Priorities
Students First. Educators Heard. Taxpayers Respected.
Those aren’t slogans. They’re a useful test for decisions.
When something comes before the Board, I want to ask three questions:
How does this affect students?
Have we listened to the people who will actually have to implement it?
Can we responsibly sustain it?
Those questions inform the priorities I would bring to the Board.
Declining enrollment may be one of the most consequential challenges facing HLPUSD.
Fewer students can mean fewer dollars, but the district still has schools to operate, employees to support, facilities to maintain, and programs families depend upon.
There are no magic answers here.
I want decisions driven by accurate enrollment projections, transparent financial information, and a clear understanding of how proposed changes will affect students and employees.
Avoiding difficult decisions doesn’t make them disappear. But making them without listening to the community isn’t leadership either.
ADDRESS DECLINING ENROLLMENT RESPONSIBLY
Great schools depend on great people.
HLPUSD should work to remain a place where talented teachers and staff want to build their careers.
Compensation matters. So do benefits, workload, class size, preparation time, safety, professional respect, working conditions, and having a meaningful voice in decisions affecting classrooms.
Collective bargaining requires both respect for employees and recognition of the Board’s fiduciary responsibility to the entire district.
Those aren’t opposing principles.
SUPPORT AND RETAIN GREAT EDUCATORS
Education should help young people discover what they’re good at—not narrow their possibilities before they’ve had the chance to explore them.
Students need rigorous academics and strong preparation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
They also need arts, music, theatre, athletics, career education, extracurricular activities, and other opportunities that develop creativity, discipline, collaboration, confidence, and curiosity.
I don’t accept the premise that we must choose between arts and STEM.
Our students deserve both.
PROTECT STUDENT OPPORTUNITY
School Board members are stewards of public money.
That means asking questions before approving expenditures, understanding long-term costs rather than just the price in the current year, and ensuring that spending reflects the district’s educational priorities.
It also means being willing to say when something simply isn’t financially sustainable.
I believe we can support students and employees while still taking our fiduciary responsibility seriously.
In fact, long-term support for both requires it.
RESPONSIBLE BUDGETS
Students receiving special education services deserve excellent educational opportunities, and the educators serving them need manageable workloads and appropriate support.
I respect the work already being done through the district and employee representatives to examine these issues.
As a Board member, I would listen to educators and families, examine the data, understand the financial implications, and work toward responsible solutions.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Artificial intelligence isn’t going away.
Our responsibility is neither to pretend it doesn’t exist nor to allow technology to replace the fundamental work of learning.
Schools should teach students how to use emerging technology thoughtfully, ethically, and effectively while protecting the things technology cannot replace: critical thinking, writing, creativity, human relationships, and excellent teaching.
TECHNOLOGY AND AI
A healthy Board doesn’t have to agree unanimously.
It does have to function.
I believe Board members should prepare for meetings, ask substantive questions, debate issues openly, treat one another and the public respectfully, make decisions, and then allow the superintendent and staff to do their jobs.
Governance, not micromanagement.
