressed by the school district. in an appropriate way. And yeah, that's all I have to say about it.

[1649] SPEAKER_16: Yeah. Let's try Ms. Martinez, do you want to go or Ms. Thomas, would you like to?

[1656] Elisa Martinez: Go ahead. We'll rotate. We'll rotate. So again, I can speak as a mom of a student that just entered the junior high. I actually am very happy with the curriculum that we have here in Newark. Again, that's another topic I have heard from parents in the community, some that don't believe that our schools are a place for our kids to be learning about sex ed and just overall what their bodies are going through. I've had some very interesting conversations. Again, I am very supportive of the curriculum that we have. I felt that it really met my sixth graders needs exactly. She's very excited about learning it from another source besides her mom. And some of the conversation I think that we all need to keep in mind that I shared with others is I absolutely as a parent believe it is my responsibility to teach my child, but not all parents feel that way and not all parents know how to speak to their children that way. So I think it's very important that we continue to support a robust curriculum that is age appropriate but that is available to all of our kids.

[1734] Nancy Thomas: Several years ago we went through the process of adopting our sex ed program. I haven't checked as a board member since to see if it needs updating or if it's compliant at the state level. But I do believe that our, like Ms. Martinez, our parents seem to be satisfied with it. I think there's an opt-out policy if parents do not want their child to participate. So there's that safety net for parents and their rights. But by and large, I think it's very important to have a sound sex ed program, especially at the middle and high school levels, but also at the elementary level. And I think we implement it at the fifth and or sixth grade.

[1784] SPEAKER_16: All right. Our next question. How do you propose to bring qualified teachers into Newark Unified School District? And how do you propose to support these new teachers? Let's start with Ms. Thomas this time.

[1800] Nancy Thomas: OK. Boy, that's a great question because we are facing such a deficit. Our salaries for our teachers need to be competitive in order for us to attract teachers. I think we can go beyond. the salaries and build our reputation as a welcoming place and a supportive place for teachers to come. And we have an induction program for our teachers that make sure that they have the support they need in the first two years to become, to get their clear credential and to make sure they feel supportive. But I think beyond that, I think it's up to the staff at each school to welcome our new teachers, to make them feel and support them in their work. And so it's kind of a cultural thing in addition to a monetary way that we need to work to include them. I think we need to look at recruitment programs. My daughter's a math teacher, and at her school they bring in step students from Stanford. And they've been very successful in bringing them in as interns and then giving them an opportunity or recruiting them from the standpoint of being practice teachers. And I know we work with several colleges to identify students as interns and practicing teachers and have them hopefully be encouraged to apply to our district.

[1898] SPEAKER_16: Mr. Brazil?

[1901] SPEAKER_03: OK, well, as a teacher, I think there's one simple answer to that, and it's you've got to pay the teachers. You've got to pay the teachers. And if you pay the teachers, they will come. So I know, again, I'm rather naive about the budget. But I think when contract time comes up, if they look at Fremont, and they look at Newark, and they look at New Haven, There's not much choice there. It's financially speaking. I think we need to look at the city. The city needs to provide, we need to do a partnership with the city. The city should be invested in what's happening here with the schools. It's a vital part of the community and maybe there's some sort of incentives that a city could offer for new teachers to move and work in Newark. I think we've got to look at ways to recruit teachers and offer them a place here to feel welcome. I've been very happy with the high school teachers my kids, my boys have had. I think we've got great teachers here already and maybe they can tell their story in a recruitment of new teachers. We have to go to the The education schools and recruit. And I think if we just use the message of the, okay.

[1997] SPEAKER_16: Ms. Martinez?

[1999] Elisa Martinez: Yes, because of our financial situation, I know that we cannot compete with surrounding districts on salaries alone. So I think there's a few things that we can do. I don't know how many meetings I've been at where we constantly remind the teachers that they are our highest cost. And by the way, their pensions are really weighing on us. They've earned that. And we need to just understand that that is a line item that we need to work with. And frankly, that the state has put on the district. So I think we need to just kind of stop talking about that. We must look for other ways, in concrete ways, where teaching staff has a voice at the table to make decisions about what the next steps are, how are we going to move our district forward. And again, it's an active voice, finding that vehicle to do that. Also, opportunities for professional development. I've been on field trips where I eavesdrop on teachers and they nostalgically speak about, remember when we used to be able to go to training, remember when we used to be able to go to do this and that. So we need to find opportunities. Of course, again, that costs money, but we should be exploring partnerships with not only private industry, but also not-for-profits so that we could find a way to fund those opportunities for our teachers.

[2085] SPEAKER_16: All right, we're moving to our last question of the evening. How do you plan to increase student population in light of the current decline in enrollment? We'll start with... How about Mr. Brazil? Try.

[2104] SPEAKER_03: Well, again, I think it comes down to the teachers. You know, it's the holy trinity of teachers, parents, and students. It's like the happy wife, happy life. Well, in a school district, I think it's happy teachers, happy students, and happy parents. And if you can get those three groups all feeling pretty good about themselves, then that's going to spread. And then you're going to end up with more people wanting to be here. You're going to end up with better test scores. Teachers will feel satisfied and fulfilled. Like I said, like Ms. Martinez said, that if they have in-service opportunities you know, hone their craft. I think it all starts with what happens in the classroom. I know I'm biased because I'm a teacher, but I just feel like that's where the rubber meets the road. That's where it all happens. And that's where our district is going to, you know, flounder or it's going to move into the future as a success and increase enrollment. And it will be a place that people want to be. you know, the people who are moving out will come back.

