Candidate for
Governing Board Member; El Monte City School District

Student Achievement - Instruction has always been one of my top priorities. Our teachers, paraprofessionals and other instructional assistants work hard to provide our students with quality instruction. In recent years, our schools have made great strides in student achievement, growing over 65 points in the States Academic Performance Index (API). Three of our schools have been recognized as California Distinguished Schools and three have been recognized as Title One Achieving schools. To continue do this we must recruit and retain the best teachers, paraprofessionals and instructional assistants to ensure quality instruction in every classroom. I will push to make the district a place where people want to work, and will work to be competitive with local districts in order to bring the most qualified educators to El Monte.

School Safety/Construction + With the passage of our General Obligation Bonds we have invested local tax dollars to modernize facilities, build new classrooms, and improve campus safety. Through this process it is vital that we include input from our certificated, classified, our school sites, and the overall community, as well as being transparent with all stakeholders. As a board member, I want to continue to be especially vigilant of our labor compliance and ensuring that local contractors are utilized on our job sites.

Fiscal Solvency + EMCSD has faced many challenges including dwindling state resources and a declining student population. The effects on our general fund have created many challenges. In order to continue to provide a high level of programs for our students and provide for the needs of our employees, it is critical that we practice fiscal prudency in these most difficult times. In the face of these great challenges we have maintained the district solvent and have been recognized for it by Standards and Poor's A+ bond rating of our School District.