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Endorsements and Letters of Support

Caroline Loudenback

Contact me: caroline@loudenbackforschools.com

My Snoqualmie Valley PTSA Candidate Forum responses

Caroline Loudenback – SVSD Board of Directors – Position 2

Questions for 2011 SVPTSA Council School Board Candidates Forum

Time/Commitment/Conflict of Interest/Track Record

1.       Given the extensive requirement for school board members to prepare for and attend meetings, meet parents, and visit schools, how many hours per week are you prepared to devote to school board activities?

I am self-employed and have the flexibility to commit the time needed for my school board duties. My schedule has also allowed me to serve as the board liaison on several committees, attend additional meetings, conferences, visit schools and participate in some of the leadership activities and training. Some weeks the job requires several hours and spans two or three days and others not as much but so far it has not been a problem.  I have a supportive family and business partner.

 

2.       Why are you interested in serving on the school board? What qualities, experience, and insights do you bring?

 

Working on the school board fulfills my passion for education and my hope for the future. My job as a real estate broker and consultant requires many of the same fiduciary and confidentiality responsibilities as my school board position. I understand what it means as I am sworn in on the board and accept my fiduciary duties on behalf of the students, parents and taxpayers that come with being a school board member.

 

My business experience from analyzing real estate and understanding contracts, negotiating deals, and consulting are useful skills that I bring to my job on the school board. My work at the district level and working with the leadership team has given me a good inside view of what we hope to accomplish as a district. My work with distressed homeowners and other life experiences have given me a healthy perspective about life and compassion for what people may be dealing with in and outside of school. I have first-hand knowledge that life does not fit in a nice little box for most and the ability to be flexible, adaptable and open minded are critical. I am immensely proud of our kids, staff and community and hope that my positive support and belief in them inspires them to challenge themselves to reach their greatest potential.

 

3.       What have you done to demonstrate your commitment to youth in our community during the past four years, and what other volunteer positions have you held?

 

I have been very fortunate to be able to volunteer extensively in the community since I left my 9-5 job back in 2001. A sampling of my volunteer experience in the community is on my blog. Specifically to the last four years and besides my work for nearly four years on the school board, I worked assisted a group of high school students representing Relay for Life as they planned and hosted high schools students from other high schools as far as Seattle for the first Puget Sound ACS Relay for Life Youth Retreat which was held at Twin Falls MS. I recently worked on the Clearwater Mortgage Youth Leadership Initiative which offered a chance to nominate and recognize youth leaders within our schools.

 

Over the years, I have had the pleasure of working beside our kids in the community as well whether it has been with Relay for Life, filling sandbags during the floods, Run for the Cure, street or school ground cleanups or building playgrounds. Our family are regular contributors or sponsors of Encompass, the Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation, Rotary and Relay for Life of Snoqualmie Valley.

Additionally, including the voice of the student has always been something I have been passionate about in my work in the schools, various committees and on the school board. I always strongly encourage finding a way to include the students as we make decisions that affect their schools and futures. Their voice is now being threaded throughout much of the decision making within our district and it very exciting to watch!

 

4.       What conflicts of interest with your school board position have you identified and how do you plan to mitigate those conflicts?

 

As a real estate broker, I actually have a complementary interest in making sure we have strong schools. When one real estate matter came up that could have potentially had a conflict of interest, I recused myself and did not go into the executive session.

 

5.       What do you perceive as areas of weakness in district governance? How do you think these weaknesses could be addressed?

 

The question assumes that we have a weakness in district governance and I don’t accept that assumption. Weaknesses can arise when a board does not understand its role. An ineffective board can cripple the work of the superintendent by putting up unnecessary roadblocks, public criticism, or when they try to run the school district and weigh in too heavily on the work that belongs in the superintendent’s scope of responsibility.

 

Having a healthy board/superintendent relationship is a key ingredient to having a successful school district. High, realistic expectations and a supportive board will allow a good superintendent to take a district to a very high level. We are fortunate to have a highly functioning team in place today with the current board and superintendent. We are seeing increasing success and positive trends. Staying on course will help us keep our focus on continuous improvement instead of losing ground.

 

6.       What are the school board members’ responsibilities with regard to district administrators, teachers, students, and parents? How would you reconcile the competing factions for limited budget dollars? How do you compromise? Give an example of a public compromise you have made and stood by.

 

The school board plays a leadership/ policy governance role and should not engage in trying to run the day to day operations of a school district. The school board hires and evaluates one employee, the superintendent. The relationship of the superintendent and the board should be one of a positive and respectful team that allows for effective communication and honors the experience and expertise of the superintendent and their staff. They are the experts in their field. The board provides goals, expectations, policies and vision that reflect the community and needs of our students and the administration designs and executes the plan to get there. Our district has had to compromise several times. Originally there was a long comprehensive task force study that led to a decision to ask the community for a second high school. The voters did not give us the supermajority vote to build it. We studied additional solutions with several other committees and the alternative solutions that have followed are examples of compromising. Contract negotiations are another example of our compromises.

