As I stated, I believe that financial solvency, long range planning and proper recognition of accomplishments of the district’s students employees and schools.
Financial Solvency
The district has frequently had issues of living within its means. As recently as the initial budget for this year, the district was engaged in deficit spending that should be the exception and not the norm.
I believe that, as trustees, we should be more active and engaged in overseeing the financial management of the district. We need to focus on how we are accomplishing the core mission of the district while doing so cost effectively.
Two major initiatives I will propose on my first day in office are (1) development of a five and ten year operating analysis (more on this below); and (2) a base cost estimate for elementary, middle and high school development.
With regard to the five and ten year operating analyses, we need to estimate what to expect over the long term from an operations standpoint. We serve a very diverse community, but we also have to make sure that we are not over expanding our services in the short term and then see a diminishing need for services in later years. By watching five and ten years ahead, we can prepare our district for what is coming with respect to operations.
Second, I will propose a base model school so that we can estimate what is needed for a basic education for our students so that we can financially plan (and we can continuously update these base estimates). There has been criticism in the past of overspending on school sites. This planning tool will develop a financial plan for being able to afford the schools when they are needed (see Long Range Planning below).
Long Range Planning
Planning is critical to the success of every business. When I was with the City of Lincoln, we developed a 50 year general plan. We wanted to know where we would be in 50 years and how to get there in a financially prudent way.
While 50 years may be a longer than necessary horizon, WPUSD must be actively engaged with both the City of Lincoln and the County of Placer as well as the local Water Districts and the County Board of Education to determine what their plans are so that we plan with them to provide service rather than react after the plans become reality.
This long range planning by working with others will lead to a stronger physical and financial plan for the district.
Recognition
Recognition is critical to demonstrating that WPUSD is a quality district. I would work with our administration team to gain more recognition for all of the great things that occur in the WPUSD.
When I was with the City, we would frequently hear comments about the District that were not true. The comments ranged from things such as Lincoln High not having an Advanced Placement program (which has been untrue for over 30 years at least) to our children not achieving the same academic success after high school as other schools (I would argue this is untrue as well but requires some data collection to prove).
My proposals on this are two fold: (1) Have each school site present any accomplishments of their students or staff on a monthly basis (or more frequently) so that those successes can be emphasized on the District and School websites; and (2) begin tracking alumni and developing a connection program which would track post high school academic and career success to connect current students with Alumni who can help act as mentors for future academic and career success.