My Priorities

To Be Accomplished

Financial Responsibility & Accountability

  • Maintaining lafayettecheckbook.com to provide full transparency regarding the district operating budget.

  • Champion efforts to provide a dedicated funding source for pay-as-you-go (no-debt) facility projects.

  • Probe budget to further identify opportunities for greater efficiency in areas such as human resources, technology, business operations, transportation and substitute services.

Responding to the Community

  • Continue “Making the Grade” electronic newsletter to illustrate accomplishments of individual schools and the district as a whole.

  • Advocate for a District Ombudsperson, serving as an independent liaison to help parents resolve problems, complaints, conflicts, and other school-related issues when normal procedures are unsuccessful.

  • Advocate for return of twice monthly school board meetings to accelerate final action on items.

  • Support growth of school-community partnerships with community organizations. 

Safety and Security

  • Advocate for hardened single point of entry to campuses and secure vestibule improvements at all schools.

  • Identify funding for additional security cameras, background checks for visitors and upgraded door barricade devices for all classrooms.

  • Expand School Resource Officer (SRO) presence to be strategically assigned, based on the number of incidents at schools.

  • Expand mental health services and support on campuses to improve physical and psychological safety for our students and schools.

Academic Needs

  • Adequate funding for Vision 2020 PreK – 12 strategic plan. Components include a focus on data-driven decision-making, academics, professional development, and instructional technology.

  • Ensure adequate interventions are in place to address the “school readiness” gap when students enter early childhood education.

  • Commit all available resources to make certain all children enter kindergarten ready to learn, all students enter 4th grade “on level” in reading and math, all students enter 9th grade proficient in ELA and math and all high school graduates are college and career-ready.

  • Advocate for additional elective/exploratory opportunities for students at all grade levels.

Facility Needs

  • Prioritize backlog of facility needs to ensure available construction and capital funds are appropriately deployed.

  • Engage demographer to study population shifts to identify the need for additional seat capacity (new schools) over the next decade.

  • Continue construction of classroom wings as needed to address removal of temporary classrooms across the district.

  • Address deficiency of core service areas such as cafeteria, library, bathrooms, and administrative areas for schools serving a large number of students, well above the original design of the school.

Career Building

  • Expand pathway opportunities of our W.D. & Mary Baker Smith Career Center. 

  • Provide additional funding to support student credentialing opportunities.

  • Expand and grow robotics, drone and manufacturing center at the Career Center.

  • Expand quality of high-demand JumpStart pathways available to students.