My Name is Michael Scheid; I am a candidate for Modesto City Schools Board of Education.
My wife and I moved to Modesto 26 years ago to raise our family, educate our children, and practice our professions. I am an attorney who has practiced as a prosecutor, and am currently a defense attorney. Personally, and as a family, we have benefitted from education, and believe lifelong learning is instrumental to success.
I graduated from California State University Northridge in 1986 with Bachelors Degrees in Religious Studies and Political Science, Cum Laude. I worked my way through school unloading boxcars and trucks at a warehouse in the San Fernando Valley area of Southern California. I then received my Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1989, while working as a law clerk in the LA City Attorney’s Office.
Upon becoming an attorney, we chose to move our family to Modesto. I was a Deputy District Attorney in the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office Criminal Division from 1991-1995, and the District Attorney Family Support Division until 2003. I have been in private practice at Perry & Associates since 2003. I practice with a full criminal defense caseload representing defendants accused of crimes. I see on a daily basis what happens when we fail to nurture and educate the children of our community
My wife is an RN, MSN, who practices as a neonatal nurse at San Joaquin General Hospital. We have four sons, and have been actively involved in their education for over two decades, including volunteering in their classrooms. We know how important K-12 education is to future success. Our children are molded by what occurs in their homes and in their schools.
The best way to improve our community for the future is to provide a quality education for all our children today. We need to work in partnership with parents and teachers to provide students the skills and opportunities they need to compete in the modern world.
If elected, I will work to elevate the quality of the education we offer in our community. I will vigorously support a comprehensive drop out identification and prevention program. We need a program that consists of an early identification of at-risk children, and then an intervention program that targets those families before it is too late. Let’s start early, and find those young people who are at risk for dropping out, and take the actions that have been proven to work, and make them work for our community.
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Our children deserve a safe, secure environment in which to learn. We as a group of conscientious parents, teachers, support staff, and administrators, need to research and implement a comprehensive school safety plan. We need to work with local law enforcement, City and County departments developing a school safety plan.
I will work to restore services, such as art, music, sports, and vocational education, that directly impact our student’s development as well rounded, insightful individuals to be able to succeed in the future. We need to offer services to our children that will interest them, and help nurture them during the time we have them in our care. Art, music, sports and Vocational Education can all help keep our children motivated to stay in school. They enrich their lives and play a valuable role in the overall development of our young people. We could have partners in local government and community groups arrange apprenticeships for students considering various careers allowing our students to discover their passions. Our young people could complete school and learn a trade, or simply gain valuable work experience during their high school years. This would benefit our schools, local businesses, and community, and our students would be prepared to succeed in college, a service, or a career.
I have volunteered on the Modesto City Schools LCAP Committee (Local Control Accountability Plan) since it started 3 years ago. We review current issues, and make recommendations to improve the outcomes for our students. I am a board member of the Stanislaus Council for the Arts, a local nonprofit agency seeking to improve access to the arts. I have also been a volunteer for the Johansen Performing Arts Association the past three years, where my youngest son attends High School.
I ask for your vote to reach the goal of creating a generation of students that are successful in college, a vocational program, and in the workforce of tomorrow.