[2194] SPEAKER_16: Ms.

[2194] Elisa Martinez: Martinez? Yes, so we must first understand the drivers of the reduction in our enrollment. So we know, and I don't have the actual figures, but from what's been cited, our decline in school age population, obviously folks moving out because of economic reasons, and certainly performance of our schools, and again, realistic capture rates for new populations. I think the last two are the things that we could influence. The economic reasons, I wish we could, and the aging population, we can't easily either. But again, from discussions with the community, curriculum not being challenging, a preference, frankly, for private schools. I mean, there are some folks that that's just what they've done, and so understanding of the total number of kids that are out there, what is a realistic population that we can capture and set specific plans? The reason I say realistic is when I started to do my research, went out about running and looking under the gap that really existed a few years ago, I think we had students around 7,000 that were eligible. We're at 5,500 now, like I said. Our projection was that we would be viable by 2021 if we captured 7,000 students. That would mean a 100% capture rate, and we're not going to get there.

[2293] Nancy Thomas: Ms. Thomas? Thank you. I think that there's several things that we can do to increase enrollment, some in the short term, some will take longer. I think we need to streamline our enrollment process and improve our customer service. Comments made that sometimes parents came to enroll their students and they didn't hear for a month or two whether their student was accepted. That's completely unacceptable and the district needs to deal with that. I think we need to update our demographic study and to better understand why our enrollment has decreased. Anecdotal and specific comments have been made that Parents have pulled their kids out because they're moving to the Central Valley or the Sacramento area or out of state. We are collecting that data from every site. We need to understand why we lost 134 students this year when we were actually projecting an increase. I think we need to examine our inter-district transfers. Are our students leaving for other districts because they offer programs that we don't? So there is some evidence that students are enrolling in Fremont, for example, because they have a dual enrollment program that we don't. I think we need to advertise that we can offer what other districts don't, transitional kindergarten, all day, or private schools, I should say, all day kindergarten, Cadango subsidized preschool, athletics, increased AP classes, STEM, and a lot more.

[2392] SPEAKER_16: All right. We're ready for concluding remarks. We want to thank all of our candidates for their participation tonight and for their willingness to run for Newark Unified School District Board of Trustees. We thank you, the audience, for coming and remind you to vote on November 6th, which is right away, three weeks. Our website that we recommend is votersedge.org, which has been developed through the league in partnership with MapLight, This website provides another avenue for you to post information to the public free of charge. We encourage the candidates to fully utilize this site and for the public to use it to decide who to vote for on November 6th. Okay, now I think I'll start with you with your concluding. Mr. Brazil, would you give us your concluding statement please?

[2453] SPEAKER_03: Well, I think despite all the problems here in the district, there's a lot of good things happening that nobody knows about except people here in the district. For example, the quadruple of AP calculus test. Now, I have a mole on the inside. My son is a senior. So I get the skinny from him about what's going on in the schools. And both the good, the bad, and the ugly. And there are a lot of good things that are happening there. And I think there's a need to let others know what's going on. I agree with the superintendent that we need a publicity person. However, I disagree with him because I think the person should be from the district, inside the district, somebody who knows the district, somebody who can promote every single little good thing that's going on in the district and to blow it all out of proportion so that people see you know somehow some mechanism either a you know an email blast or a brochure or something that gets out to the general population of all the good things that are going on in this district. We desperately need that right away and somebody with the skills to do that I think can be found right here in this district rather than going out and hiring somebody outside and it'll take six months to learn that.

[2552] Nancy Thomas: I want to thank the League of Women Voters for hosting this candidates night. Thank you. And you know democracy works best when the citizens are actively involved. I also want to thank each of you who are attending or watching at home. You've had the chance to hear the candidates, now the decision is yours. You will cast your vote to elect school board members you feel can most effectively lead Newark Unified. I've tried to make that choice easy for you. During my tenure as your school board representative, I've learned much about district operations, including a strong understanding of the financial pressures the district is facing. Some beyond our control, like increased pension costs, Others that we can and need to address, like increasing enrollment, seeking new sources of funding, and right-sizing the district to control costs. I have a degree in electrical engineering and served on the management team at Hewlett-Packard. My business and management experience have helped me in my role as a school board member. I analyze our budgets, I ask pertinent questions, and suggest ways to provide resources while maintaining the district on a sound financial footing. I am the most vocal school board member in asking for and monitoring reports of our progress to ensure that our resources are used wisely. I've participated in board-related training through CSBA. My community activities include membership in the Newark Rotary Club and the Newark Optimist Club. Please vote on November 6.

[2648] Elisa Martinez: Thank you to the League of Women Voters for having us and hosting us and giving us the opportunity to connect to the Newark community. I am a resident of Newark for the last 25 years. I have two children in our school, a fourth grader at BGI and a seventh grader at our junior high. I have over 20 years of industry experience as a process improvement person that works on some of the most complex problems across different industries, and I would like to bring that ability and experience to solve some very complex problems that our district is facing. In order to tackle these issues, we must have clear and deliberate and measurable plans to achieve our objectives. Without that, they are just nice aspirations. To achieve our goals of increased enrollment and overall improved performance, we must bring the best staff and retain the best staff in our district. So therefore, we must find ways for our staff to feel connected and valued within the district. Finally, we do have some significant challenges ahead of us and we all must be aware of just how extensive those challenges are. We must have all the facts and we must all come to the table, not just as a board and not just as a teaching group, but also as a community so that we all have the facts and make the decisions together.

[2746] SPEAKER_16: Thank you very much.

No minutes available.