Candidate for
Board Member; Sequoia Union High School District

AIM FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR ALL OF OUR CHILDREN

My overriding aim is to assure excellence in our local public high schools. Public education represents the most important investment we can make in our children and community. To that end, the leading issues for the board to address during the next few years are:

TRANSITION TO COMMON CORE

There is tremendous excitement about the introduction of the Common Core State Standards. This major curricular reform is more substantial and important than anything we've seen. As described at: http://www.corestandards.org/

"The Common Core State Standards are a clear set of shared goals and expectations for the knowledge and skills students need in English language arts and mathematics at each grade level to ultimately be prepared to graduate college and career ready. The standards establish what students need to learn, but they do not dictate how teachers should teach. Teachers will continue to devise lesson plans and tailor instruction to the individual needs of the students in their classrooms."

"The Common Core State Standards were written by building on the best and highest state standards in existence in the U.S., examining the expectations of other high performing countries around the world, and careful study of the research and literature available on what students need to know and be able to do to be successful in college and careers. No state in the country was asked to lower their expectations for their students in adopting the Common Core. The standards are evidence-based, aligned with college and work expectations, include rigorous content and skills, and are informed by other top performing countries. They were developed in consultation with teachers and parents from across the country so they are also realistic and practical for the classroom."

To realize the full potential of the curriculum, I want to make sure that our teachers have enough time to collaborate in the development of the new curriculum, and that they have access to the best possible professional development. We also want to make sure students and parents are well informed about these changes.

MEETING THE NEEDS OF A GROWING STUDENT POPULATION

The district's current enrollment is expected to grow from about 8400 students to at least 10,000 students by the year 2020. (The district's four charter schools have absorbed much of the growth in recent years. They serve another 1,200 students.) In response to this expected growth, we have the opportunity to rethink many new possibilities, including the kinds of learning environments that best meet the needs of students, the appropriate size(s) of our schools, and how students are assigned to specific high schools. The study process for this work began in this way, as described at our board meetings.

"A series of six community meetings was held this past May to share enrollment information with parents and elicit their input into which factors should be given greatest importance relating to any proposed changes in boundaries. At all meetings, there was strong support to keep communities intact as they transition between middle school and high school. There was also strong support to maintain the current open enrollment policy, which allows movement form one attendance area to another to the greatest extent space allows. As a point of reference our current boundary map is available on our website http://www.seq.org under the link 'boundary search.'"

No decisions regarding any change in boundaries have been made. The Board will be discussing interim changes to our open enrollment policy and a draft tentative boundary map that will better align feeder schools with high schools over the next several Board meetings. Again, no action is planned on a boundary map this fall. Once a tentative map (or maps) have been developed and discussed by the Board, a new series of community meetings will be held to share information and receive input. The input from all of these meetings will be considered by the Board to finalize the tentative map and prepare for the influx of greater enrollment in the near future. At this time it is expected that action on adopting a new boundary map will occur in mid 2014 for implementation in the fall of 2015.

MORE COLLEGE AND CAREER-READY GRADUATES

Research at one of our Stanford centers and lots of news stories highlight the extraordinary costs of students failing to graduate from high school. With guidance from the board, our new leadership team has developed and started to implement a comprehensive strategy for preparing more of our students to be college and career ready as they graduate from our high schools. I support the district's innovative programs and external partnerships that show promise to help more students make the grade. These and additional efforts are essential.

For a look at the strategies the district is taking to boost graduation rates and decrease drop, see online board agendas/background information at seq.org for the board meetings this year on 3/20, 4/24, 5/8.

RESEARCH-DRIVEN INNOVATION

Let's make sure we "develop the capacity of schools and teachers to create practices that reflect what is now known about effective ways to teach and learn." That's what Linda Darling-Hammond concluded in her "The Right to Learn: A Blue Print for Creating Schools That Work." I agree. We are fortunate to have great resources here in the Bay Area, and smart, experienced educators who are dedicated to finding new solutions for our schools. We must take advantage of every opportunity to improve the practice and profession of education.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

In the many conversations I have had in gearing up for this re-election campaign, it has been a delight to hear of the great pride in our schools, and the progress we've seen during the past decade. It is vital to push this still further. We know that public accountability, showing results, and good communication are important factors in developing community support. As another measure of community support and confidence, we should actively explore what more can be done to retain families in our public school system, especially at the stage when students move from middle school to high school. We need and will benefit from the continued participation of these families in our public schools.

CHARTER SCHOOL COLLABORATION

Across the nation and throughout the Bay Area you can't miss the debates about charter schools. By contrast, during the past four years there has been a major shift in the way the district works with our four small charter schools. We've moved to a position where our charter schools and district are working more collaboratively and less combatively to realize gains for more students. There's more work to be done, but the climate is much better for continuous improvement.

DOLLARS WELL SPENT

Our board had to make very difficult cuts to the budget during the past four years. Effective stewardship and a strong reserve helped the district weather that storm without disastrous results. As the economy improves I want to be equally careful about our stewardship of funds and the alignment of financial resources to the areas of greatest educational need, impact and opportunity. My financial management experience in the for-profit and education sectors will be diligently applied to address these continuing challenges.

I welcome your comments on any of the issues, or other areas of pride or concern for our district high schools. Send email to:re.elect.cthomsen@gmail.com