Candidate for
Board Member; Salinas City Elementary School District; Trustee Area 1

I want effective communication between District administration, teachers and parents. After 26 years as a teacher and an administrator in this District, I know that this administration is not listening to teachers, classified staff and parents, who have informed me that morale is at an all time low. As your Board member, I will address the concerns that contribute to such a low morale.

I will visit school sites and attend school-wide events and meetings to be informed of educational programs and how they work for students. Now that I am retired from the District, not only do I have time to dedicate to the Board and to visit sites and attend meetings. I also know the different departments and school sites. If a problem in an area were to arise, I would know who to talk to and where to go for more information.

I will work for smaller class sizes at all grade levels. I firmly believe that smaller class sizes have benefitted learning for students in grades K through 3. State funding would need to be increased, but I would support smaller class sizes for grades 4 and above. The District must improve the projections for student enrollment to avoid making changes in student placement after the start of the school year. Many times administrators move students mid-year to a new class just to meet class size requirements. I believe that those unnecessary changes must be avoided by better planning by District administrators. We must protect the students from disruptions in their education.