School Board District 3

My top priorities for this District include rebuilding and regaining trust. It is clear to me that families-and the community in general-have lost faith in this school board. Over the last few years we have seen situations that have called for transparency, and the opposite has happened. Families do not feel they are being heard. Further, it is crucial that the school level choices require more uniformity. While we must protect the autonomy provided by SBDM, certain curriculum requirements need District influence. Finally, I would like to see more restorative practices in place; our student support service department is an absolute jewel, and should be allowed more creativity in supporting our students.

The issue with budget cuts is we never know what state or federal monies we will receive. For example, if the State Legislature chooses to cut transportation funds, the district must pick up that slack. That said, I am open to cutting anything that does not directly impact classroom instruction or safety.

This is a hill I will die on. Equitable access to education opportunities is promised to every child in the Commonwealth by the State Constitution. How we do that at the district level is adopt courses of study that are rigorous and offered at every school. While every SBDM determines curriculum priorities at the school level, the district must make it clear that some programming offers are nonnegotiable. Every child cannot or will not want to get into MSTC at Dunbar, but there is no reason a baby at Bryan Station cannot receive the same education.

Our district is growing; this means our needs are changing at what feels like warp speed. As a result, jobs are more competitive, which means so are salaries. I do believe there are some leadership positions that have inflated salaries, but my hope is that we will continue to approve raises for both certified and classified staff so they feel just as valued and wanted.

I intend to vote NO on Amendment 2, and will fight to ensure it fails. Public school funds should remain in public schools.

The first 90 days, I will work to establish ongoing communications with District 3 constituents and encourage the board to review existing communication strategies, making adjustments, if necessary, to improve updates for students, parents, teachers and staff, SBDMs, business and community partners, and stakeholders.  This includes engaging constituents’ voices like the Pritchard Committee, the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, the Kentucky Student Voices Team, and others. 

Afterwards, I will focus on establishing policies, streamlining procedures, creating budgets for future school years, and controlling spending, emphasizing Early Childhood Engagement, Equitable Schools, and Experienced, Effective Leadership initiatives.  

Districts that have teacher census demographics more aligned with the student census demographics have better outcomes in testing, graduation and overall achievement.  We must work toward achieving experienced leadership that can serve a plethora of student populations and needs. 

I will take the lead in assessing  overlap with existing district initiatives and propose continuous improvement strategies. 

Finally, I will serve my term focused on improving teacher and staff compensation, promoting policy that guides leadership development and growth, and ensuring an environment that recruits and retains the best and brightest people to serve our students.

Basing cuts on internal rate of return and cost-benefits analyses of Early Childhood and K-12 programs and services can help the board of education understand what works and does not work on a world-class education level.  For programs that work well, I commit to bringing my research to the board on how the district can partner with the Fayette Education Foundation, and business and community partners to help underwrite the budget.  

Secondly, I would encourage negotiating fair pricing with vendors and contractors.  Our spending plan should display prudence about how and with whom we spend our money.  Also, our procurement procedures should ensure FCPS receives the best deals from a diverse pool of quality practitioners of the skills and crafts needed to advance our students to World-Class Education level in every measure. 

I would not entertain budget cuts in the area of salaries and compensation of FCPS faculty and staff.  Salaries and compensation of all FCPS employees is where the district receives the greatest internal rate of return, yet teachers and staff are underpaid compared to the median for employees in top performing districts in the country.  Central Office Personnel salaries and compensation are below national averages.

I recommend that the role of the Chief Unity, Belonging, and Student Efficacy Officer serves as a direct report to the superintendent.  

My vision for “Equitable Schools” in the district is one of institutions that are accessible, inclusive, quality, collaborative, accountable, autonomous, flexible, and resourceful, providing policies, practices, and imaginative investments for students whose cultures have been marginalized and oppressed.  An equitable school provides a safe space with processes and intentionality for students and staff to attain their highest goals by using resources equitably with strategies for each individual student. Equitable schools:

• Have clear missions committed to equitable access, processes, treatment, and outcomes for all students, inclusive of race/ethnicity, gender, English Learners, disability status, gender identity/sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status.

• Provide inclusive visual, aural, and written environments with representation and information about the global diversity of people and cultures.

• Collaborate with the various socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, language, gender, and disability groups within the district.

• Have student-centric engagement in partnership with parents and guardians, businesses, civic, and community organizations that provides knowledge, learns from the interaction, and builds infrastructure with no student left out.

