Please list your top 3 priorities if elected.

Creating Opportunities: Empowering every student to flourish through strong schools and diverse academic pathways designed for long-term success.

Family Engagement: Strengthening the partnership between our families and schools to ensure every child has the community support they need.

Fiscal Transparency: I will insist on fiscally prudent budgets and make sure that we dedicate sufficient resources to improve classroom learning and student services.

What do you see as the most pressing issue facing your district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

SB 1 & SB 518 Property tax relief results in reduced school district revenue.

I think my approach to addressing this issue is going to be to work side by side with the other board members and to bring to state legislators our concerns with these bills and the ways these bills are affecting our students and district in general. I will work with state legislators on both sides of the aisle to be of influence for our students. My approach is one of collaboration, with our students in mind.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

32% of the student demographic in MSD of Lawrence Township is of Hispanic origin. ESL is always going to be a challenge for our district. Although we focus on all our students and all levels of academic advancement and achievement, I think additional focus must be placed on our ESL students to help them be successful academically and pass the State exams. I do think we already do a great job helping those students with tutoring and extra support in each school. Our School Vision is “The district of destination where excellence empowers everyone to reach their full potential.”

How will you engage with the community if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

I would like to create one or more Parent Advocacy groups if elected. For example, I would like to create a forum in Spanish where parents of LT students feel welcome and can ask questions about the district. As another example, I would visit the communities where most of the Hispanics reside in our district to connect with them in that way since some of them lack transportation. Community feedback is something I will bring immediately to our Superintendent and other board members to be evaluated. I will value and consider all feedback.

Administrator pay has often been a point of contention between school board members. What are your thoughts on the amount the district spends on administrators, which includes principals and assistant principals, and how would you strengthen public trust in district administration?

Teachers, administrators, and staff are all important for student success. My parents were teachers first and later became administrators of their own school. They lived and breathed for the profession whether serving as teachers or administrators. I saw firsthand their sacrifice, their hard work, and how that reaped benefits in having great staff and amazing school workers that stood with them for 20+ years. My parents valued loyalty and hard work and because of that they incentivize the employees for it. Great administrators support and develop teachers and staff. If elected as a board member I will work with the other board members to show our community that we have the finances to support our administrators’ raises. Transparency is key at all levels. People need to know. If we don’t, then we need to provide reasons for not passing raises.