WEBVTT 00:00:00.834 --> 00:00:08.013 - Go ahead and get started. Thanks, everyone, for being here. Welcome to the 2026 School Board Candidate 00:00:08.013 --> 00:00:15.052 - Forum. I'm Emma Crossan. I'm a member of the congregation here, the Unitarian Universalist Church of 00:00:15.052 --> 00:00:22.091 - Bloomington, and chair our Democracy Task Force. So we're one of the partners helping to put this on 00:00:22.091 --> 00:00:24.670 - and really glad that we could do it. 00:00:24.802 --> 00:00:31.391 - want to particularly thank all the candidates for being here. A couple of just housekeeping notes. One, 00:00:31.391 --> 00:00:37.853 - there is a camera in the back. That's CATS, the Community Access Television. So this will be recorded 00:00:37.853 --> 00:00:44.758 - and will be made available online within a couple of days. So really thank them for being here and recording 00:00:44.758 --> 00:00:51.157 - this. And once you all to know that the forum, we extended the invitation to every candidate who was 00:00:51.157 --> 00:00:53.374 - running for school board position. 00:00:53.442 --> 00:01:00.088 - in any of the three school corporations in Monroe and Brown counties. So that's Monroe County Community 00:01:00.088 --> 00:01:06.734 - School Corporation. So there are three folks running there. Erin Wyatt, Asia Jester, and Ashley Pirani. 00:01:06.734 --> 00:01:13.252 - Ashley responded that she was out of town, and then we didn't hear from Erin and Asia. So they're not 00:01:13.252 --> 00:01:17.086 - here tonight. And then we have Richland Bean Blossom School 00:01:17.186 --> 00:01:23.528 - Community School Corporation wins for having all of their candidates here in the house. So really happy 00:01:23.528 --> 00:01:29.992 - to have Krista Curtis and Dennis Adams and Kelly Scholl here. And then we also invited all the candidates 00:01:29.992 --> 00:01:36.090 - running in Brown County. And I think there are six candidates running. So we have Jane Mitchell and 00:01:36.090 --> 00:01:42.309 - Julia Smith, who are here. I'm really thankful to have them here. And Michael Fulton responded he was 00:01:42.309 --> 00:01:46.334 - out of town and unable to make it. And then we have Carol Bowden. 00:01:47.138 --> 00:01:52.928 - Yes, thank you, and Andy Reed who did not come. So just want you to know the invitation was extended 00:01:52.928 --> 00:01:58.889 - to all of these candidates and we're excited to host this to really underscore the importance of school 00:01:58.889 --> 00:02:04.908 - board races for our communities and for building solidarity across our communities and across our school 00:02:04.908 --> 00:02:10.526 - corporations to talk about the importance of our public schools. So thank you all for being here. 00:02:12.546 --> 00:02:19.750 - Hi, I'm Beth Purney. I want to thank you for being here, and thank you for coming tonight. I'm with 00:02:19.750 --> 00:02:27.387 - the limestone chapter of the Indiana State Teachers Association, retired. And we support public education 00:02:27.387 --> 00:02:32.574 - and also legislation for retired teachers. So thank you for being here. 00:02:35.298 --> 00:02:42.314 - Hi, my name is Jenny Noble Kuchera. I'm the president of the Monroe County Education Association. So 00:02:42.314 --> 00:02:48.773 - that is the union that is affiliated with MCCSE. And we are always eager to hear from school 00:02:48.773 --> 00:02:56.414 - board candidates. So thanks so much for being here. Full disclosure, a lot of the questions were generated by 00:02:56.546 --> 00:03:02.902 - some of our union members, but we feel like in South Central Indiana, we are all part of the Indiana 00:03:02.902 --> 00:03:09.572 - State Teachers Association and all vying for improved working conditions which equate to student learning 00:03:09.572 --> 00:03:15.927 - conditions. So thanks so much for being here. I can't say that I'm not disappointed that none of our 00:03:15.927 --> 00:03:22.535 - candidates are here tonight, but I'm really eager to hear what you all have for your platforms and ideas 00:03:22.535 --> 00:03:24.926 - for our larger area. So thanks again. 00:03:27.810 --> 00:03:33.908 - And I am Kristin Schumacher. I'm a graduate assistant with the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy. 00:03:33.908 --> 00:03:39.664 - And I will be your moderator this evening. I'll just give you a quick overview of our agenda. First, 00:03:39.664 --> 00:03:45.421 - we're going to have the candidates introduce themselves. Then we'll have the candidates answer three 00:03:45.421 --> 00:03:51.348 - questions that they've been given in advance so they've had time to mull over their responses. And then 00:03:51.348 --> 00:03:56.990 - in the last 25 to 30 minutes of the forum, we will open the floor for questions from the audience. 00:03:57.538 --> 00:04:03.368 - Okay, so for the introductions, each candidate will have three minutes to introduce themselves during 00:04:03.368 --> 00:04:09.197 - their introductions. In addition to stating their name and their school district, we've asked them to 00:04:09.197 --> 00:04:14.970 - include why they are running for school board and what they see as the most important priorities and 00:04:14.970 --> 00:04:20.742 - challenges of their school corporation. And if they are an incumbent, they can tell us about some of 00:04:20.742 --> 00:04:25.886 - their accomplishments as a board member. Are we ready? How about we'll start on this end. 00:04:27.138 --> 00:04:36.009 - Good evening. I want to thank all the organizations who sponsored this forum tonight and made this possible. 00:04:36.009 --> 00:04:44.716 - Thank you so much. My name is Krista Curtis, and I'm running for RBB School Board. I'm the Boston Township 00:04:44.716 --> 00:04:53.261 - candidate. I thought about this. How do I explain why I'm running? And I have two key reasons. The first 00:04:53.261 --> 00:04:54.238 - is service. 00:04:54.754 --> 00:05:20.734 - I'm very invested in the Ellisville community and audio problem. Okay. I rarely need a microphone. Hello. 00:05:24.098 --> 00:05:31.569 - Starting over. My name is Krista Curtis. I am running for RBB school board as the beam blossom township 00:05:31.569 --> 00:05:39.614 - candidate. So I thought about this question and I have two core reasons that I decided to run for school board. 00:05:39.810 --> 00:05:46.778 - And the first is service. As I said, I'm very invested in the Ellisville community. I've been very involved 00:05:46.778 --> 00:05:53.295 - over the last few years. I have served on the Chamber of Commerce board. I'm currently the president 00:05:53.295 --> 00:06:00.006 - of the Greater Ellisville Chamber of Commerce. I am a supporter of Ellisville Main Street. And I helped 00:06:00.006 --> 00:06:06.974 - co-lead the Envision Ellisville project back a few years ago, which was a community-wide visioning project. 00:06:07.554 --> 00:06:14.576 - allowing residents to sort of form the future of our community. And one of the key things that we heard 00:06:14.576 --> 00:06:21.531 - during that process was how important our schools are to our community identity. It's where we gather, 00:06:21.531 --> 00:06:28.486 - it's where we, just as we did last Friday, cheer against our biggest rivals, big part of our identity. 00:06:28.486 --> 00:06:35.373 - And so when I heard that Angie Jacobs was stepping down after eight years, I thought maybe this is my 00:06:35.373 --> 00:06:37.534 - next way to serve my community. 00:06:38.338 --> 00:06:45.615 - The second reason I'm running is I am truly excited and energized by what's happening at RBB. My son 00:06:45.615 --> 00:06:52.892 - graduated from there in 2020. I have a daughter there now. In the five or six years, it's incredible 00:06:52.892 --> 00:07:00.170 - what has happened within the walls of that school through the Ready Schools initiative, the pathways 00:07:00.170 --> 00:07:06.366 - that are being developed, the opportunity to school run businesses, the maker spaces, 00:07:06.562 --> 00:07:13.239 - Really giving kids an opportunity to explore, as young as elementary school, who they are, what they're 00:07:13.239 --> 00:07:19.852 - interested in, and what they want to do. And I just think that's incredible. So those are the reasons, 00:07:19.852 --> 00:07:26.337 - like, that's my purpose and my passion for running. But I also feel like I'm qualified. I think that 00:07:26.337 --> 00:07:33.014 - my past experiences position me well for school board. So first of all, I've been a part of a governing 00:07:33.014 --> 00:07:35.582 - board, so I know what governance means. 00:07:36.162 --> 00:07:43.037 - I also have, through my professional career and my community involvement, I've led organizations and 00:07:43.037 --> 00:07:49.979 - people through change. I've established policies. I've had to make difficult decisions when resources 00:07:49.979 --> 00:07:56.854 - are limited, and I've had to be a part of collaborative environments where you have to listen to all 00:07:56.854 --> 00:08:03.661 - viewpoints and perspectives. I think I'm uniquely qualified for the challenge that is ahead of this 00:08:03.661 --> 00:08:05.022 - school corporation. 00:08:05.154 --> 00:08:11.604 - And I think all of us have to be committed and prepared to deal with the difficult decisions that are 00:08:11.604 --> 00:08:18.116 - going to be facing us over the next few years. And I'm really looking forward to the impact that I can 00:08:18.116 --> 00:08:24.503 - make for RBB and for my community. Hello. My name is Dennis Adams, and I want to really thank all of 00:08:24.503 --> 00:08:30.952 - you for doing this. This is really something that the community needs, and people need to see who the 00:08:30.952 --> 00:08:34.430 - candidates are. So thank you very much for doing this. 00:08:35.074 --> 00:08:42.497 - I am an Edgewood graduate, a long time ago. I am a lifelong Ellisville resident. I've been involved 00:08:42.497 --> 00:08:50.143 - in the school for many, many years. I was involved in the show choir. I was involved in sports. I have 00:08:50.143 --> 00:08:57.862 - all my family graduated from Edgewood. We have three valedictorians from Edgewood in my family. I still 00:08:57.862 --> 00:09:02.910 - have family, grandkids getting ready to come up through the system. 00:09:03.810 --> 00:09:11.564 - I am running because I want to give back my experience and I want to give back to the schools. I already 00:09:11.564 --> 00:09:19.244 - have participated in different areas, but I can do more. I've worked for the same company for 49 years. 00:09:19.244 --> 00:09:26.777 - And we started with one store and now we have 53 stores. So I'm very, very familiar with dealing with 00:09:26.777 --> 00:09:32.094 - customers, dealing with employees, dealing with situations and budgets. 00:09:32.578 --> 00:09:41.253 - and budgets are a very important part of a school system. I am a person who wants all students to thrive. 00:09:41.253 --> 00:09:49.600 - I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Edgewood when I was young. I remember every teacher I had when I went 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:57.784 - through elementary school and on. