“[I want to] bring the community back to our schools and the school board… I’ve learned what works preparing for [high school], there’s a lot of things we need to think about.”
On revenue…
“I think we should leverage some of our usual resources from the Hermosa Beach Educational foundation [and PTO]… I have other plans to possibly start an alumni fund as well as other fundraisers… we have to look at our expenditures and operations. Right now there’s so many opportunities to look at what we haven’t taken advantage of.”
On Common Core…
“I think it’s definitely what our kids need to be successful in high school and college… It will require training as well for teachers to get comfortable with some of the principles and how we manage that new curriculum. It’s a positive; I think there will be some transition time.”
On overcrowding…
“[Every five years we require] an additional 10 classrooms. That doesn’t mean growth will continue, it means that we’ve maxed out our modular space today… Our footprint probably doesn’t have much more room. [Another] option is possible additional use of community centers that might be lower cost to be able to flex with enrollment. [With the] new funding criteria… more kids doesn’t necessarily translate to another site. A third site is a lot of overhead… it’s a cost you have to consider and have to have the finances in order to support it. I think North School is an option in future – I’m not sure about the timeline.
On sustainability…
“Can we harvest the children’s energy? Right now the big trend is efficient lighting and water usage. Those technologies exist and if we haven’t employed them everywhere, we can do it in the current facility… [We need to] build partnerships with businesses and possibly add solar power to teach the kids about conservation and renewable energy. They’re already talking about it, they’re already recyclers. They’re a whole other generation. It’s a great opportunity.”