Communication/Community Engagement/Volunteers

7.       How do you think district finances are best explained to the public and how would you seek community input on budget prioritization?

 

It is complicated and we have tried to educate the public on the finances throughout the years with presentations that break it down in simpler terms for those that want an overview and make data available to those that want the expanded versions. This job is made more difficult when a small group of people are putting out misinformation for their own purpose. We have worked hard as a district to get the communication out in a wide variety of ways as attendance at formal budget presentations tends to be quite sparse. I think we did a good job of educating the public when we were looking at drastic cuts a couple of years ago and gathered feedback through a variety of means and we will continue look for more ways to do so.

8.       Do you think the school board and district could be more responsive to and in tune with the community? If so, how do you envision enhancing partnership and communication with the community on behalf of the well-being of our schools and children?

 

Over the last 5 or 6 years the district has done a good job of including the community. This began with Mr. Aune’s invitation to the community to sit down with him informally several times in the first months of his arrival to our district and just talk about what we thought was important. The community has been used extensively in task forces, committee and partnership with the district. We have greatly improved communication and continue to look for ways to Those that say we do not try include the community or are not responsive are simply wrong and there is even a small group of vocal distractors that continue to misinform. We do need to get better at responding to the misleading or downright false information. Unfortunately responding to them takes resources away from the classrooms and our kids.

9.       How can the school board address inequities in community representation and ensure that under-represented groups and opinions are given full consideration?

 

For example? This question assumes that we are somehow shutting them out. No one voice should have more weight than others just because it is louder or because there are only a few to represent that view. I welcome the perspective of others and enjoy the respectful exchange of ideas and the opportunity to see things in a variety of ways. The community that I am very excited to see have an increased voice is the student community. Their input is exceptionally valuable as we make decisions that impact not only their day to day lives but their futures. The voice of the student will be encouraged and honored by the leadership and the current board. This is something that I have been passionate about for a very long time.

Funding/Budget/Finances/Bonds

10.   As an individual or part of the school board, do you see yourself as having a role in improving state-wide education funding?

 

Supporting efforts that allow for flexibility in handling challenges is key. The money is not going to come back any time soon, if ever. When we visit with our legislators we can let them know that we think the state shouldn’t strip away our funding and then create or enforce laws that tie our hands in how we are able react. Several of our legislators have been brave enough to stand up and ask that they honor the Paramount Duty of the State that is stated in our constitution and fund education first. Until something like that really gets traction we need to continue to do what is right by the kids. We currently have laws restricting us from contracting out or using volunteers to fill in the gaps. The State can’t keep trying to have it both ways, they either need to provide adequate funding or they should not be able to dictate to local district how they have to deal with the aftermath of their not make education a priority.

11.   How would you personally prioritize spending in light of ongoing budget constraints?

 

While it looks like we have a very large amount of money to budget and prioritize, much of the budget is set. So making sure that we have effective teachers in the classroom and that we are doing as much as possible with our resources is a priority. The budget team gathers prioritized needs from each school and tries to reconcile them with the funds we have to create our budget. Tough decisions are made with the staff and compromises have to be made as a team. Having a healthy reserve is also important to me as we are moving into very uncertain times and they will not be getting better anytime soon. Those that have not been affected by the current economy in their lives may be able to think that everything should still be the same. In my work I consult with families that are facing very hard times and challenges such as losing jobs and their homes, many for the first time in their lives. They have to learn to ask for help, rely on each other and adapt to the changing world. We have a community that is rich in resources besides money and caring and that is what will help us fill in the gaps. We will need to all work together and support each other to get through these difficult times.

12.   Given that Snoqualmie Valley School District ranks 290th out of 295 school districts in Washington State in per pupil funding, what can our district do to ensure our students receive an equally rigorous education as neighboring districts?

 

This is a dramatic statistic, but in some ways it might not be bad to be last. The reason we are nearly last on the list is because we don’t get as many special funding buckets from state or federal sources. An example is migrant populations, special education, bilingual, even incarcerated students (like Issaquah having Echo Glen) they may appear to get more money, but they also have to spend more to deal with the issues and challenges that go with addressing the needs of those students and in many cases the funding is tied to that category. Some of those districts are devastated when that funding gets cut because while the money goes away, the responsibility of taking care of the particular group of students does not go away. We are less vulnerable in that we do not depend on much funding beyond the basic and we have a supportive community.

13.   Why do you think bonds have been failing in our district? What direction do you think our district should go in terms of additional facilities?