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for the relationships 00:09:57.784 --> 00:10:00.894 - I had with teachers during that time. 00:10:01.666 --> 00:10:11.867 - I thoroughly believe that teachers are underappreciated. They are professionals. They need to be treated 00:10:11.867 --> 00:10:21.680 - like that. They need to have the tools to thrive, to teach, and to develop the children and the kids 00:10:21.680 --> 00:10:30.910 - the way they should be. We want all kids. I want all kids. If they choose college, they choose 00:10:31.490 --> 00:10:39.078 - going to trades or whatever they want to do to have that ability and I want to do what I can with my 00:10:39.078 --> 00:10:46.892 - experiences to help them. I am on a national board of directors. I spend, I go every year to Washington 00:10:46.892 --> 00:10:54.555 - DC and visit our congressmen and senators to advocate for my business and for the national trade, all 00:10:54.555 --> 00:10:58.462 - the companies that are associated with us. I'm also 00:10:59.106 --> 00:11:05.489 - the president of the Indiana Rental Dealers Association and I visit the state house every year and I 00:11:05.489 --> 00:11:11.810 - was part of getting our state laws passed and we deal with both sides of the aisle. So I have a lot 00:11:11.810 --> 00:11:18.130 - of experience, I want to bring that experience to the board. I believe in stretching the dollar and 00:11:18.130 --> 00:11:24.766 - making sure that the budgets, and we're working within the budgets, but maximize what we can get to help 00:11:25.250 --> 00:11:32.828 - the kids learn, the teachers thrive, and the administration to stay in line and make sure we're doing 00:11:32.828 --> 00:11:40.554 - what we're supposed to do. That means new. Hello, everyone. My name is Kelly Scholl, and I am also want 00:11:40.554 --> 00:11:48.355 - to, I'm sure all of us are going to, this is my first time running for public office, and I'm so excited 00:11:48.355 --> 00:11:53.630 - to have this forum and be able to talk to people and be able to, like, 00:11:54.050 --> 00:12:01.042 - Thank you all for coming. I mean, having an educated voting system and being able to see all your faces 00:12:01.042 --> 00:12:08.033 - and talk with you all is a privilege, and thank you to our hosts for hosting this. Three minutes, okay. 00:12:08.033 --> 00:12:14.756 - I am running for the Richland Township seat for the RBB Community School Corporation, and I want to 00:12:14.756 --> 00:12:22.016 - say, first of all, what a privilege. I'm sure that we all would like to win and serve, but what a privilege 00:12:22.016 --> 00:12:23.966 - that we have multiple people 00:12:24.098 --> 00:12:30.698 - They want to serve on the school board. I think that's fantastic. It's not nobody here is going to lose. 00:12:30.698 --> 00:12:37.235 - Our school corporations going to win. It's just who's going to be the person that is serving this time. 00:12:37.235 --> 00:12:38.366 - And that's great. 00:12:39.010 --> 00:12:46.346 - why I am running. I have a huge passion for public education and that's my main reason for running. 00:12:46.346 --> 00:12:53.681 - I also have experience and perspective that I think I can bring to our school board. I was a public 00:12:53.681 --> 00:13:01.163 - educator for over 10 years. I taught junior high science and high school sciences, variety of classes 00:13:01.163 --> 00:13:06.078 - from our remedial classes to AP physics and everywhere in between. 00:13:07.234 --> 00:13:13.190 - I now work in higher education at Indiana University in UITS, and I'm the director of a variety 00:13:13.190 --> 00:13:19.580 - of professional development programs for our faculty at Indiana University across all of our different 00:13:19.580 --> 00:13:25.784 - campuses, so I know what it's like to have different campuses and the community that's built within 00:13:25.784 --> 00:13:32.113 - each one. As a director, I also work with budgets, and just like public education, my budget is split 00:13:32.113 --> 00:13:37.200 - into buckets, and you have certain ways that you can spend money and certain ways 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:44.163 - that you can't. So that is something that I'm very familiar with and have experience with. I also bring 00:13:44.163 --> 00:13:50.859 - a perspective that I think our board does not currently have. Our current, we have three members on 00:13:50.859 --> 00:13:57.889 - our current board that will be staying. All three of those members are men, which is great and fantastic 00:13:57.889 --> 00:14:04.584 - and there's nothing wrong with that. And also there are not women, that there could not be women on 00:14:04.584 --> 00:14:06.526 - the board and I think that's 00:14:06.626 --> 00:14:13.617 - to have that perspective there. The other perspective that I bring that the three current board members 00:14:13.617 --> 00:14:20.675 - do not have is that I am a parent of current RBB students, and having that perspective, again, you don't 00:14:20.675 --> 00:14:27.734 - have to be a parent to be on a school board. And also, having parents on the school board brings another 00:14:27.734 --> 00:14:33.918 - perspective, and the reason we have five people on our board is so that we do have multiple 00:14:34.082 --> 00:14:44.728 - perspectives. And I think that's really important and something that I bring to the table. So thank 00:14:44.728 --> 00:14:55.480 - you all for being here. The end. Hello, my name is Jane Mitchell and I'm running for school board in 00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:58.142 - Brown County District 3. 00:14:58.690 --> 00:15:06.924 - The reason I'm running is because I do have a sense of responsibility and giving back to my community. 00:15:06.924 --> 00:15:14.999 - Right now, I'm on the board for the Friends of Brown County State Park and also for the Brown County 00:15:14.999 --> 00:15:23.233 - Public Library and Peaceville Valley Heritage, which is a preservation organization. I'm bringing kind 00:15:23.233 --> 00:15:27.390 - of a unique perspective to the school board because 00:15:27.682 --> 00:15:36.562 - I was a public school teacher in Monroe County for 33 years. And so I have been in education for my 00:15:36.562 --> 00:15:45.975 - entire life. And I was an art teacher, so I taught K through high school. So I've had experience teaching 00:15:45.975 --> 00:15:53.790 - with children and teachers and dealing with parents and administrators from all levels. 00:15:54.370 --> 00:16:02.048 - worked under so many different superintendents in this county and principals as well. And also my child 00:16:02.048 --> 00:16:09.430 - did participate, you know, went to public schools here in Monroe County and I think that also is an 00:16:09.430 --> 00:16:16.886 - important perspective. I remember one time when there was a school board member in Monroe County and 00:16:16.886 --> 00:16:23.678 - they weren't even sending their child to public school and I thought that was a little odd. 00:16:24.834 --> 00:16:33.138 - In terms of the most important priorities, I think really I will have to be on the school board first 00:16:33.138 --> 00:16:41.278 - to really get a sense of the kinds of issues that they have been dealing with. And I took a webinar 00:16:41.278 --> 00:16:49.745 - about school board, and one of the things that really struck me was this is not an individual decision. 00:16:49.745 --> 00:16:52.350 - You are working with the board. 00:16:53.314 --> 00:17:03.444 - And of course, you're working with input from all the community members as well. And so I think I'm 00:17:03.444 --> 00:17:13.980 - going to have to really answer that question if I do win a position on the school board. OK, thank you. 00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:23.198 - Hi, my name is Julia Smith, and I am running for school board in Brown County, District 1. 00:17:24.130 --> 00:17:32.621 - I graduated from Brown County Schools. My kids went through Brown County Schools and I absolutely love 00:17:32.621 --> 00:17:41.029 - Brown County Schools. It's one of the reasons I'm running. Also, I worked at Brown County Schools for 00:17:41.029 --> 00:17:49.602 - 26 years. I started off as a paraprofessional in the kindergarten room and it made me just fall in love 00:17:49.602 --> 00:17:52.734 - with the entire school atmosphere and 00:17:55.906 --> 00:18:05.286 - I just wanted to continue from there. So after I was a paraprofessional, I moved up to the high school 00:18:05.286 --> 00:18:14.576 - as ECA treasurer, different side, different group of people, very fun. And then I moved on to payroll 00:18:14.576 --> 00:18:20.222 - at Brown County Schools and finally as corporation treasurer. 00:18:21.954 --> 00:18:31.140 - In 2022, so I was there 26 years, in 2022 I moved schools and now I'm the business manager at a different 00:18:31.140 --> 00:18:39.806 - district. So I would just love the opportunity to give back to the community that has given so much 00:18:39.806 --> 00:18:48.906 - to me. I think one of the top priorities Brown County Schools is facing right now is teacher recruitment 00:18:48.906 --> 00:18:50.206 - and retention. 00:18:51.266 --> 00:19:00.413 - We have to listen to our teachers, understand why some are leaving. Is it compensation? Is it culture? 00:19:00.413 --> 00:19:09.383 - Do they feel supported? I think we have to understand why they're leaving so that we can address the 00:19:09.383 --> 00:19:18.708 - problem and keep our teachers. I feel like maybe another challenge is Brown County Schools has declining 00:19:18.708 --> 00:19:19.774 - enrollment. 00:19:21.698 --> 00:19:28.997 - As you know, with declining enrollment comes less funding. But we still have buildings and we still 00:19:28.997 --> 00:19:36.734 - have operational costs. So the costs don't go down because students don't come. We have to be financially 00:19:36.734 --> 00:19:44.398 - responsible while providing the best education we can for our students. And we need to make Brown County 00:19:44.398 --> 00:19:49.726 - a place where families want to stay and be part of Brown County schools. 00:19:54.530 --> 00:20:00.527 - Thank you all for your very thoughtful responses. And you all have such a passion for service and for 00:20:00.527 --> 00:20:06.877 - education, but represent a wide range of skills and abilities. Thank you for sharing those with us tonight. 00:20:06.877 --> 00:20:12.816 - So now we'll move on to our question portion. So the first question we'll start on this end is, as a 00:20:12.816 --> 00:20:18.695 - school board member, how will you work to develop relationships with teachers unions, staff unions, 00:20:18.695 --> 00:20:24.222 - and others to ultimately improve learning and working conditions for your students and staff? 00:20:28.834 --> 00:20:38.372 - that I'm sorry how would I work with with teachers unions staff unions and others to improve learning 00:20:38.372 --> 00:20:47.723 - and working conditions for students and staff okay so yeah I feel like that the board needs to have 00:20:47.723 --> 00:20:56.606 - a collaborative relationship with the teachers union and staff and administrators I would like 00:20:57.282 --> 00:21:06.584 - to have teachers know that they could always come to me. My door would always be open. Again, we could 00:21:06.584 --> 00:21:15.977 - understand and work together on some of those concerns. If you have a good working relationship, I feel 00:21:15.977 --> 00:21:25.008 - like you can come to an agreement that helps teachers but can still be fiscally responsible for the 00:21:25.008 --> 00:21:26.814 - school corporation. 