San Luis Coastal Unified School DistrictCandidate for Trustee, Trustee Area 2

In 2017-2018 San Luis Coastal was selected as a California District of Excellence. We were 1 of 23 districts out of 1,000 in the state honored with this award. We are proud of our work!  

There are significant initiatives underway in San Luis Coastal that deserve this attention. We have developed strong academic programs in mathematics, early literacy, writing, and Career Technical Education. Students are engaged and thriving in our schools — largely as a result of our focus on positive collaboration, professional development opportunities for our employees and strong, consistent, and stable leadership from our principals to the district office to the Board of Education.  From local common assessments, to parent feedback survey data, to state testing measures - San Luis Coastal students are at the top in the county in virtually every measure.

We need to maintain our focus on early childhood programs such as our “Success for All,” preschool that has served nearly 500 economically disadvantaged students in San Luis Coastal since 2013. We are proud of efforts made to provide Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics opportunities throughout our district. Highlighting this is Los Osos Middle School where students have STEAM electives throughout the 6-8th grade years — leading to a more enthusiastic and capable high school student.

I value the educational options, such as Teach elementary school, Pacheco Elementary school, and Pacific Beach Continuation high school, that the district is able to provide to parents to choose the school that best suits their child’s needs and learning style.  

Our voters passed measure D in 2014 in order to modernize our high school campuses, improve safety and infrastructure on our all campuses, and provide specific elementary campuses that did not get improvements during the previous partial tax campaign (Measure A) with needed improvements. We are proud of how we’ve managed the bond dollars and can demonstrate transparency with our monthly board meetings, Measure D study sessions and citizen’s bond oversight committee.  Morro Bay High School and San Luis Obispo High School students and staff will benefit from these improvements for many decades to come.  Our high schools will become 21st Century facilities of excellence.  We expect completion of all projects within the next four years.

We have partnered with Central Coast Coalition For Inclusive Schools. (CCC4IS), Trans Central Coast, and GALA to improve the way we create safer schools for all of our students in San Luis Coastal. This partnership is viewed through a three to five year lens to ensure it becomes part of our district commitment to inclusivity and equity. I am personally participating in a seven month ACSA equity training to gain a deeper, personal understanding of equity issues.  

The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant closure announcement required an extreme level of focus on behalf of our school board and superintendent. Despite the initial rejection from the California Public Utilities Commission, we demonstrated perseverance and continued the conversation in Sacramento.  As a result, Senator Monning and Assemblyman Cunningham co-authored SB1090. The governor recently signed SB 1090 that allows San Luis Coastal to have the necessary time to plan for its transition from the Diablo Tax revenue period.  Another benefit from this negotiation process was the creation of the San Luis Coastal Educational Foundation to which $10 million dollars will be directed as an endowment toward this foundation to help our students.

Question #1) I was hoping you can let me know of any key issues that you believe are important to this year's race/the district at large.

Response:

In 2017-2018 San Luis Coastal was selected as a California District of Excellence. We were 1 of

23 districts out of 1,000 in the state honored for this award. I am proud of our work!

There are significant initiatives underway in San Luis Coastal that deserve attention and focus. We have developed strong academic programs in mathematics, early literacy, writing, and Career Technical Education. Students are engaged and thriving in our schools - largely as a result of our focus on positive collaboration, professional development opportunities for our employees and strong, consistent, and stable leadership from our principals to the district office to the Board of Education. From local common assessments, to parent feedback survey data, to state testing measures - San Luis Coastal students are at the top in the county in virtually every measure.

We need to maintain our focus on early childhood programs such as our “Success for All” Preschool that has served nearly 500 economically disadvantaged students in San Luis Coastal since 2013. We are proud of efforts made to provide Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics opportunities throughout our district. The highlight of this can be seen at Los Osos Middle School where students have STEAM electives throughout the 6-8 grade years - leading to a more enthusiastic and capable high school student.

I value the educational options, such as Teach Elementary School, Pacheco Elementary School, and Pacific Beach Continuation High School, that the district is able to provide to parents to choose the school that best suits their child’s needs and learning styles.

Measure D was passed by our voters in 2014 in order to modernize our high school campuses, improve safety and infrastructure on all campuses, and provide specific elementary campuses that did not get improvements during the previous bond campaign (Measure A) with needed improvements. We are proud of how we’ve managed the bond dollars and can demonstrate transparency with our monthly Board meetings and Measure D Study Sessions. Morro Bay High School and San Luis Obispo High School students and staff will benefit from these improvements for many decades to come. As promised, our high schools will become 21st century facilities of excellence. We expect completion of all projects within the next four years.

We have partnered with Central Coast Coalition for Inclusive Schools (CCC4IS), Tranz Central Coast, and GALA to improve the way we create safer schools for all of our students in San Luis Coastal. This partnership is viewed through a three to five year lens to ensure it becomes part of our district’s commitment to inclusivity and equity.  I am personally participating in a seven month ACSA Equity Training to gain a deeper personal understanding of equity issues

The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant closure announcement required an extreme level of focus on behalf of our school board and superintendent. Despite the initial rejection from the California Public Utilities Commission, we demonstrated perseverance and continued the conversation in Sacramento. As a result, Senator Monning and Assemblyman Cunningham co-authored SB 1090. The Governor recently signed SB 1090 which allows San Luis Coastal to have the necessary time to plan for its transition from the Diablo tax revenue.  Another benefit from this negotiations process was the creation of the San Luis Coastal Education Foundation for which $10 million will be directed as an endowment towards this foundation to help our students.

Question #2) can you please answer, generally, why you decided to run?

Response:  I remain energized and focused on educating and providing a safe environment for ALL of our students. I am deeply involved as a trustee and see our trajectory as a district being positive and important to sustain. I believe we are at a critical juncture as a district and feel my role as a veteran trustee will assist us as we move forward.