As an educator, coach, and department chair for over 20 years, I bring extensive experience in many facets of schooling that I can use to help refine and improve the policies and procedures in Amity.

My experience as a coach, teacher, and administrator has been to commit to a long term plan, which includes observations of strengths and areas for growth, involving all stakeholders, refining goals and measuring outcomes.

I would hope, in grandiose terms, to help our students to achieve their goals and improve every aspect of the educational process for all our learners.

Ultimately, it has to be based on student outcomes, but that is not the only metric. Community involvement and satisfaction, teacher performance and fiscal responsibility should also fall into this category.

I believe that in order to answer this question, I would need to be able to look much more closely at the expenditures and outcomes to see what is working and what is not.

If our students are lacking in opportunities, funds should be appropriated. If our money is being spent wastefully, that should be eliminated.

Spending for the sake of spending is not a quality policy. However, some metrics are universal, in that smaller class sizes almost always have a strong correlation with higher student success.

Having up to code, modern facilities for both academics and athletics are also strong indicators that a school district is forward thinking.

A colleague once asked me about "my classroom" to which I responded, that "this isn't my classroom, it is the school districts'. I only live here temporarily."

We serve as caretakers, and the legacy we leave behind are the students, and whether we helped or hurt their experience in the short time they live as participants in our schools.

The concerns I have are whether we are offering the absolute best opportunities to our students for their long term success and happiness, or not.

In regards to DEI, I believe that what we do is a reflection of our society, and where there is a need to address things, we should not be afraid to take on new challenges.

I do not at this time, but that is not a reason to ignore the issue. Where I may not, others may see an issue, and I would be happy to work towards addressing any concerns that any of the stakeholders in our district have.

We pay our professionals to do a job, and if we are concerned about the judgment of our media specialists' ability to do their jobs, that is a singular issue.

If parents, guardians or stakeholders have concerns about specific books or media that are offered to our students, that feels as though it would be a singular issue that can be addressed as needed. The less involved the board HAS to be in issues like this, the better.

As an educator who is currently taking part in the Portrait of a Graduate process in a different district, I stand behind the work that is being done. Our goal is to create successful, happy, lifelong learners that continue to grow and thrive BECAUSE of their education, not in spite of it.

If the process needs to be revised or amended, that is an issue I would be happy to address after my appointment.

This is the most important question that is so often being ignored. The misconception that has grown recently is that if you disagree with any part of my belief system, you are my enemy. We are neighbors. We are friends. We are a community.

We should not agree on every single topic, because then there would be no room for discussion. However, there NEEDS to be room for discussion in a civil, polite and productive manner.

In regards to specifics, that can come in many ways. Simple, gentle reminders to maintain decorum can serve their purpose. Increasing community involvement in decision making where it is appropriate is also a productive tool.

Most importantly, we want to reflect the values that we espouse. If we do not conduct ourselves in an open and welcoming way, there is no reason for anyone else to.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."