00:21:27.586 --> 00:21:39.448 - If teachers don't have the supports that they need, then students aren't getting the education that 00:21:39.448 --> 00:21:47.870 - they need. Let's be honest, we're in the school business for students. 00:21:51.234 --> 00:21:59.035 - Well, I was attending a dedication of a historic marker in Brown County State Park yesterday, and a 00:21:59.035 --> 00:22:06.836 - local politician approached me and he was asking, was I the Jane Mitchell running for school board? 00:22:06.836 --> 00:22:14.637 - And I said, yes, I was. And he was talking about his frustration at going to a school board meeting 00:22:14.637 --> 00:22:20.254 - and only being able to talk for three minutes, and then he was cut off. 00:22:20.514 --> 00:22:28.335 - It made me really think about how we could reach out and work with unions, work with other interested 00:22:28.335 --> 00:22:36.155 - groups. And I think part of the problem is when you come to a school board meeting, you can't have an 00:22:36.155 --> 00:22:43.976 - endless discussion that maybe would go on for a long time. But I think maybe what would be a good way 00:22:43.976 --> 00:22:50.110 - to do it would be, for example, for the school board members to meet with union 00:22:50.466 --> 00:22:58.573 - maybe on a separate time, not during the school board meeting, and discuss what their issues are. As 00:22:58.573 --> 00:23:06.920 - a teacher for all those years, I know often we were really frustrated because our union leaders weren't 00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:15.026 - necessarily feeling like they were being heard. But I think groups, we want to keep parents engaged, 00:23:15.026 --> 00:23:18.558 - we want to keep obviously teachers engaged, 00:23:19.202 --> 00:23:31.392 - And that was just something I thought about. I'm willing to give my time, extra time, to put aside for 00:23:31.392 --> 00:23:44.766 - special meetings with special groups so that there's a more in-depth way to address their specific concerns. Hi. 00:23:45.154 --> 00:23:52.033 - Working with teachers unions and staff unions and building those relationships. When I my first year 00:23:52.033 --> 00:23:59.184 - as a teacher I became a member of my local teacher union and never stopped being a member of the teacher 00:23:59.184 --> 00:24:05.790 - union. I know how important and valuable those teacher unions are for having a collective voice. 00:24:05.986 --> 00:24:12.853 - for the teachers. At RBB, we do not have a staff union. I don't think that means that their voice is 00:24:12.853 --> 00:24:19.856 - any less important. I think that it's important to also listen to our staff. Sometimes what's best for 00:24:19.856 --> 00:24:26.723 - teachers is what's best for kids. Sometimes what's gonna help staff the most is what's going to help 00:24:26.723 --> 00:24:33.182 - the whole building and the whole corporation, right? And so being able to, I think our role is 00:24:33.314 --> 00:24:41.777 - being able to listen and hear those variety of perspectives, hear those variety of needs and continue 00:24:41.777 --> 00:24:50.156 - to be the people that are listening and hearing and understanding from the role that we play because 00:24:50.156 --> 00:24:52.894 - sometimes it's hard to speak up. 00:24:53.090 --> 00:24:59.505 - to a position in power. And that might be your boss or your boss's boss. And that might be a little 00:24:59.505 --> 00:25:06.497 - bit more difficult. So I know that that is a place that unions can definitely help. And that is an important 00:25:06.497 --> 00:25:13.040 - role for the school board. I think one, I didn't get to address our biggest challenge. I'm gonna back 00:25:13.040 --> 00:25:18.942 - up to that a little bit. But I think one of our biggest challenges is building the village. 00:25:19.042 --> 00:25:25.983 - that helps support our community and our school corporation, and that everyone feels like they have 00:25:25.983 --> 00:25:33.202 - a voice and are a part of it. And I think that that's a role that the school board can play. Thank you. 00:25:33.202 --> 00:25:40.282 - Well, first of all, I forgot to mention that I was running for Richland Township RBBCSC School Board, 00:25:40.282 --> 00:25:47.362 - so I did forget to mention that. And one thing I've always said is I've always felt like teachers are 00:25:47.362 --> 00:25:48.542 - not appreciated. 00:25:48.770 --> 00:25:54.838 - for what they do, and I've always felt that way. The way I would approach it with the teachers and Teachers 00:25:54.838 --> 00:26:00.794 - Union is, first of all, I would listen. I would listen to what they say, and I would observe what they're 00:26:00.794 --> 00:26:06.749 - doing and what they're talking about. Before I'd ever make any decision or have any influence on anything 00:26:06.749 --> 00:26:11.862 - they have, I would also investigate everything. I would make sure what they're telling me, 00:26:11.862 --> 00:26:14.334 - find out everyone, both ends of everything, 00:26:14.658 --> 00:26:23.818 - find out what their issues are and take them all very seriously before I'd ever make any kind of decision 00:26:23.818 --> 00:26:32.892 - or any kind of recommendation. So that's all very important to me. I've dealt with both sides of groups, 00:26:32.892 --> 00:26:39.806 - administration, teachers, businesses, employees, and upper management. You have 00:26:40.418 --> 00:26:49.322 - to get together and listen to all sides. There's compromises. There's ways to work with people. And 00:26:49.322 --> 00:26:58.226 - I'm 100% available to people all the time. All my customers, all my employees, anyone, any teacher, 00:26:58.226 --> 00:27:07.219 - any parent, anyone would be able to contact me anytime. I answer the phone 24-7, ask my wife. It can 00:27:07.219 --> 00:27:09.534 - be midnight on a holiday. 00:27:09.986 --> 00:27:18.474 - I answer the phone, I answer text, I answer emails. I take all the calls and I will listen to everyone 00:27:18.474 --> 00:27:26.798 - and hear what their points of view are. Do you sleep? I think this is a very important question. And 00:27:26.798 --> 00:27:35.451 - so I wanted to do a little bit of research and understand this. So we have the RBB Education Association 00:27:35.451 --> 00:27:37.758 - associated with our school. 00:27:38.050 --> 00:27:44.494 - And so I asked both the administration and some teachers, how is that working? And so I heard from both 00:27:44.494 --> 00:27:50.877 - groups that there is a good working relationship there and that there's an open channel communication. 00:27:50.877 --> 00:27:57.507 - So my number one goal would be to support that. How do I come in and continue that and actually strengthen 00:27:57.507 --> 00:28:04.200 - that? So that would be my first goal. Secondly, I think any time that you're looking, I mean any situation, 00:28:04.200 --> 00:28:07.422 - any work situation, the people closest to the work, 00:28:07.970 --> 00:28:13.451 - know best what's working and what their challenges are. So if you're not listening to that, 00:28:13.451 --> 00:28:19.408 - not only that, you have to create, as Kelly said, you have to create that safe environment for that 00:28:19.408 --> 00:28:25.485 - feedback to come up. I think that's really important. I do that just with my team where I work today. 00:28:25.485 --> 00:28:31.562 - I tell everyone we should not be afraid to raise problems. And problems aren't visible unless someone 00:28:31.562 --> 00:28:36.030 - is willing to raise them. And then we have to work together to solve them. 00:28:36.546 --> 00:28:43.031 - There's always going to be competing priorities. And this, you know, it's challenging balancing student 00:28:43.031 --> 00:28:49.641 - needs, teacher needs, community needs. And so you have to listen to all of that. And there may not always 00:28:49.641 --> 00:28:56.252 - be agreement, but if you start with a relationship that's built on trust and mutual respect, I do believe 00:28:56.252 --> 00:28:59.806 - that you can work through it. And that would be my goal. 00:29:02.850 --> 00:29:09.384 - Okay, so for our next question, we'll start in the middle, and then you can just tag someone to go after 00:29:09.384 --> 00:29:15.731 - you. What are your thoughts about charter schools and state vouchers for private schools? Did you say 00:29:15.731 --> 00:29:22.389 - we were starting somewhere? With you, and then you can tag someone to go next. And then I can tag someone. 00:29:22.389 --> 00:29:27.678 - I'm excited for that part. Okay, thoughts about charter schools and private schools. 00:29:27.778 --> 00:29:35.488 - believe that every family should have a choice of what works best for their kiddos, and parents know 00:29:35.488 --> 00:29:43.274 - their kiddos best. I also know that charter schools and private schools do not play by the same rules 00:29:43.274 --> 00:29:51.213 - as public schools, and therefore taking public school funding and transferring it to those other places 00:29:51.213 --> 00:29:56.862 - also doesn't seem quite fair. I know that charter schools are a business, 00:29:57.058 --> 00:30:05.246 - And education is not a business for me. It never has been. And the reason why is because they are kids, 00:30:05.246 --> 00:30:13.592 - they are students, they are learners, they are humans, they are not products. And when we have a business 00:30:13.592 --> 00:30:22.174 - mentality with education, we get things like charter schools who serve the students that they want to serve. 00:30:22.274 --> 00:30:29.850 - and do not serve the students they do not want to serve. And public education serves absolutely everyone 00:30:29.850 --> 00:30:37.426 - and that is the best part about public education because we get to have our students together and seeing 00:30:37.426 --> 00:30:44.786 - a wide variety of perspectives and of experiences and what better place to show them that that's what 00:30:44.786 --> 00:30:50.270 - the world is made up of than when they are young and impressionable and can 00:30:50.850 --> 00:31:02.367 - take that in without judgment. I also know taking public school funds into private spaces seems like 00:31:02.367 --> 00:31:14.910 - it's an opportunity for all families, and it is an opportunity for the privileged. That state funding tuition 00:31:15.042 --> 00:31:22.829 - money does not cover the public or private charter tuition. So the families that can afford to go get 00:31:22.829 --> 00:31:30.541 - a discount to go. And the families that can't afford to go, that public funding doesn't cover it. So 00:31:30.541 --> 00:31:38.252 - they still cannot afford to go. And I think that's an inequity that is caused by that system and not 00:31:38.252 --> 00:31:44.894 - something that I would support. Ted. Well, as you guys know, this is a very hot topic. 00:31:45.154 --> 00:31:54.811 - I did a little bit of research into it, and the actual factual information about it, it's mixed. As 00:31:54.811 --> 00:32:04.950 - an educator, and I personally feel like not every child is suitable to be in the public schools. I think 00:32:04.950 --> 00:32:11.710 - there are some kids who would benefit being in a different situation. 