Top Priorities
Quality Schools
As a school board member, mom, and lifelong Salem-Keizer resident, I know we have amazing students and educators in our community. Our students deserve excellent learning opportunities, they deserve caring teachers who understand them. This means hiring and keeping the best teachers, and making sure they can give every student the time and attention they need to learn. As a school board member, I have protected career and technical education opportunities and supported improved compensation and retention strategies for multilingual educators and staff, but I know that’s just the first step in having the best possible teachers for our kids.
To raise graduation rates and achieve better learning outcomes for our students, we must listen to what students need. Every student is different, and needs a unique plan to graduate and find opportunities. On the school board, I have stood strongly to protect and expand our mental and behavioral health services for students, and I want to make sure we build on that important progress..
I believe that when we support our most vulnerable students, all benefit. The 18% of students with disabilities and 41% of students living in poverty in our district need and deserve our attention.
Safe Learning and Working Environments
I’m a mom of kids in our schools, safety isn’t just a buzzword for me. Everyone in our schools, students, educators and staff all deserve to feel welcomed and safe.
Students must feel safe and welcome in our schools in order to attend and learn. We have seen dismal sense of belonging for LGBTQIA2S+ students and it is not acceptable. We must continue to build and nurture community in our schools.
I also know, from my experience as a youth program manager and social service provider, how important it is to create safe spaces for youth and families to share their goals and needs. Together we can create a path for every student and family to prepare and embrace lifelong success.
Educators and staff need to know they are safe in their buildings, they deserve safe and responsive working conditions.
Leading with Care
Salem-Keizer is where I went to school, and where I choose to raise my family. This is my home, and every family in it is important to me. For the last four years I have connected and listened to students, families, educators and community members. We all care deeply about our school, the learning and wellbeing of our students. For that reason, as chair of the board in 2023-2024, I made sure that our school district’s goals match what I heard from parents. Now, our schools have a new, intense focus:
Getting students into classrooms: If kids aren’t attending school, we need to work to make sure they have the support they need to come healthy and ready to learn.
Third graders reading at grade level: Research has shown that finding students who are struggling at this age level and giving them the help they need can benefit a student for life.
Ninth graders on track to graduate high school: As a parent of a teenager, I’m laser-focused on making sure our kids are being set up for real-world success as soon as they enter high school. As a school board member, I will continue to work to ensure students are on track to graduate from the moment they enter high school and support them as they cross the stage.
Student sense of belonging: School is also where our children learn important social skills, and it’s a place where they should feel safe and welcomed. We know that is the best environment for learning.
I will continue to listen with care because every parent and student should have a say in our public education system. I will center the voices that have been historically excluded and work to build a system that serves everyone.