“When I approach education I approach it from many different stakeholder perspectives… I want to focus on safe and productive learning environments, good facilities and adequate resources so that everybody can do the job they need to do to learn.”
On revenue…
“We have a 63 percent parent participation – a phenomenal number. However, we have another 15,000 people in the city we can go to to draw revenue from… We have to go out and bridge those relationships in order to find new funding. Without having a strong community we don’t have a strong school system.”
On Common Core…
“The Common Core and local control funding formula are happening at the same time. It could be a perfect storm, but it’s also an opportunity for [something] great because all that boils down to is district accountability. We’ve never had a chance to have so much control at the local level. It’s an opportunity for Hermosa Beach to figure out what matters in terms of educational values.”
On overcrowding…
“We’re reaching a crisis level of enrollment. Enrollment equals dollars for the district so we don’t want to chase students away. We want to accommodate them and at the same time create a safe and productive learning environment. It’s essential teachers have space in the classroom to move around and monitor engagement and also have the ability for students to have free space where they can explore nature. If the question comes to North School – I’m not opposed to North School – but there’s a lot of room to grow, looking at shared resources for the city. We could be creative in terms of looking at how administration is placed more centrally at the community center. There are a lot of different arrangements to look at.”
On sustainability…
“It’s a great opportunity for the new school site… opportunity exists as we go forward and find money for infrastructure upgrades. It has to happen.”