00:32:11.906 --> 00:32:18.907 - My concern, again, you know, our ultimate concern is for the kids. And I'm concerned that some of, 00:32:18.907 --> 00:32:26.120 - you know, once they're in a charter school, that they may not have the same standards. I remember for 00:32:26.120 --> 00:32:33.262 - a while when I was teaching, there were, they weren't even necessarily having to do the standardized 00:32:33.262 --> 00:32:40.333 - tests that we had to in schools. For a while they were and then they weren't. So I worry about some 00:32:40.333 --> 00:32:41.182 - of the kids 00:32:41.698 --> 00:32:51.222 - because as you know, it's the parents who are pulling the kids out. It's not the children who are making 00:32:51.222 --> 00:33:00.383 - this decision. My other concern is the misuse of the funds because some of the wealthier parents who 00:33:00.383 --> 00:33:09.182 - are already able to afford private education for their kids, they're using our taxpayer funds to 00:33:10.050 --> 00:33:18.763 - when they already can afford to do it. In certain states, there are caps on your income, which parents 00:33:18.763 --> 00:33:27.899 - are actually able to do this, but not always. So I think those are my two main concerns. Are these children 00:33:27.899 --> 00:33:36.612 - really getting an education that's going to benefit them? And then are the funds being misused by some 00:33:36.612 --> 00:33:39.742 - people, where they really can afford 00:33:40.290 --> 00:33:49.973 - to send their kids to private school. And meanwhile, the public schools and our children that are in 00:33:49.973 --> 00:33:59.753 - public schools are missing out on those funds. Yeah. So I agree that parents should have the right to 00:33:59.753 --> 00:34:07.806 - take their children into a school environment that may be suitable for their child. 00:34:08.610 --> 00:34:21.234 - because not everybody is suited for public school. Now when we get into the public funds for the private 00:34:21.234 --> 00:34:33.498 - school, this brings up a concern for me. When you're using public dollars for education, there should 00:34:33.498 --> 00:34:35.422 - be an equitable 00:34:36.258 --> 00:34:50.116 - entrance for students, regardless of ability. There should also be accountability and transparency on 00:34:50.116 --> 00:35:04.926 - the use of those funds. Right now, I feel like some schools do, but it's a choice. Right now, it's a choice. 00:35:13.218 --> 00:35:21.706 - Sometimes you just have to be done. Tag. Tag. So I've thought about this a lot. We have over 300 students 00:35:21.706 --> 00:35:29.795 - that should be going to our school, to our public school, that are going to a charter school now. So 00:35:29.795 --> 00:35:37.883 - my thoughts were, of course, parents have the right to choose what school they have. They send their 00:35:37.883 --> 00:35:41.246 - children. But the best way to accommodate 00:35:41.410 --> 00:35:50.203 - to overcome that to me would be getting the word out of what we have to offer. What we have to offer 00:35:50.203 --> 00:35:59.344 - over the charter schools. We have a wider array of classes they can choose, more variety. We have public 00:35:59.344 --> 00:36:09.182 - transportation they don't have. We have extracurricular activities that they have some but nothing like we have. 00:36:09.730 --> 00:36:18.270 - We have sports. We have the arts. We have show choirs. We have a great band. We have all that that some 00:36:18.270 --> 00:36:26.975 - kids maybe in first grade may not realize they want to do that. But the parents are making these choices. 00:36:26.975 --> 00:36:35.515 - If our school and our curriculum and our teachers and our administrators and our facilities are so good 00:36:35.515 --> 00:36:38.718 - that they wouldn't want to go to their 00:36:39.138 --> 00:36:45.172 - then that's a choice. Some parents are going to choose a charter school and a private school no matter 00:36:45.172 --> 00:36:51.030 - what we do. Some parents are going to just do that. They don't want them to go to public school for 00:36:51.030 --> 00:36:57.006 - some reason. Now one thing that I'm really curious about and I want to find out, we have 300 students 00:36:57.006 --> 00:37:02.922 - that don't go to our school that are in charter. How many have come back? That's what I need to find 00:37:02.922 --> 00:37:07.902 - out and that's what I'm going to do because I wonder how many go and come back to us 00:37:08.034 --> 00:37:14.176 - at a different time. Our special education students that they kick out do. Well, going last here, I'm 00:37:14.176 --> 00:37:20.318 - going to also say that I think it's important to have options. I think if you start with the student, 00:37:20.318 --> 00:37:26.461 - every student is different and they have different needs and families have different needs. So I also 00:37:26.461 --> 00:37:32.783 - agree that there need to be options. Not one educational environment works for every student. The second 00:37:32.783 --> 00:37:34.590 - piece of this is the funding. 00:37:35.138 --> 00:37:42.145 - And the more options there are, and as Indiana has allowed all of these options, the funding is getting 00:37:42.145 --> 00:37:49.152 - fragmented. And we know in Indiana that the funding follows the student. So I think two things are true 00:37:49.152 --> 00:37:56.024 - at the same time. We want people to have options, but we also need the state of Indiana to adequately 00:37:56.024 --> 00:38:02.829 - fund strong public education. So if our state's gonna make options available, they also have to take 00:38:02.829 --> 00:38:04.446 - on that responsibility. 00:38:04.738 --> 00:38:10.868 - I think when you look at public schools, including charter schools, they vary. As you heard, they vary 00:38:10.868 --> 00:38:17.057 - in terms of what they offer. They have different programming, the governance is different, transparency 00:38:17.057 --> 00:38:23.187 - is different. So we have to consider that. And the fact of the matter is that public schools are still 00:38:23.187 --> 00:38:29.376 - expected to be a community school corporation, a comprehensive school corporation serving every student 00:38:29.376 --> 00:38:31.102 - that comes through the door. 00:38:31.298 --> 00:38:38.679 - And so the thought that occurred to me, obviously we've all been researching this, is that options don't 00:38:38.679 --> 00:38:46.202 - always equal access. There are barriers for families, whether it's transportation or it's a work schedule. 00:38:46.202 --> 00:38:53.372 - It could be anything. There are barriers that get in the way. So creating options doesn't necessarily 00:38:53.372 --> 00:38:56.606 - mean that every child is going to get served. 00:38:56.802 --> 00:39:02.865 - I think the important thing here is to work with the state of Indiana to make sure that they understand 00:39:02.865 --> 00:39:08.928 - that this environment that they've created is going to impact children and is going to impact families. 00:39:08.928 --> 00:39:15.165 - And one more thing, I do not believe, I'll say this very clearly, I do not believe that public tax dollars 00:39:15.165 --> 00:39:21.111 - should subsidize private education. I think it's fine for people to have that choice, but if you make 00:39:21.111 --> 00:39:25.950 - that choice, I do not think public tax dollars should support that. Thank you all. 00:39:26.722 --> 00:39:33.092 - This is our final question, and then we'll open it up to the audience for questions, and we'll start 00:39:33.092 --> 00:39:39.778 - on this end again. So take a deep breath. Okay, how do you understand your role as an advocate for public 00:39:39.778 --> 00:39:46.085 - education in the broader community and at the State House? How will you show up alongside students, 00:39:46.085 --> 00:39:50.878 - parents, teachers, the administration, and unions to advocate for policies? 00:39:51.234 --> 00:39:57.339 - Yeah, I mean, I am an advocate for public education. I will continue to be so I'm actually really like 00:39:57.339 --> 00:40:03.443 - excited about this part of the job. This is where you get to be the superhero for your school and tell 00:40:03.443 --> 00:40:09.370 - those great stories about the positive impact that's happening. I think first of all, it's creating 00:40:09.370 --> 00:40:12.926 - that communication and relationship with state legislature. 00:40:13.026 --> 00:40:20.132 - As I said, I think it's really important they're making decisions and it's important that we're communicating 00:40:20.132 --> 00:40:26.657 - back to them the impact those decisions are having on students and teachers and staff and we have to 00:40:26.657 --> 00:40:33.182 - be that voice. And I know that the state has made it harder for teachers to have like advocacy days. 00:40:33.182 --> 00:40:36.606 - I think that's not cool. I think it's important that 00:40:36.994 --> 00:40:43.390 - The voice, the collective voice is heard. I also agree with Dennis that I think the other part of advocacy 00:40:43.390 --> 00:40:49.367 - is we have to tell the stories. That's what I do during my day job is tell stories. So people often 00:40:49.367 --> 00:40:55.464 - look at like, oh, there's a new football field or a new baseball field and they miss what's happening 00:40:55.464 --> 00:41:00.126 - inside the walls of the school. And there's such innovation happening at RBB. 00:41:00.642 --> 00:41:08.854 - And I see so many positive stories when I get invited in around these kids and how they're finding their 00:41:08.854 --> 00:41:16.753 - passion and they're finding their pathway forward. And we've got to find a way to tell those stories 00:41:16.753 --> 00:41:24.575 - so that people understand the power of public education. So that's how I would advocate. Thanks. So 00:41:24.575 --> 00:41:28.094 - I am a strong advocate for public education. 00:41:28.450 --> 00:41:35.085 - I went through public education at Edgewood. I see friends that went through it. So I'm a very strong 00:41:35.085 --> 00:41:42.175 - opponent, or not opponent, advocate for it. The thing about it is we're in competition. We're in competition 00:41:42.175 --> 00:41:49.201 - for every student. We're in competition with the charter schools. We're in competition with the Bloomington 00:41:49.201 --> 00:41:55.966 - schools, not Brown County too much, but when you look at our facilities, when you're looking at sports, 00:41:56.322 --> 00:42:04.120 - Kids can transfer from school to school now without being penalized and play. It's our buildings. It's 00:42:04.120 --> 00:42:11.918 - our classrooms. It's our teachers. We're in competition with them all the time. So we have to have the 00:42:11.918 --> 00:42:19.868 - best available teachers, facilities, and all of that. When it comes to the state, I have sat down almost 00:42:19.868 --> 00:42:25.470 - yearly with state senators and state representatives on an ongoing basis. 00:42:25.858 --> 00:42:34.379 - I have sat down with all the governors from Evan By to Mike Braun. I'm involved in that on a day-to-day 00:42:34.379 --> 00:42:42.573 - business, day-to-day, week-to-week within my business. I know how to go in front of a committee and 00:42:42.573 --> 00:42:51.422 - talk about what we're trying to do. I know how to sit in front of individuals and tell them why they should 00:42:52.514 --> 00:43:01.408 - look at what we're talking about, why our teachers are talking about it, why our administrators need 00:43:01.408 --> 00:43:10.215 - this. I've done it, I know how to do it, and want to do it for the schools. So as a former educator 00:43:10.215 --> 00:43:20.254 - and still in higher education, I love Read for Ed days. I've gone to several of them. I think it's important that 00:43:20.674 --> 00:43:28.811 - public educators are able to use a collective voice and tell the leadership of our state and of our 00:43:28.811 --> 00:43:37.030 - country what we need for students. I believe it was Krista that said we have to listen to the people 00:43:37.030 --> 00:43:45.167 - who are closest to the work and that is our educators in the classroom and that is something that I 00:43:45.167 --> 00:43:47.934 - want to continue to advocate for. 00:43:48.898 --> 00:43:56.307 - On a strengths finder, I am an advocate, and I love advocating, and public education is my passion. 