Candidate for
Board Member; Sierra Sands Unified School District

Alan Van Nevel, Research Physicist.

Age: 34.

Ridgecrest resident since 1996.

Married to Kim Van Nevel, a teacher at Richmond school.

Two children, Hannah,5 , and Logan 18 months

Hannah will be attending Kindergarten in the district.

PhD in theoretical physics

Research Physicist, at NAVAIR Weapons Division, for the past 5 years.

Qualifications :

Education, Training and Experience. Research and problem solving skills are one key element for any successful leader, and my past education and training has developed these skills. As a board member, I will gather as much information as possible about an issue, consult with administration officials and teachers to learn their views, and develop a solution which will lead to what is best for the children, the teachers and the district. As part of my work I also am required to lead a group of researchers and manage research projects.

Previous Political Aspirations:

In 1998 I ran an unsuccessful write in campaign for school board .

Why running:

The school board needs new members who look to the future, are dedicated to the mission of a public school, are responsive to parents and teachers, and are able to begin to build up a relationship of trust and respect with teachers and staff members. The last point is a major consideration in deciding to run. The contentious contract negotiations have eroded trust and confidence on both sides over the past few years, and the school board will have to make great efforts to rebuild the trust and respect necessary for a high performing team. Short of new board members, I don't see the atmosphere of trust and respect between administration and teachers returning rapidly.

Platform Issues:

Building an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect between the administration and certificated and classified staff. To do so will require clear and open channels of communication. (see position paper # 1).

I would like to work with the teachers' union and develop, refine, and extend new teacher training programs. For example, the BTSA program for beginning teachers does not require mentor teachers to be co-located at the same school as the mentorees. Some of the most valuable help a new teacher can receive comes not through formal meetings and training, but the casual session on Thursday afternoon when the senior teacher is able to come in and help with a lesson. I hope to work with both experienced teachers and new teachers in learning what can be done to help our new teachers (especially emergency and preliminary credentialled) become the best educator possible. Along the same lines, I would like to see the district put more effort into helping teachers and staff earn the credentials they need. A California clear credential requires many more classroom hours beyond a BA degree in education from non-California schools. This requirement often finds our teachers on the road to Bakersfield, Lancaster, and beyond, to take courses to earn their clear credential. Once we get teachers here, we need to make it as painless as possible to earn their credential, to ensure that teachers we have trained stay with SSUSD.

A third issue I plan on addressing is school and classroom budgets. A recent article in the Bakersfield Californian paper cited that the average kindergarten teacher spends about $1800 dollars of their own money for classroom materials. I will investigate how to provide administrative support for locating, applying for and managing educational grant monies, that individual classrooms, grade levels and schools could use, hopefully reducing the burden of personal expenditures for additional classroom materials beyond the required curriculum materials. In the same vein, I also would like to see greater community involvement utilizing corporate programs that companies such as Albertson's, K-Mart and others have in place. With a little extra effort, a swipe of a card, a sizable donation can be realized at no cost to parents. Finally, to help motivate that behavior, I want to see a greater connection between the funds and individual classrooms. We see pictures in the local papers of school administrators getting checks from local businesses, but we never see what that money impacted. Funding for all programs is tight, given the current financial situation of the state and federal governments, and we as a district need to make every effort to chase down every available dollar to alleviate the financial burden on teachers, and to provide the best educational environment for our students.