I have long-held a passion for public service.  In 2022 I was elected to serve on the Eel River Township Board, and have found that our work helping residents in crisis to be incredibly rewarding.  My oldest daughter started at Huntertown in 2016, and since then I have volunteered as much as possible to serve as a field trip chaperone, book fair cashier, Boomerang Backpack stuffer and PTO volunteer/office, among others.  I love being in the schools, the culture of our public schools is unmatched in its joy and tenderness.  Next year I will have a student in high school, one in middle school, and my youngest in elementary school.  I love this community and can bring the voice of the parent experience to the school board, as a parent of a student athlete, a parent of a student with an IEP, and a parent of students facing growing threats from social media and the toxicity of the internet.  I truly believe that I am the best person to serve our students with a focus on safety, transparency, and opportunity.  I want to ensure our school board focuses on real dangers with practical solutions, not get distracted by culture war issues that divert resources from our deserving kids.  I am committed to making sure every student feels welcomed and valued within our schools.

In 2007 I graduate from George Mason University with a Master's Degree in Environmental and Public Policy, and I have used what I learned there every day since.  The central tenet of policy-making is that whatever you want people to do, make it easy to do the right thing (not unlike parenting!).  On the NACS School Board, that would look like investing and supporting upgrades to technology that makes it easier for parents to communicate with teachers and administrators, and easier for students to enroll in expanded opportunities. I would love to see our district policies digitized so that it's easy to search and find specific language (currently it is nearly impossible to find what you're looking for). It might look like a commitment to transparency when I respond to every email or phone call from a concerned parent, so we continue to build trust across the district.

Growth is absolutely our most pressing issue in Northwest Allen County Schools.  We see the new buildings going up and parents are quick to understand why we need a new middle school, a ninth elementary, and within ten years likely a new high school or stand-alone vocational school.  It is much harder to explain to voters that we also need to grow our staff beyond teachers and resource aides.  Our administrative staff is severely overworked, our student census has more than doubled in 25 years but in many cases we still have a single employee doing the job that should really be split into two or three people.  Often voters see the requests for more staff in admin as 'bloat', but in our case we are so anemic that we face a crisis of attrition.  While we can't promise an increase in salaries without more state dollars or a potential referendum like SACS, we can reduce the workload of our staff by distributing the tasks more appropriately as we grow our team.  In some cases, we have teachers or administrators voluntarily doing the jobs that our neighboring districts have dedicated personnel for, and investing in our people is long overdue.

While adding personnel to central office isn't as 'sexy' as a new building, it is something that certainly trickles down to parents and students.

The most successful school board members understand that they represent every member of our district, not just the people who voted for them and not just the ones they agree with.  However, the role of a school board member is governance, not management.  School board members are non-partisan and must remain removed from the day-to-day decisions that are the responsibility of the superintendent and the NACS admin staff.  Our most important role is the hiring and support of the superintendent, including removing him/her if we lose confidence.  Additionally, school board members must adhere to strict confidentiality to protect the rights of our students and staff, and maintain the trust of the voters.  While it is good and necessary for school board members to disagree publicly, once a decision is made board members must unify around the decision and act as a team when facing the public.

I have attended every school board meeting this academic year (either in-person or virtually), and spoke at the January 8th board meeting to share my thoughts on the communication failures after a lockdown at Carroll Middle School.  I've also attended several work sessions and have found the board to be very thoughtful and have appreciated questions from Ms. Hathaway and Ms. Schlatter; both are successful at bringing the discussion back to what is most important, the students.  The admin team continues to be impressive in their transparency about the challenges and needs of a growing district.  

I have had some concerns with two specific issues, 1) the desire of Mr. Vogt to entertain a change to the make-up of the board, and 2) the request from Mr. Barkus and Mr. Somers to have the admin team quantify how many students are impacted by each item requested in the ten-year plan presented on June 20th.  The first issue would by design be a political one, any change to how constituents are represented has significant repercussions, particularly in my district of Eel River.  I would not support any changes at this time, and haven't heard a persuasive argument for why they would be needed.  The second issue highlights a big disconnect between members of the board who have students in the district and those who don't.  The ten-year plan would add several administrative staff, as well as extension teachers like PEAK and Instructional Assistants.  These are things districts like ours have done, and done years ago, and also aligns with what I have personally heard from staff in our schools.  Setting aside that quantifying the number of students affected is a resource-intensive and imperfect task, it also worries me when we only value programs or people based on the size of the program.  In my years as a PTO volunteer and officer, when a new program was introduced, I always asked, "who are we leaving out?"  As Ms. Schlatter pointed out during the work session, we have other programs like theatre or show choir that are often overshadowed by athletics or academics, but are no less valuable.  Any desire to prioritize spending should use program size as only one metric of value.

I do not have any close personal relationships with current school board members, though I have met with Liz Hathaway a few times and with Kristi Schlatter once to discuss the challenges we face as a district and our shared interest in making NACS the best place to work for teachers, and the best place to learn for our students.

No.  While public school vouchers on their merits may be beneficial to some students and their families, Indiana's school choice program has been disastrous for public education.  Our nation's great promise is a free education to all students, public schools turn no one away, regardless of need or accommodation, we welcome all.  Our public schools are also required to meet state and federal standards for facility access, teacher qualifications/certifications, and after-school programs, to name a few.  Charter schools have no such minimums nor do they have any rigorous accountability for financial management of taxpayer dollars.  So far, under successive GOP administrations in the state, charter schools have taken state dollars and either disappeared after failing to successfully educate some of our most vulnerable students, or use the Choice Scholarship as a coupon for wealthy families to get a discount on tuition.  Unless the program is overhauled to meet parity with public school regulations, I cannot support any motion to divert referendum money to vouchers.

I am familiar with M4L and do not support them in any shape or form.  The chapter in NACS is small, but vocal, and is toxic to our community.  As a long-time volunteer, specifically at the Scholastic Book Fair, I have noted that members of this fringe group never appear in the schools where they could clearly see that their claims are ridiculous.

I am also familiar with P4P and have found their worldview to be shocking and appalling.  I would reject any endorsement.

As a kid, I was a ballet dancer and found a chosen family amongst my peers and incredible teachers, nearly all of which I still have in my life today.  As a young mom, I joined a MOPS program at Sonrise Christian Preschool that changed my life; my best friends today were young moms I met there when we were all so desperate for adult conversation.  Both of those experiences taught me that regardless of our politics, religion, or race, we are all just searching for community.  I think the reason I feel called to public service on the School Board, is because I recognize that for most of our families, our schools are the heart of the community we belong to.  Our schools are where our kids find their people, whether its football or chess club or theatre or cheer.  Our teachers do great work in the classroom with reading, writing, and math, but schools are so much more than that.  Schools are where we feed hungry kids.  It's where we keep kids safe who may be scared to go home.  Its where we partner with other kid-focused organizations to teach t-ball or hear a symphony play, for some it may the first and last time they get to play an instrument or see an axolotl in a generous teacher's classroom.