00:43:56.307 --> 00:44:04.012 - So that is something that I am also super excited about, part of this role, and as an elected official, 00:44:04.012 --> 00:44:11.643 - getting time with our state elected officials is a higher priority for them, and something that I plan 00:44:11.643 --> 00:44:12.606 - to leverage. 00:44:20.578 --> 00:44:28.269 - One of the things that I really felt was important about sending my daughter to public school, obviously 00:44:28.269 --> 00:44:35.667 - I was a public school teacher, but besides that was to me going to public schools, it's like a slice 00:44:35.667 --> 00:44:43.358 - of life. They get the experience of being around all different kinds of people, you know, from different 00:44:43.358 --> 00:44:49.950 - communities within our overriding community. And I feel like it really helps prepare them 00:44:50.498 --> 00:44:57.639 - for when they go out into the world. They learn what it's like to be with kids that maybe they aren't 00:44:57.639 --> 00:45:05.270 - necessarily hanging out with. They learn to also be around different kinds of adults who are their teachers. 00:45:05.270 --> 00:45:12.621 - So I am definitely an advocate for the public schools, and I think that's part of the reason why I think 00:45:12.621 --> 00:45:19.902 - that some of the kids in the charter schools are missing out, because you learn how to really deal with 00:45:20.354 --> 00:45:28.186 - big slice of life. Back to a statement I made earlier, which is as a school board member, I feel like 00:45:28.186 --> 00:45:35.942 - I am part of this body. And so I think if we're going to be advocating, I think there has to be kind 00:45:35.942 --> 00:45:43.774 - of a collective message coming from the school board. That doesn't mean if somebody comes up to me in 00:45:43.774 --> 00:45:46.846 - my community and wants to tell me about 00:45:47.394 --> 00:45:55.967 - some issue they have or something they want to see us doing, I will be there to listen to them and bring 00:45:55.967 --> 00:46:04.703 - it back to the school board. But I think we should be doing, as a school board, whatever we can to promote 00:46:04.703 --> 00:46:13.113 - our school corporation through the state or out into the community, let them know what we're doing and 00:46:13.113 --> 00:46:16.542 - promoting all the aspects of our schools. 00:46:20.034 --> 00:46:28.505 - So I think that probably the most important thing with advocating is listening to the teachers to see 00:46:28.505 --> 00:46:36.811 - exactly how those policies are affecting their classroom and their teaching. And then as the board, 00:46:36.811 --> 00:46:45.365 - when we would go up to the state house, we could explain. You got to find your representative, you got 00:46:45.365 --> 00:46:47.774 - to explain what the policies 00:46:48.226 --> 00:46:58.959 - are doing to your school. I'm working in a school right now that has heavy circuit breaker. So we've 00:46:58.959 --> 00:47:09.798 - spoken to several times representatives about how that affects our funding. It's totally different in 00:47:09.798 --> 00:47:17.662 - Brown County. I don't know about yours, but they do listen. So advocating 00:47:18.818 --> 00:47:26.234 - For what? Now, that's what we wanted. This would be for what teachers wanted. So that's why I say you 00:47:26.234 --> 00:47:33.722 - need to listen to the teachers, find out what they need to do their job well so that students come out 00:47:33.722 --> 00:47:41.719 - of school with what they need. So I think as a board, probably one of the most important things is advocating 00:47:41.719 --> 00:47:46.590 - for your teachers and the policies with the state representatives. 00:47:50.178 --> 00:47:57.332 - Thank you all again. At this time, we're going to open up to the audience for questions. Emma's going 00:47:57.332 --> 00:48:04.486 - to come around with a microphone. Does anyone out there have a question? Or just anything you want us 00:48:04.486 --> 00:48:11.921 - to think about. I would love to just hear from you all, too. We're doing great on time, so there's plenty 00:48:11.921 --> 00:48:18.654 - of time. Jenny's loaded with questions here. So if you want to get yours in, now's your chance. 00:48:24.130 --> 00:48:34.068 - Have any of you actually been up to the State House and done some of the things you're recommending? 00:48:34.068 --> 00:48:44.105 - Have you had experience doing that? I have, not in terms of this topic, but yes, I have. I also think 00:48:44.105 --> 00:48:52.862 - that it's also important to get them into your community. I don't know how hard that is. 00:48:53.506 --> 00:49:00.037 - But I do see them. I mean, we've had some luck with the Chamber of Commerce bringing state legislators 00:49:00.037 --> 00:49:06.442 - in. And so maybe there's even partnership opportunities there. Because I think that it's easier when 00:49:06.442 --> 00:49:12.847 - they're in your environment. Sometimes you can get them a little more focused. But yeah, I would try 00:49:12.847 --> 00:49:19.441 - to do that for sure. Well, I've said it already many times. I go up there almost every year. And I talk 00:49:19.441 --> 00:49:21.534 - to a lot of different lawmakers. 00:49:22.370 --> 00:49:28.551 - You can get them to come if you invite them. We've had senators, different people come to our business 00:49:28.551 --> 00:49:34.792 - and by inviting them, they like to come, they like to see the facilities. I remember when I was in high 00:49:34.792 --> 00:49:41.213 - school, there's a congressman coming and talking to the school. I still remember that today and I remember 00:49:41.213 --> 00:49:47.274 - his name. So that's important, but a lot of times they're just not invited and they will come if not 00:49:47.274 --> 00:49:47.934 - and it is, 00:49:48.866 --> 00:49:55.824 - It's interesting to go and sit in front of a senator or a congressman or anything, and you think, 00:49:55.824 --> 00:50:02.994 - you know, they're very important. And they are, but they're people. They really are. You can sit and 00:50:02.994 --> 00:50:10.520 - have conversations with them. I've had them one-on-one in Washington where I see a picture of a gentleman 00:50:10.520 --> 00:50:15.774 - I work for has a barn up in Brown County, the red barn going up the hill. 00:50:15.970 --> 00:50:23.692 - That's his property, and we're sitting in there, and there's the barn on the wall. They're people, so 00:50:23.692 --> 00:50:31.262 - they will listen to you. And it's very important that we get our message out to them. So I have had 00:50:31.262 --> 00:50:39.287 - some experience on the Red for Ed days going to the State House, advocating for public education, talking 00:50:39.287 --> 00:50:40.574 - as a collective. 00:50:40.834 --> 00:50:49.028 - not as an individual. I have not done that on an individual level. And also I think that they are also 00:50:49.028 --> 00:50:57.222 - elected officials. And one thing I know about leadership is that the strongest leaders listen and they 00:50:57.222 --> 00:51:04.222 - are leaders and they want to listen. And so similar to the point that Dennis just made, 00:51:04.738 --> 00:51:11.450 - We have to give them the opportunity to listen. We have to give them the opportunity to hear us, to 00:51:11.450 --> 00:51:18.229 - invite them and have them hear those things. So although I haven't done it, I'm certainly not afraid 00:51:18.229 --> 00:51:25.009 - to do it on an individual level and it's something I'm looking forward to as part of the job. I have 00:51:25.009 --> 00:51:30.110 - not actually gone up to the State House. The main involvement I've had with 00:51:30.850 --> 00:51:38.632 - Having leaders come is through my work with the Friends of Brown County State Park. We often invite 00:51:38.632 --> 00:51:46.415 - legislators to come to various events we're doing at the park. And I've had the opportunity to talk 00:51:46.415 --> 00:51:54.197 - to and meet the leaders there. So in my experience, the superintendent went to the state house, but 00:51:54.197 --> 00:52:00.190 - she did invite the legislators to come to our school. And they did. One did. 00:52:00.482 --> 00:52:09.352 - So that's where she wanted me to come in on how it was impacting our finances, the property tax caps. 00:52:09.352 --> 00:52:18.745 - But she gets up there quite a bit. So they actually do listen. So it is important that you kind of advocate 00:52:18.745 --> 00:52:27.441 - for your schools. So I think the one thing we haven't really talked about is the school board works 00:52:27.441 --> 00:52:30.398 - very closely with administration. 00:52:31.586 --> 00:52:39.528 - which maybe for teachers is one of the most frustrating areas. So what does it look like for you when 00:52:39.528 --> 00:52:47.625 - you're having conversations with teachers and they are expressing some rather large concerns and you're 00:52:47.625 --> 00:52:55.566 - taking this to administration and administration is not listening, ignoring, downplaying, gaslighting 00:52:55.566 --> 00:52:59.070 - teachers. As a school board, how do you have 00:52:59.266 --> 00:53:08.895 - conversations with the administration and to also support the teachers. Well, I've been there. 00:53:08.895 --> 00:53:19.233 - And of course, even when a couple of times I was involved in strikes in Monroe County, you don't want 00:53:19.233 --> 00:53:28.254 - it to get to that point. And it's frustrating when you feel like you're not being heard. 00:53:29.250 --> 00:53:36.003 - I'm hoping that, you know, that's one of the reasons I'm running for school board is because a lot of 00:53:36.003 --> 00:53:42.823 - the things we've all been talking about tonight is you've got to be listening to your teachers. You've 00:53:42.823 --> 00:53:49.510 - got to be advocating for your teachers. They are the direct line to the education of the kids. So as 00:53:49.510 --> 00:53:56.130 - a school board member, I'm going to be very pro-teacher. And I'm going to be very pro, let's listen 00:53:56.130 --> 00:53:57.918 - to the teacher's concerns. 00:53:58.786 --> 00:54:06.720 - Are you a teacher? Okay. So, you know, when you've seen, this is the thing, when you've actually been 00:54:06.720 --> 00:54:14.731 - there and you know what the job is, you realize what, when a teacher comes to you, really what they're 00:54:14.731 --> 00:54:22.976 - experiencing. And I will be able to do that. And you just, I'll have to hope that the rest of the members 00:54:22.976 --> 00:54:25.854 - on the school board will hear me and 00:54:26.402 --> 00:54:34.409 - One of the things I think I'm going to bring to the school board if I'm elected is I'm not going to 00:54:34.409 --> 00:54:42.577 - be just a yes person. I'm really going to listen to all sides and I will speak up if I feel like that 00:54:42.577 --> 00:54:50.825 - voice needs to be heard, especially as it concerns teachers. Thank you for your question. I appreciate 00:54:50.825 --> 00:54:56.350 - it. It sounds like maybe it's a personal experience that you've had. 00:54:56.546 --> 00:55:05.490 - Sorry about that. That's not a fun situation. I think that what I said as one of our biggest priorities 00:55:05.490 --> 00:55:14.176 - or biggest concern is building the village. And I think that speaks to exactly what your question is 00:55:14.176 --> 00:55:22.948 - asking is how do we continue to build the village where we're all on this, we're the same team. We're 00:55:22.948 --> 00:55:26.302 - the same team, we gotta work together. 