“It takes a village to raise a child.” That saying gets thrown around a lot when we talk about education. In 2018, that saying became real to me when I was blessed to mentor young men and women at Willow Charter Academy. It made me realize how important community involvement is in shaping our future. We cannot work on community wide issues like generational poverty, workforce readiness, or business appeal until we have a village for each student in Lafayette Parish.
“Anyone can open an apple and count the number of seeds to see its potential. However, nobody can count the number of apples in one seed. Every single child in our community deserves the right to bear fruit and maximize their own potential.“
I believe as a school board member in four core values.
- Fiscal Responsibility – Our tax dollars should be used in a responsible and meaningful manner. We should be using tax payer dollars to help create responsible, educated, productive members of society.
- Accountability – I will hold myself, my fellow school board members, and our school board administration accountable for our actions. If a mistake is made, we will own up to it and correct it.
- Balanced Policy – Our policy should be balanced between the need for our students to get a world class education as well as the burden it places on families and educators.
- Community Input – The school system is here to provide educational outcomes for our families, friends, and neighbors. Those outcomes cannot be realized unless we allow community stakeholders and parents to be involved in every aspect of our students’ educational path.
Focusing on Students
If we look at the Lafayette Parish School System as a business, our core product we help create are educated, employable, and well rounded adults. This is why my primary focus is on student outcomes. This doesn’t include just graduating a student but ensuring they are ready for their next stage in life. Whether a student decides to go to a 2 year or 4 year college, straight into a career, or decides to join the military, our job is to prepare them for that. As part of my platform, I promise to work on: Fixing Transportation Issues Getting students...
Read moreSupporting Our Teachers
Our educators, paraprofessionals, and support staff are the life and blood of our community education system. They deserve as much support from the administration and community that we can muster. We cannot prepare our students for their life journey while our frontline workers, the people our students interact with on a daily basis, aren’t given the tools and support they need. As part of my work as a school board member, I promise to help: Resolve teacher and support staff shortages Ensure our teachers get adequate planning periods and lunch breaks Work towards increased pay including increased pay for support...
Read moreEmpowering Our Parents
Our stakeholders and parents deserve to be involved in our community’s success and prosperity. This includes ensuring they have a voice in our school board. If we are to build trust in our community education system, we need our parents to be a part of the decision making process. After all, it is their kids they entrust with us to educate and champion. As part of my time on the school board, I will help with: Increasing communication with parents and stakeholders Providing opportunities for parental involvement Making sure policy is more family friendly Ensuring the efficient and effective use...
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