1. Why are you running for the Stillwater Area Public Schools Board of Education? From your perspective, what is the most important role of a Board of Education member?
I am running for reelection to keep Stillwater Area Public Schools focused on an excellent experience for students and for the residents of District 834. I gather input from the people who live with board decisions every day: families, students, and especially employees whose work makes those decisions real. The most important role of a board member is to set direction and policy while constantly asking who is affected and who must carry the work out. Visibility matters too: a board member should be a recognizable, approachable representative of the district, not only at meetings but in schools and in the community.
2. Why are you seeking our endorsement? What does the unions’ endorsement mean to you personally?
I am seeking your endorsement because I have watched teachers and other district employees put themselves forward every day so students can do their best. That daily contact gives them the clearest view of what actually works. To me, the unions are not just bargaining units. They are the organized voice of people I need in order to make sound student-centered decisions. An endorsement would mean you believe I will keep listening, treat employees as partners, and keep the interests of students and staff in the same frame.
3. How has your racial identity shaped and informed your world view? How are you actively working to expand your own racial and cultural lens? I am a White man who grew up with fewer obstacles than many students and families in our district face. That does not make me an expert on their experience; it obligates me to listen harder.
I work on that by asking students and families about their school experience, including what has gone well and what has not, and by giving extra care to people who may have reason to wonder whether they will be heard. I treat it as a good sign when a student greets me outside the school day and introduces me to a parent or guardian. I also look for training, reading, and conversations that challenge what I assume is “normal.”
4. As put forth by the Minnesota School Board Association, what does governance mean to you in terms of the work of a Board of Education?
Governance is the board’s job of setting goals, policy, budget priorities, and accountability, then evaluating results. Management is how the superintendent and staff carry that out day to day. A board should not micromanage classrooms or buildings. It should ask whether policy and resources match the district’s promises, whether implementation is fair, and whether the people doing the work were heard before the policy was locked in. Looking at management outcomes is how the board knows if its governing decisions worked; it is not an invitation to do administration’s job.
5. What has been your personal involvement or knowledge regarding unions and collective bargaining?
How would you, as a school board member, interact with union leadership? I have seen collective bargaining from the employee and board sides of public education. Hundreds of teachers and other staff cannot each sit at the table, so members elect leadership to carry a shared perspective. I respect that. As a board member I would deal with union leadership in good faith: regular conversation, not only at impasse; clear distinction between bargaining and day-to-day problem-solving; and no surprises on issues that affect working conditions. I want a relationship where concerns can be raised early, before they harden into conflict.
6. Share examples of systemic and institutional racism that you have experienced or observed in Stillwater public schools. How will you work toward dismantling those barriers?
Racist incidents happen in our district, and they are too often treated as isolated student misbehavior rather than as something the system must interrupt. I personally witnessed elementary students mocking the mother of a student of color. I stopped the bus, addressed the students, supported the child who was targeted, and reported it so administrators had to respond. That is the standard I want: incidents are named, students are taught, and the harmed student is not left to absorb it alone.
Dismantling barriers also means looking past single incidents: whose concerns get investigated, whether discipline and advanced coursework are applied fairly, whether families have real access to staff and information, and whether staff of color and multilingual families see themselves reflected and supported. I will push for transparent data, consistent response, and adult accountability, not quieting the story.
7. How do you think decisions should be made that impact curriculum, assessment, staffing, and school management?
○ role of Teachers
○ role of Paraprofessionals
○ role of Administration
○ role of Board of Education
Decisions should start with the people closest to the work and then move to those accountable for the whole system.
● Teachers: Primary professional voice on curriculum, assessment, and what is feasible in the classroom. Their input should be sought before adoption, not after rollout.
● Paraprofessionals: Essential on staffing, student support, inclusion, and whether plans work with the students who need the most help. They see implementation that teachers and principals can miss.
● Administration: Responsible for coherent proposals, legal and financial constraints, and carrying out board direction consistently across sites.
● Board: Sets priorities and policy, approves resources, and holds the system accountable. The board should insist that stakeholder input happened, not invent the lesson plans.
My frustration this term has been decisions made without enough of that input. Formal committees and informal conversations both matter. Unpopular choices are more durable when people can see that the people who must implement them were actually heard.
8. How do you define collaboration? What does collaboration look like to you among your fellow Board of Education members? Collaboration is working toward a shared decision in public, with viewpoints stated plainly and differences handled directly. It is not steering a discussion, withholding information, or recasting an issue so one person’s preferred outcome looks like the only responsible choice. Among fellow board members, collaboration looks like coming prepared, asking questions before a vote when possible, explaining what I am hearing and why I am leaning a certain way, and listening for what might change my mind. It means debating the policy rather than the person, avoiding public ambushes of colleagues or staff, and supporting the board’s decision once it is made, even when it was not my first choice.
9. What steps would you take to actively work on trust-building with each of these groups?
Admin: Regular two-way conversations with the superintendent and team: what they are trying to do, what I am hearing, and what I need to see before I vote.
Staff: Be present in workplaces and open to planned and unplanned conversation with teachers, paras, custodians, food service, drivers, clerical staff, student-support staff, and others. Trust grows when people do not have to wait for a crisis to be heard. Students/families: Show up at school events and games, introduce myself, and ask whether their child is having a good experience, with particular attention to families who are racially, culturally, linguistically, or economically less likely to be in the usual feedback loop. Fellow board members: Share what I am hearing and why I am leaning a certain way, without naming private sources. Community: Read and listen to public conversation, then go where people already are and make time for both short and long talks.
10. Describe 2-3 current and future strategic directions that you feel are priorities for our district.
Make District 834 a place students want to attend and families talk about favorably. We cannot serve students we do not keep. Support the adults who work with students every day. Teachers, paraprofessionals, and other staff are the best early-warning system for what is working and what should stop. Face hard budget choices with public explanation and real input before the final announcement, and use measures of success that go beyond standardized tests.
11. In the next five years, there are bound to be greater economic challenges facing public education in Minnesota and in our district. How do you propose to address these challenges?
The board will have to do two things at once: advocate and prioritize. At the Legislature I would push not only for adequate funding but against mandates that add cost without money attached. Locally I would insist on clear priorities so cuts or freezes, if they come, are tied to student impact and staffing reality, not to whatever is easiest to trim. That only works if employees and families are asked early what they cannot afford to lose.