What do you think about safety in our schools?

I am passionate about all kids being safe...physically, emotionally, and psychologically. I think all of the candidates and so many of us are especially concerned about safety and well-being of our students in view of the political violence in our nation at present and the horrific violence at Annunciation. Thus, I am for the efforts in our district around fostering safety and belonging for every student and the investments we intend to make in safety through our referendum. I also support safety that is grounded in community partnerships and centers concerns for equity. I also want to be clear about two things: 1) a significant body of my academic and professional work has been tied to safety, mental health well-being, and prevention of violence, especially sexual violence. I was part of the team at Loyola University Chicago when we received a grant from the US Department of Justice to build a survivor-centered campus, was certified as a rape crisis counselor, and have been published on violence and trauma. I am fierce about protecting all kids from all forms of violence and abuse. 2) I am a Gun Sense Candidate and supported by Mom’s Demand Action and one of the core affirmations of their effort is a critique of School Resource officers because they are not shown in any way to minimize school shootings but are connected to increases in negative outcomes for students of color and those with disabilities: https://studentsdemandaction.org/report/address-the-presence-of-school-resource-officers-in-your-school/. Instead, I support efforts like those listed and supported by Everytown. To be clear here: I am NOT anti-law enforcement. I just think it’s important that we partner and are clear about what is and isn't effective (e.g.- I am a supporter of COPE, the crisis intervention line being called first in a mental health emergency instead of the police because they are trained to know how to engage and teak the lead whereas our officers are trained in other safety matters). Also, SROs cost money and I’d rather invest our limited resources in staffing mental health professionals while partnering with our community police and safety officers.

Why did you run on a slate?

In talking both with veterans of our district and leaders on other school boards, they recommended I do so because our district has a history of people running on a slate. This is a helpful shorthand for some folks in the kind of election that folks usually don’t pay attention to. And as a new person, I wanted to honor and steward well the community trust and strategically build as many relationships of trust as quickly as possible. Thus I ran with Rachel because she has the trust of many of our community elders and the teachers, is seen as an incumbent who asks questions, she is passionate about the work, and she has experience advocating for support from the Legislature as a part of the Legislative Action Coalition. Tim then seemed obvious to me because he both loves the district and sees its issues and has more educational experience than anyone else as he’s worked in educational technology around the country supporting school districts and departments of education in improving systems. I believed that they both had the both/and approach that I resonate with around thoughtfully working on issues in a collaborative way. That being said, if you don’t like the idea of a slate, I honor that. And if you’ve read down to this part then you are doing your homework and seeing which candidate(s) you believe will help to lead our district in a way that works for you. So let me be clear: all 5 of us have Letters of Support from the DFL and all of us care. I will partner with whomever is elected and I hope you’ll consider voting for me.