my priorities

GOOD GOVERNANCE STARTS WITH PEOPLE, DEPENDS ON ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS, AND REQUIRES THE PUBLIC’S TRUST.

01

prioritizing people

The people who learn and work in our schools should be at the center of the decisions we make.

For me, that starts with listening to the people who know our schools best: students, families, educators, and classified professionals. VUSD should be a place where talented employees want—and can afford—to build careers, and where students have access to the people and support they need to succeed. When difficult choices have to be made, the effect on the people in our classrooms and schools should always be one of the first things we consider.

02

asking questions

GOOD DECISIONS BEGIN WITH UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM, NOT ASSUMING WE ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER.

I’ve spent the past 16 years of my career asking questions about schools: who is succeeding, who isn’t, what is getting in the way, and what we can do differently. I believe good governance requires the same habit of mind. Data can help us understand what is happening, but numbers rarely tell the whole story. We need to listen to students, families, educators, and staff, test our assumptions, and be willing to change course when the evidence tells us something isn’t working.

03

promoting transparency

PUBLIC SCHOOLS BELONG TO THE PUBLIC. OUR COMMUNITY SHOULD BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND HOW AND WHY DECISIONS ARE MADE.

Transparency means more than making information available. It means communicating clearly, explaining the reasoning behind difficult decisions, and giving the community meaningful opportunities to be heard. School district business can be complicated, but the people VUSD serves shouldn’t need to be experts to understand what their district is doing. When we ask the public to trust us with its schools and resources, we owe the public openness in return.