What did you accomplish the first time you served?
 

Since I served on the board 2012-2015, it's fair to ask what I accomplished the first time. A board passes resolutions as a team, and the district's employees make all the magic happen, so rarely can a single board member claim much. Yet there are moments where a board member can feel proud of what they have accomplished and many more moments where they can feel good about what they've done as a team.

As a team in 2012-2015: 
-We focused on investing in the classroom experience, we deprioritized administrative office construction and fast-tracked the building of the visual performing arts centers and innovation spaces in the middle schools.
-We began the 1-1 middle school laptop program.
-Oversaw a competitive pilot of various Common Core math programs that placed teachers at the center of the process.
-We canceled our food contract with Sodexo, invested in new kitchens, and hired a district chef to make fresh food.
-We created community-led committees to advise the planning of the construction bond and superintendent search.

The rare moments where a board member can see their own unique contributions: 

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I am proud to have pilot MVWSD's board meetings videos using Google live streaming. Novel at that time, the standard I created was quickly adopted across other school boards. This greatly enhanced public access all without any taxpayer expense. This may sound like an easy decision now, but back then, it took a lot of proving to others that it would work.

 

I am proud to have connected district leaders with experts working similar interests. I led the increase in innovation funding to schools with large at-risk populations, and then arranged meetings with Innovative Public Schools to build regional relationships around eliminating the achievement gap. I coordinated with school leaders in Finland to explore global partnerships (earlier in my career, I was a research collaborator with Finnish educators and researchers). 

I connected district leadership, principals and teachers working on project-based learning with High Tech High and the New Tech Network. While I opposed building a district office with bond funds, I initiated exploratory talks with Khan Academy on what-if, a new district office was funded through co-habitating with regional edtech startups.

 

The board I served suffered painfully with civility, yet as a team I am proud of how we voted and what we accomplished.