00:55:26.498 --> 00:55:35.417 - because it's for the kids, and how do we do that? And I think teachers, staff, people that work directly 00:55:35.417 --> 00:55:44.166 - with our students have a unique experience that we need to listen to. So continuing to listen to those 00:55:44.166 --> 00:55:52.831 - things if it comes to the point of fact finding, right? Like going and asking more questions, finding 00:55:52.831 --> 00:55:55.294 - ways to survey staff that is 00:55:55.458 --> 00:56:02.873 - truly anonymous. Sometimes that can be hard digitally, but truly finding anonymous ways to gather that 00:56:02.873 --> 00:56:10.431 - information. I love listening sessions, times when people can come in and voice their opinions and voice 00:56:10.431 --> 00:56:17.774 - their concerns so that they have regular times where they can do that, and I know that teacher unions 00:56:17.774 --> 00:56:19.070 - are part of that. 00:56:19.522 --> 00:56:26.956 - and then documenting if there's a one-off thing and you're not listened to, that's one thing. But when 00:56:26.956 --> 00:56:34.462 - we have three or four or five or several different incidents where this is a thing that we're ignoring, 00:56:34.462 --> 00:56:41.680 - we're not going to ignore that anymore and we need to actually address the situation. I'll go next. 00:56:41.680 --> 00:56:47.454 - First of all, gas lighting is never okay. It's not an okay thing any time ever. 00:56:48.130 --> 00:56:55.377 - I had a conversation with a teacher just last week, kind of on this topic, on this vein. And one of 00:56:55.377 --> 00:57:03.130 - the things that she said to me was, we don't always agree with central office. Sometimes we have feedback. 00:57:03.130 --> 00:57:10.667 - We don't know that we're always heard. And so she kind of shared with me that she felt it was important 00:57:10.667 --> 00:57:17.406 - that if I do get elected that I remain objective. And I thought that was really good advice. 00:57:17.570 --> 00:57:23.943 - In my job, I face this. I have a team. I have almost 250 people who work in my team today. And I have 00:57:23.943 --> 00:57:30.753 - to create that environment today. And I have to listen. And like Kelly said, sometimes if you hear something 00:57:30.753 --> 00:57:37.313 - more than once, I mean, where there's smoke, there's usually fire. If you hear something more than once, 00:57:37.313 --> 00:57:43.811 - there's a theme. And it's important to address those things. I think there's some things that are going 00:57:43.811 --> 00:57:46.622 - to be tricky, though. And that is anonymity. 00:57:47.170 --> 00:57:53.864 - and how do you protect people when they bring you feedback? How do you make sure that you are being 00:57:53.864 --> 00:58:00.558 - objective and listening to all viewpoints and creating that safe environment? There's also the fact 00:58:00.558 --> 00:58:07.252 - that as board members, we're supposed to be focusing on governance. It's not necessarily our job to 00:58:07.252 --> 00:58:14.080 - come in and fix the problem, but I do think we have to be aware if policies are not working or if the 00:58:14.080 --> 00:58:16.222 - environment is not creating the 00:58:16.610 --> 00:58:22.955 - outcome that we expect or we want, then I do think a board member needs to be involved and needs to 00:58:22.955 --> 00:58:29.426 - address that. So I think I would handle it the same way I do in every aspect of my life. Even my kids 00:58:29.426 --> 00:58:35.897 - know that I'm like this. I'm like, well, dad said so and such and such. And I said, OK, let's get all 00:58:35.897 --> 00:58:42.813 - the facts. Let's get them on the table. Let's make sure that we understand that and try to remain objective. 00:58:42.813 --> 00:58:46.366 - So I think that's one of the best ways that I can help. 00:58:46.658 --> 00:58:54.347 - because I want to create that safe environment where they feel like they can give me that feedback so 00:58:54.347 --> 00:59:02.338 - that I am aware. So I'm coming into this. I have no agenda. I have nobody that I'm pushing for and nobody 00:59:02.338 --> 00:59:10.404 - that I'm pushing against. So when I look at this is I don't owe anything to anyone. So I want the teachers 00:59:10.404 --> 00:59:16.510 - to feel like they can come to me. But I realized our limitations. We don't work. 00:59:17.794 --> 00:59:24.471 - aren't there on day-to-day basis. We can't make decisions that's going on in the class. But we can have 00:59:24.471 --> 00:59:30.828 - a lot of influence on the administrative side, because we do hire the school board superintendent. 00:59:30.828 --> 00:59:37.633 - I mean, I'm sorry, the school superintendents. And that's who runs the schools through the print. There's 00:59:37.633 --> 00:59:44.311 - a chain of command. But that chain of command sometimes is broken. I heard issues last year, some about 00:59:44.311 --> 00:59:46.622 - some people felt like teachers that 00:59:47.266 --> 00:59:53.751 - their supervisors weren't listening to them and weren't supporting them. And that's important. And that's 00:59:53.751 --> 00:59:59.503 - important to come to us because we need to support them along with the administration. Again, 00:59:59.503 --> 01:00:06.172 - I said earlier, I'll talk to anyone anytime I'll listen to everybody. And I won't make any kind of decisions 01:00:06.172 --> 01:00:11.678 - other than till I have all the facts and know what is going actually happening out there. 01:00:17.634 --> 01:00:28.502 - I think that the most important thing is to listen to teachers and understand what they're asking for. 01:00:28.502 --> 01:00:39.898 - I've been around for 30 years in schools. I've been an administrator. I am an administrator on the business 01:00:39.898 --> 01:00:46.334 - side. And I find that a good collaborative relationship with 01:00:47.138 --> 01:00:58.873 - The administrative team and teachers usually ends well. Our experience has been, we haven't had the, 01:00:58.873 --> 01:01:11.074 - not gas lighting, but we have had times where teachers would come and they would request certain things. 01:01:11.074 --> 01:01:13.630 - We had to look at it. 01:01:15.138 --> 01:01:23.369 - you have to look at the big picture. So you have to hear everything, then you have to look at the big 01:01:23.369 --> 01:01:31.601 - picture. Is it sustainable? Is it what's best for students? And 10 times out of 10, if it is best for 01:01:31.601 --> 01:01:39.994 - students, then that's when it gets done. The collaborative, the listening, the open door policy, that's 01:01:39.994 --> 01:01:44.190 - a key requirement for a collaborative relationship. 01:01:44.770 --> 01:01:52.601 - I do think it's important. Any questions? Hi, thank you all for being here. So I've been in education 01:01:52.601 --> 01:02:00.508 - for a long time and I've found, I don't remember where I read this or heard this, that schools operate 01:02:00.508 --> 01:02:08.262 - on, you know, in my experience has been absolutely the case, that schools operate on the unpaid time 01:02:08.262 --> 01:02:13.022 - of teachers, right? Every school depends on teachers donating 01:02:13.890 --> 01:02:20.019 - you know, maybe dozens of hours a week, you know, far beyond what might be their contracted hours, but 01:02:20.019 --> 01:02:25.969 - generally speaking, I have known so many public educators to give far beyond, and the teachers over 01:02:25.969 --> 01:02:31.919 - here are shaking their heads furiously already. What do you think is an appropriate amount of time, 01:02:31.919 --> 01:02:36.798 - say weekly or in general, for an individual to give to their schools, and what is 01:02:37.282 --> 01:02:44.813 - really a fair ask of teachers because I get the sense that this is not a thing that generally the public 01:02:44.813 --> 01:02:52.128 - understands how much time teachers end up donating to their schools to keep them functioning, to keep 01:02:52.128 --> 01:02:58.941 - all of the clubs and the sports or just their classrooms in general running. What do you think 01:02:58.941 --> 01:03:04.894 - is appropriate? Can I ask a clarifying question? Is this, when you say donated, so 01:03:05.794 --> 01:03:11.870 - If you're working after your contracted hours for, let's say, chess club, you're not getting paid for 01:03:11.870 --> 01:03:17.947 - that? That's not on your ECA schedule? Sometimes those are, and sometimes those aren't. Oh, OK. Also, 01:03:17.947 --> 01:03:24.143 - in this past legislative session, they removed hours from our contracts as well. Yes, they did. So that 01:03:24.143 --> 01:03:30.338 - opens up a whole other can of worms. And I think that's a little bit motivating for this question, too. 01:03:30.338 --> 01:03:34.270 - Sometimes there's ECA pay. But I can tell you, I've been a coach. 01:03:34.498 --> 01:03:43.684 - Obviously not enough right here. I don't want to break it down to what that pay would actually be per 01:03:43.684 --> 01:03:52.960 - hour or whatever because it's yeah, you know Thank you, I Think one of the things that you have I mean 01:03:52.960 --> 01:04:02.686 - I had a friend who came in every single Sunday and worked because she just She you know, we don't have time 01:04:03.522 --> 01:04:10.876 - We do not have time as teachers during the day to get everything done. And the other thing too, not 01:04:10.876 --> 01:04:18.230 - only are teachers putting in more time, they're also putting in a lot of their own money. They want 01:04:18.230 --> 01:04:25.584 - to supplement their students. They spend a lot of money on extracurricular activities and things to 01:04:25.584 --> 01:04:31.614 - bring into the classroom. It's a tricky question. I feel like some teachers that, 01:04:31.778 --> 01:04:40.802 - Mainly, most of the teachers I've worked with are so dedicated that they don't mind. Obviously, like 01:04:40.802 --> 01:04:50.182 - you were saying, they should be more appreciated, they should be better paid, but they love what they're 01:04:50.182 --> 01:04:59.742 - doing. I wish the teachers were given more money for that. I think that's a problem with the school board. 01:05:00.034 --> 01:05:08.969 - is it's really a balance between meeting the priorities of the school board and the financial. And I 01:05:08.969 --> 01:05:18.523 - think there's always going to be a problem really balancing those two. And I don't know how we can convince 01:05:18.523 --> 01:05:27.546 - the public that our teachers are worth so much more. But it certainly would be like an issue to bring 01:05:27.546 --> 01:05:29.758 - before the school board. 01:05:30.274 --> 01:05:41.904 - Thank you for your question. May I answer as well? Okay. So how much time is appropriate for teachers 01:05:41.904 --> 01:05:53.649 - to give? None? None. I don't believe in unpaid labor. That's why I left education. And I miss it every 01:05:53.649 --> 01:05:59.806 - day. And I went into a profession that would allow me 01:06:00.162 --> 01:06:10.883 - to make educators' lives easier. And that's where I'm focusing my time. I believe in work-life balance. 