I believe that programming “offered equitably across the district’s schools” is not enough.

According to the Public School Review, there is a direct correlation between student teacher ratios and quality world-class education.  An ideal student teacher ratio is 15.5.  Lower student ratios require additional support staff to be effective.

The National Center for Education Statistics reports data on FCPS from 2022-2023 year.  Based on a student population of 41,422 and 3086.30 Teachers (FTE), the student to teacher ratio was 13.42 in the 2022-2023 school year.  The nationwide ratio was 15.5 for the fall of 2022.

Conversely, the district had 47 District Administrators (FTE) providing a student to administrator ratio of 881.32.  If an additional 206 District Administrative Support (FTE) are considered, the district staffing ratio was 163.72.  According to NCES, the official end of the Covid-19 Pandemic led to a 4 percent lower in kindergarten to grade 8, and 2 percent higher in grades 9 to 12 enrollment nationwide.  

My conclusions; 

1. At 13.42 FCPS teacher ratios are below the national average and ideal student teacher ratios.

2. The increase in District Administrators and Support Staff in FCPS is related to the increase in teachers.

3. Mental health services have increased due to the pandemic.

Constitutional Amendment 2 is legislation that uses taxpayers' money to pay for private school tuition. My stance, along with that of an overwhelming number of Lexingtonians I have spoken with, is “NO” to Amendment 2 because it disenfranchises our public-school students, teachers, and administrators. According to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, FCPS will lose $52M and well over 300 teachers in the first year.  Florida currently spends $4B, 31% of school funding on private school vouchers.  If Kentucky follows suit, we will enter a budget crisis and lose the support we need to continue with already underfunded programs like STEM and the arts. I urge all Kentuckians to vote "NO" on Amendment 2 and save our public schools!

My top priority for FCPS is to take care of the students, teachers and staff in the schools. We need to ensure they get the resources and support they need to be successful. I believe too many of our district's resources are going to central offices and district administration. There's no reason a school district with almost $850 million in revenue should be cutting art, music or language classes. Safety is also a big concern. Students will have a difficult time learning if they don't feel safe in the hallways and bathrooms. However, any changes to our schools will be difficult to make without the proper leadership and guidance from the school board. Unfortunately, the district’s leadership has been lacking. The superintendent and the majority of our current board is lacking in transparency of the decision-making progress and fiscal responsibility.

There has been a large influx of district level staffing over the last few years. The first cuts in the budget need to be reducing a bloated bureaucracy at central offices. It’s my experience that the more bureaucracy that exists, the less effective and efficient things become. However, it’s difficult to nail down certain budget items that need to be cut because of the lack of fiscal transparency with most of our current board members and central office. The public simply can’t get answers about where the money is going and why art and music programs are being cut at the school level. The financial books need to be opened and the waste cut. What shouldn’t be cut are the programs within the schools that enrich and benefit the education of our children. More resources need to be directed to the teachers and students within the classroom.

I understand this can be a complex question, especially without knowing fully the nuances of district budget and staffing allocations but to put it simply, ensure funding and instructors are equitable among the schools. Funding for special programming should be as close as possible on a per student basis and the district should make sure that instructors are available to each school that has an interest and demand for a program. There won’t be a completely even distribution of resources, as some schools may have less of a demand for a certain program and desire another instead. The goal is to make activities and programs available to the students to help fulfill their curiosity, social interaction and search for knowledge, even if those programs vary from one school to another. A handful of schools shouldn’t receive the bulk of the resources while others struggle to fulfill a need.

I do not know the exact ratio between school and central office staffing because requests for such information have not been forthcoming. What is clear, is the significant increase in central office positions over the last 4 years while programs are being cut at the school level due to lack of funding and lack of instructors. I believe every position needs to be looked at under a microscope and their value to the school district determined. Those positions that aren’t pulling their weight or aren’t fiscally reasonable, should be cut.

My goal for Fayette County Public Schools is to make school choice a non-issue for our district. Fayette County has the resources and teachers to be the best school district in the state. A district where people move into just to attend the public schools. I believe any school district that is putting their effort and resources into the schools, in order to provide a high quality education, should have no fear of any school choice amendment. However, I do feel that any district that mismanages, withholds resources or uses them unwisely should be held accountable. Sometimes, moving children to a non-public school is that child’s best chance for success.