Immediate Action Items
There are many issues facing GCS. Upon election, these are the top actions that I would like to address. There is much more work to do other than the items on this list - these are merely my top priorities.
- Revision of discipline policy to require that swift equitable actions are taken when students break rules. (discipline issues are preventing learning from taking place In many classrooms)
- Establish and enforce policies that require administrators to enforce the discipline policy above. (many staff report feeling unsupported by administration when It comes to discipline)
- Establish PENALTY-FREE, anonymous reporting system for teachers and other staff to report concerns to the board. (staff report feeling as though they are working in a culture of fear and are afraid to speak out)
- Establish two-way system for parents to communicate concerns to the board AND receive responses within a timely fashion. (parents report feeling unheard and say that their questions to board members often go ignored)
- Establish a committee to review academic performance and make specific recommendations for focusing efforts on reducing learning loss and improving academic scores (test scores are extremely low and we are graduating students who are unprepared to enter the workforce or pursue higher learning)
- Establish policies that allow students to receive the grades they earn instead of artificially inflating grades and passing students along who are not ready for the next grade. (teachers are encouraged not to fail students who have put forth no effort and do not show academic progress)
- Facilitate the advancement of a forensic financial audit of GCS. (although GCS has "clean" financial audits, there are still many questions around spending in the school system; a forensic audit will either remove all questions or shine a light on issues that can then be addressed)
- Require enforcement of attendance policies. (current chronic absence rate is currently over 30%)
- Review teacher professional development offerings to ensure that they are focused on academic success. (much professional development is currently focused on equity and diversity; while these are important issues to consider, we must be laser-focused on improving the academic performance of our students - the data does not show that the current PD is helping our students be more successful)
- Establish district-wide policy to remove CRT from teacher training and classrooms. (yes, it is happening - there are classroom and PD materials being used that focus on dividing students into categories of oppressors and oppressed - I believe that all students can succeed, regardless of their background, and that we should be promoting unity, not division)
- Ensure that the curriculum team is reviewing content to ensure that accurate history is being taught which focuses on a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds (we absolutely need to be teaching Black history, Native American history, and the complete history of our nation)
- Establish a committee of parents, teachers, and librarians to review library materials and establish guidelines/procedures for managing library content (yes, there is pornographic material in some of our libraries that must be removed; yes, there are books with controversial content which may need parental consent or a rating system)