01:06:10.883 --> 01:06:21.397 - I will not answer my phone 24-7. I burnt myself out. And I know that's a story for so many educators. 01:06:21.397 --> 01:06:28.510 - And I will always answer, just maybe not in the middle of the night. 01:06:29.154 --> 01:06:37.393 - I think that's another job of the advocacy piece, right? That's why we go advocate is to, it's already 01:06:37.393 --> 01:06:45.472 - so incredibly unfair. And when I had to make the choice between giving to my two children and giving 01:06:45.472 --> 01:06:53.870 - to my 150 children, it's an impossible choice. It's an impossible choice. And it's not fair that they're 01:06:53.870 --> 01:06:56.830 - so passionate and they rely on that. 01:06:57.250 --> 01:07:05.187 - that they rely on that because educators do care. And we're all in it for the kids. I know this is a 01:07:05.187 --> 01:07:13.281 - big subject. And the reason I know that is I have a daughter that's a kindergarten teacher or was. And 01:07:13.281 --> 01:07:21.453 - I hear from my wife, from the daughter, how much extra time she had to put in every day and every night 01:07:21.453 --> 01:07:25.854 - for kindergarten to have it prepared for what they did. 01:07:26.018 --> 01:07:34.606 - and how much money she had to take out of her pocket and buy things, how much stuff my wife has bought 01:07:34.606 --> 01:07:42.943 - for her classroom, for her kindergarten classroom. And it's a problem. I don't know the answer, but 01:07:42.943 --> 01:07:51.864 - I'll definitely investigate it and try to find out more about it before or after, hopefully, I get elected 01:07:51.864 --> 01:07:54.782 - and get more details for it later. 01:07:55.618 --> 01:08:02.174 - I'm not going to pretend to know what it's like to walk in your shoes. I do understand work life. 01:08:02.174 --> 01:08:09.132 - I mean, I was going to talk about work-life balance too, because working for a global company and being 01:08:09.132 --> 01:08:15.822 - a salaried employee, I've got nights and weekends. And I think we shouldn't ask too much of people. 01:08:15.822 --> 01:08:22.846 - I think that it's not fair. I think that people need to be able to live the life that they want to lead. 01:08:23.362 --> 01:08:31.052 - it occurs to me as teachers that it really is a lifestyle. It's not just a job for you. It's a lifestyle. 01:08:31.052 --> 01:08:38.452 - You're kind of committing all of you to your kids. I mean, part of what I do in Ellitsville is I'm on 01:08:38.452 --> 01:08:46.070 - the awards committee for the chamber awards, and I get to help pick the educator of the year every year. 01:08:46.070 --> 01:08:52.382 - And I'm like blown away every time I read these nominations and teachers who are still 01:08:52.866 --> 01:08:58.664 - going to the games, the extracurricular activities or the kids that were in their classes 10 years ago. 01:08:58.664 --> 01:09:04.406 - I don't, I mean this takes, this takes special people to do this. Remember, and we just sat and talked 01:09:04.406 --> 01:09:10.148 - about camp, like you remember your, you remember them and you remember who they are and I think that's 01:09:10.148 --> 01:09:15.834 - incredible. I don't know that I know the answer to the problem but I want to understand it better and 01:09:15.834 --> 01:09:16.670 - I want to know 01:09:16.930 --> 01:09:23.733 - You know, if I do get elected and I have four years, what can I do in four years? Because it is complicated. 01:09:23.733 --> 01:09:30.162 - The funding environment is complicated. But no one should be asked to give up more than you can or you 01:09:30.162 --> 01:09:36.528 - want to, right? And I think where you are in your life also makes a difference. You know, my kids are 01:09:36.528 --> 01:09:42.895 - older and I'm spending more time in my community because I can. But when they're younger, I couldn't. 01:09:42.895 --> 01:09:46.078 - And so, I mean, everybody, we're all human beings. 01:09:46.498 --> 01:09:54.029 - We have life cycles within our lives and sometimes you can give more and sometimes you can give less 01:09:54.029 --> 01:10:01.709 - and that should be okay. That needs to be okay. So if it's not okay, I think that I want to understand 01:10:01.709 --> 01:10:09.314 - that better and see how I can influence it. We had everybody loves sports. Everybody loves, you know, 01:10:09.314 --> 01:10:12.446 - those coaches don't get paid enough club. 01:10:15.682 --> 01:10:28.147 - leaders don't get paid enough. We had both of my schools, the teachers came to us and we reworked the 01:10:28.147 --> 01:10:40.856 - ECA schedule. Still, it's not enough. We also instituted, because we had such a good relationship, this 01:10:40.856 --> 01:10:43.422 - is where I'm talking 01:10:44.354 --> 01:10:53.885 - you have to be collaborative with the union. They instituted, if you are working outside of school hours 01:10:53.885 --> 01:11:03.052 - on with students, so not like on lesson plans or anything, but if you are with students and it's not 01:11:03.052 --> 01:11:12.129 - like on the ECA schedule, if you needed to stay after for a meeting, tutoring, something like that, 01:11:12.129 --> 01:11:13.854 - they did institute 01:11:14.178 --> 01:11:25.079 - $35 an hour, which is still, I'm sure, way underpaid for what they're doing. I think that it begins 01:11:25.079 --> 01:11:31.838 - with this collaborative relationship with the administration. 01:11:46.050 --> 01:11:54.811 - Something that always has concerned me is the amount of time kids have outside and also the quality 01:11:54.811 --> 01:12:04.098 - of school lunches. I don't know what it's like in all of your school districts, but I know at university, 01:12:04.098 --> 01:12:12.158 - elementary, they used to have a school lunch program where they had trays that were washed. 01:12:12.674 --> 01:12:20.156 - people that made food and then they got rid of all that and everything is throw away, everything is 01:12:20.156 --> 01:12:27.787 - just like fast food. And I think how are we educating our children to be members, positive members on 01:12:27.787 --> 01:12:35.568 - this earth if we're not showing them that what you eat matters and what would you do with the packaging 01:12:35.568 --> 01:12:37.214 - and all that matters. 01:12:37.314 --> 01:12:43.631 - And I feel like that's a huge lesson. That's a lesson that they will take throughout their whole lives, 01:12:43.631 --> 01:12:49.706 - and we're just throwing that away. Like, oh, we're just not going to worry about that one. And that 01:12:49.706 --> 01:12:55.841 - is very concerning to me. And the other thing that's concerning is how much time kids get outside. I 01:12:55.841 --> 01:13:01.854 - have a school at my home for toddlers and preschoolers, and I tutor children, elementary children, 01:13:01.854 --> 01:13:05.438 - after that. And they'll come to me, and they're just like, 01:13:06.178 --> 01:13:12.936 - at the end of the school day, because they've been inside all day. And I remember as a child staring 01:13:12.936 --> 01:13:20.228 - out the window and going, if we could just sit out in the grass. And when I worked at University Elementary, 01:13:20.228 --> 01:13:27.254 - I was like, if we could just have a shelter outside where people could go and have their school outside. 01:13:27.254 --> 01:13:34.145 - Because if you've been a teacher, you know what it's like being in a room with 20, 30 students and how 01:13:34.145 --> 01:13:35.550 - much energy that is. 01:13:35.682 --> 01:13:44.440 - and how draining that is for every person in the classroom, teacher and student alike. But if you bring 01:13:44.440 --> 01:13:52.861 - that outside, that energy disperses, and it makes learning easier. So that's my question is, do you 01:13:52.861 --> 01:14:01.871 - have any interest in making it so kids can be outside more? And do you have interest in making our lunches 01:14:01.871 --> 01:14:03.134 - something that 01:14:03.330 --> 01:14:11.119 - they can be proud of. Well, you hit my two favorite subjects in school. I made straight A's in lunch 01:14:11.119 --> 01:14:18.831 - and recess. And I do remember those. When I was in school, lunch sometimes was the best meal of the 01:14:18.831 --> 01:14:27.006 - day I had. My mom wasn't much of a cook. She worked late and all that. So it was a big deal for us lunch. 01:14:27.394 --> 01:14:33.833 - I can't tell you what it is now, because I've not been to the lunch. I am more than willing to go to 01:14:33.833 --> 01:14:40.272 - the schools and have the lunch and try it and see what it is. From what I understand, ours is better 01:14:40.272 --> 01:14:46.712 - than it's been. And they've improved the nutritional part of it. I think some administrations in the 01:14:46.712 --> 01:14:53.342 - past have pushed for that in schools to improve it. I don't know, but I will find out, that's for sure. 01:14:53.506 --> 01:15:00.508 - We have this wonderful woman at RBB, and her name is Vicki Coffee. And I don't know that I've met anyone. 01:15:00.508 --> 01:15:07.444 - I'll see all those while people are shaking their head, yes. This woman is a blessing for our community. 01:15:07.444 --> 01:15:14.181 - And what she has done for nutrition, for food services at Edgewood is incredible. She got the funding 01:15:14.181 --> 01:15:20.853 - to get a food truck to take the food to the kids. So breaking down those barriers. So I think we got 01:15:20.853 --> 01:15:22.174 - a good thing going. 01:15:22.338 --> 01:15:29.745 - at RBB because of this, of Vicki Coffee and her passion for feeding children. And I think sometimes 01:15:29.745 --> 01:15:37.448 - you have to find those people and you gotta nurture that and you gotta give them what they need so they 01:15:37.448 --> 01:15:45.300 - can go around and create that kind of impact in the world. So I think we're lucky at RBB in that regards. 01:15:45.300 --> 01:15:51.966 - I had to almost laugh at your thought around being outside and like you described my son. 01:15:52.162 --> 01:15:58.432 - growing up, you know, he had to be kept busy all the time. And so I think, I know personally, I sit 01:15:58.432 --> 01:16:04.890 - in front of a computer all day and there are times I just need to get away from it. I just need to get 01:16:04.890 --> 01:16:11.474 - my brain at a rest. I just need to walk outside and breathe the air and see the sunshine. And so I think 01:16:11.474 --> 01:16:17.932 - that varies across like, as they grow up and as across age groups, because my daughter, as soon as she 01:16:17.932 --> 01:16:21.694 - gets done at the end of the day, she's on the soccer field. 01:16:21.858 --> 01:16:28.635 - And so she's ready for that outside time. But I do think you make a really good point about being aware 01:16:28.635 --> 01:16:35.347 - of giving kids breaks because they learn better when that happens. But I just wanted to share with you 01:16:35.347 --> 01:16:41.929 - how great Vicki Coffee is. I second the Vicki Coffee comment. Don't steal her. And she has fantastic 01:16:41.929 --> 01:16:46.686 - summer meal programs, all the things. I'm not going to go on about that. 01:16:47.362 --> 01:16:54.566 - You did hit on a passion of mine, and I think it's important, like Krista said, to find the passionate 01:16:54.566 --> 01:17:01.630 - people that are ready to go at it and dive in deep about things. So one of the privileges of my life 01:17:01.630 --> 01:17:09.253 - is when I transitioned out of the classroom and into supporting educators, I had more time to read research. 01:17:09.253 --> 01:17:10.302 - And one of the 01:17:10.626 --> 01:17:17.778 - places that I've worked on professional development for faculty is for the past 10 years I've been working 01:17:17.778 --> 01:17:24.663 - on learning spaces and what those spaces look like and not only within the walls but outside the walls 01:17:24.663 --> 01:17:29.342 - and there is a lot of research about learning spaces outdoors and and 01:17:29.506 --> 01:17:35.406 - So I'm not necessarily talking about recess, but learning outside and having those spaces. When I taught 01:17:35.406 --> 01:17:41.081 - physics, we did rocket launches outside and pumpkin drops and all sorts of things. Those are one-off 01:17:41.081 --> 01:17:46.924 - times. That's not a regular thing. But when the weather is nice and you have the ability to go outside, 01:17:46.924 --> 01:17:52.880 - having a space to be able to go outside. I would take my students out on a lawn. But you're right. Having 01:17:52.880 --> 01:17:56.926 - something that's covered so that if it's just a little rainy or it's 90 01:17:57.122 --> 01:18:04.175 - degrees outside, you have a little bit of shade and you can do those things. We have, my children have 01:18:04.175 --> 01:18:11.297 - teachers who do take them outside. It's not as much of the movement piece as the getting the fresh air, 01:18:11.297 --> 01:18:18.213 - right, and getting some of that sunshine. Even having, so in your learning spaces, having biophilia, 01:18:18.213 --> 01:18:25.060 - which is like living things, is really important for learning. Being able to have windows. I taught 01:18:25.060 --> 01:18:26.430 - in an old renovated 01:18:26.594 --> 01:18:33.949 - It used to be a swimming pool, so I was surrounded by concrete and no windows. Kids would come in and 01:18:33.949 --> 01:18:41.232 - be like, it's snowing. I'm like, great. I had no idea. So having those things, I think that RBB does 01:18:41.232 --> 01:18:45.630 - a really good job with their buildings to create courtyards. 01:18:45.858 --> 01:18:52.001 - so that all rooms do have windows. It's not the same as getting outside. I think it's a cruel joke. 01:18:52.001 --> 01:18:58.696 - There's a lot of cruel jokes in education, but one of them is that when students are getting so rambunctious 01:18:58.696 --> 01:19:05.023 - and getting into those junior high periods, I taught some junior high for a while, that's when we take 01:19:05.023 --> 01:19:05.822 - away recess. 01:19:06.210 --> 01:19:12.765 - for a while during COVID times when we were first coming back, we would give kids regulation breaks 01:19:12.765 --> 01:19:19.517 - at the junior high and high school where they would just go outside and they would have 10, 15 minutes 01:19:19.517 --> 01:19:26.073 - to walk around outside. What is the cost of 10 or 15 minutes in the school schedule, right? That is 01:19:26.073 --> 01:19:32.694 - something that I would love to see come back and be able to create spaces like you're talking about. 01:19:32.694 --> 01:19:34.398 - We have great facilities. 01:19:34.626 --> 01:19:42.019 - expanding those facilities to include some outdoor seating area where you could hold a class is valuable. 01:19:42.019 --> 01:19:48.994 - Oh, sorry, I'm talking too much. What I have found is that there's a certain independence with each 01:19:48.994 --> 01:19:56.318 - principal within their school, and there's priorities. And for example, I remember when you're at Rogers 01:19:56.318 --> 01:19:59.038 - Elementary, they had a garden outside. 01:19:59.394 --> 01:20:07.472 - the kids could participate and go outside and actually work in the garden. And I taught a lot at Unionville 01:20:07.472 --> 01:20:15.101 - Elementary and we have an outdoor area and that's actually become more used as time has gone on, more 01:20:15.101 --> 01:20:22.656 - of a priority. I think if you really wanted to make it more of a school-wide thing, it would have to 01:20:22.656 --> 01:20:27.742 - become a priority for the school board because the school board not 01:20:28.130 --> 01:20:35.620 - actually dealing with the administration of the schools, but we do set priorities and goals. And if 01:20:35.620 --> 01:20:43.410 - that became a priority sort of system wide, I think it would only benefit kids, absolutely. And I think 01:20:43.410 --> 01:20:50.900 - it ties in with what you're talking about with school lunch, because if you're really talking about 01:20:50.900 --> 01:20:57.566 - the environment and preserving the environment, then you're gonna wanna be talking about 01:20:58.210 --> 01:21:06.254 - How do we recycle? How do we not become a throwaway society? This is something that I think is really 01:21:06.254 --> 01:21:14.455 - worthwhile instilling in our kids. Now, there again, we have to talk about cost. Because in a way, when 01:21:14.455 --> 01:21:22.341 - you think about it, schools are, it's an institutionalized on some level lunch. I mean, they're all 01:21:22.341 --> 01:21:27.230 - preparing the same thing. Work together. Yeah, work together. 01:21:27.938 --> 01:21:37.849 - Jump right in. I'm old enough to remember when school lunch was handmade and cooked. They have taken 01:21:37.849 --> 01:21:47.858 - that away. They have taken the ability for them to actually cook now. So that's why I feel like we're 01:21:47.858 --> 01:21:57.278 - getting the chicken nuggets and the round hamburger things. The mystery food. The mystery food. 01:21:57.666 --> 01:22:06.721 - Yeah. But like so that's again like that's something at the state level. There's so many I don't remember 01:22:06.721 --> 01:22:15.350 - carbs something else something else and they've got to check it off and you're getting audited every 01:22:15.350 --> 01:22:23.038 - third week. This the school at Brown County now contracts out their food service. So it's 01:22:24.258 --> 01:22:36.218 - little bit better than it was because they have fresh fruits and vegetables that eat that kids can take 01:22:36.218 --> 01:22:49.214 - as much as they want and the there's a different lines I believe feels a little better than around something and 01:22:50.402 --> 01:23:00.280 - I don't know, though. I haven't researched it to know. Kids seem to like it, but kids are going to like 01:23:00.280 --> 01:23:09.873 - anything because they're starving. We had recess. We had food. We just had a lot of stuff. No wonder 01:23:09.873 --> 01:23:17.566 - we liked school. No wonder we liked it. We're going to get one more question in. 01:23:17.858 --> 01:23:26.137 - Thanks again for being here. I do have a few things that I'll share with you later about sort of board 01:23:26.137 --> 01:23:34.416 - policies and alignment with USDA and things like that, because I have some of the answers as well. But 01:23:34.416 --> 01:23:42.453 - my question to Jane and Julia specifically is that something struck me when we were a few questions 01:23:42.453 --> 01:23:47.678 - back about the voucher issue in school choice and public dollars 01:23:48.450 --> 01:23:56.005 - being siphoned off. And the two of you said something along the lines of, there are just some kids who 01:23:56.005 --> 01:24:03.634 - aren't suitable for public schools. And so I'm just sort of throwing this back a little bit in a gentle 01:24:03.634 --> 01:24:10.969 - way. Can you clarify what you meant by that? Because of course, public schools are 100% designed to 01:24:10.969 --> 01:24:16.030 - be free and accessible. And I have spent 23 years educating students 01:24:16.418 --> 01:24:24.389 - I'm going to say on one hand, I could count the number of students I've ever had in my entire 23-year 01:24:24.389 --> 01:24:32.439 - career who would have been able financially to take the option of going to a private or a charter. And 01:24:32.439 --> 01:24:40.254 - the other thousands of students that I've serviced I have welcomed with open arms and am proud that 01:24:40.706 --> 01:24:49.897 - public schools are public. So can you clarify what you mean by kids who wouldn't be suited for public 01:24:49.897 --> 01:24:58.908 - schools? Yeah. So I feel like what I'm... If I said suitable, I apologize. I feel like what I meant 01:24:58.908 --> 01:25:08.009 - was the parents have decided that public school isn't necessarily best for their child. So I've seen 01:25:08.009 --> 01:25:10.622 - parents pull their kids out, 01:25:11.778 --> 01:25:21.920 - It could be for a various number of reasons. One, celiac disease, right? Couldn't eat Play-Doh, like 01:25:21.920 --> 01:25:31.962 - there's a whole mess of things that you run into. Some others were on medication for certain things 01:25:31.962 --> 01:25:41.502 - that was little, in the parent's opinion, not being handled as well as they thought it should. 01:25:41.602 --> 01:25:50.503 - It's just charter schools gave an avenue for parents to take their child into another school setting 01:25:50.503 --> 01:25:59.668 - instead of like a home school setting. So not suitable. If I said that I'd absolutely apologize because 01:25:59.668 --> 01:26:06.366 - I did not mean not suitable. Yeah. And I hope I never said suitable either. 01:26:07.682 --> 01:26:15.570 - What I said was, well, first of all, and I'm a total advocate, as I said, for public school because 01:26:15.570 --> 01:26:23.853 - I think it helps give kids a real cross-section and they meet all different kinds of people. So, I mean, 01:26:23.853 --> 01:26:32.215 - I'm a huge advocate for public schools, but in my experience, there were some kids that were not thriving 01:26:32.215 --> 01:26:33.950 - in the public school. 01:26:34.722 --> 01:26:41.187 - For a while on the high school level, we had an alternative school. I don't know if there still is an 01:26:41.187 --> 01:26:47.905 - alternative school in Monroe County. Some of my students went there. It was a better fix for them. That's 01:26:47.905 --> 01:26:54.243 - still within the public schools. But I knew some kids that ended up going to Harmony School. If you 01:26:54.243 --> 01:27:01.342 - know where that is, that's the old Eltham Heights building. And some of those kids were happier there, happier. 01:27:02.530 --> 01:27:09.419 - I can't speak to whether they were getting a better education or not, but I guess what I'm saying is 01:27:09.419 --> 01:27:16.376 - if I felt like there were certain kids that were not thriving, that maybe needed an environment that, 01:27:16.376 --> 01:27:23.265 - you know, wasn't as big or, you know, where they were getting more attention or, you know, something 01:27:23.265 --> 01:27:30.495 - like that. But, you know, my feeling is if they can, most kids should be in public school because they're 01:27:30.495 --> 01:27:31.518 - really getting 01:27:31.810 --> 01:27:47.228 - a life experience. I hope that answered your question. We're at seven, a little after seven. 01:27:47.228 --> 01:27:55.518 - Anybody have a, are we good to wrap up? Yes, yes. 01:27:55.746 --> 01:28:05.158 - Kristen, or moderator Kristen brought, there's cookies and drinks out there, so please help yourself. 01:28:05.158 --> 01:28:14.571 - I just want to thank the candidates again for being here. Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us. 01:28:14.571 --> 01:28:23.614 - All right, maybe we can do this again. This is good. It's fun talking about education. Thank you.