 

Beside the economy, we have people that say they support education and the district publically criticizing the processes that led to the efforts or acting as if they know better than the rest of us what will happen in the Valley. There are others that want to make it about one community or another instead of about our kids. We have a plan in place that was the result of an extensive study and community input. I think we need to continue focusing on representing the whole Snoqualmie Valley and trying to make decisions based on the best information we have at the time and reasonable assumptions.

 

14.   The City of Snoqualmie has refused to pay the increased impact fee on new housing requested by the school district when all other parties (City of North Bend, Unincorporated King County) have agreed. This means Snoqualmie is paying approximately $5,450 less then anyone else. This fee represents only a small portion of the actual cost to the district of additional housing, which brings additional students to our district and necessitates additional facilities. Should the district continue to try and collect the additional monies from the City of Snoqualmie? Why or why not?

 

Yes we should. While I can sympathize with the builders in light of the downturn of housing market in this economy, I am unwilling to sacrifice the education of our kids to give Snoqualmie a competitive edge. The other entities such as North Bend and King County have stepped up and are collecting the full amount. Snoqualmie needs to do so as well. It is one of the fastest growing cities, and its leadership says they support education, yet they are keeping money away from the school district. This will result in increased costs to our whole community since we will not have the impact fees to address the growth and will need to rely on other sources such as bonds or levies. The City of Snoqualmie is causing much of the growth in our schools and needs to collect the impact fees like all the other parties.

15.   How do you suggest the district implement future state-mandated reforms in education, such as all-day kindergarten and core-24 graduation requirements without additional funding and the probability of further funding cuts from the state?

 

I am not a big fan of unfunded State and Federal mandates. We must continue to stand up to our Governor and Legislators to protect education funding. That being said we have proven to be a very creative, flexible and high performing school district in incredibly challenging times. As I have said many times “the more challenging they make it for us, the more innovative and creative the teaching and reports from the schools get during the school board meetings. Good teaching is good teaching. It isn’t just about the money. We don’t get creative when we are fat and happy and can just throw money at problems. As funding is cut from government sources, we will need to rely on our community to fill in the gaps and that is one of our strengths. We believe in our staff, students, parents and community. The Snoqualmie Valley cares…a lot… and that is what separates us from other districts that might have more money.

 

Programs/Curriculum/Policies

16.   Currently, less than 50% of our 8th grade students are taking algebra. Do you think this percentage should be increased? Why or why not, and if so, how would you suggest implementation?

 

Yes, and we are working on working increasing the amount of students completing algebra by the end of 8th grade. I spoke with Don McConkey and he told me that we are also currently evaluating a tool to assess readiness for students to be able to take and successful complete algebra in 7th Grade. Algebra is a gateway class and completion of it allows the students to move into the higher levels of math and we are working hard to give as many students this opportunity when they have the aptitude and readiness.

17.   Do you believe the district should continue to move forward with the Snoqualmie Middle School conversion to a 9th grade campus? If not, given the time and effort invested by the district, teachers, and the community in formulating the plan for a freshman campus, what alternatives would you suggest for addressing the concerns and recommendations that led to the original plan?

 

Several years ago we were asked to come up with a no-fund plan that assumed no bond funding for new permanent buildings. Annexing SMS to the high school was a part of that plan. Given that we have not had any bonds meet the supermajority threshold to build any new schools and we are still growing we will need to execute that plan. The 9th grade campus was a result of an education program planning process to determine what programming would take place in the space. When we discussed our 6 year Facilities plan in the summer, we did leave the door open to review the timing of the move after we receive our October enrollment figures and work with Calm River.

18.   What role, if any, do you think the school board has in the Day of Silence? Please explain.

 

We don’t really have a role and it is not a District or school sponsored event. It is a voluntary, student organized and led free event. As with any student-organized activity, the Board’s role is to ensure the District policy is followed and that no one’s Constitutional rights are violated.

 

What the school board can do is encourage our students to be passionate about things that they care about and encourage them to take positive action to pursue their passions in life.

19.   What do you see as the role of the school board in setting curriculum for the district?

 

We support the efforts of a curriculum selection committee and provide broad policies around curriculum. Getting down to picking a certain book or company at the board level would be unwise and unproductive.

Experts tell us that many of the jobs that our kids will have in the future don’t even exist. How do you pick curriculum for that? Focusing on certain broad skills like problem solving, communication, being technologically savvy and giving student’s confidence in their ability to be flexible and recognize opportunities is a move in the right direction. Planting our feet in the ground too deep in one set of materials or subjects will not allow us to be limber and responsive to changing needs of our students and their world. We need “out of the box” thinking 101.

20.   How can our district better facilitate the adoption of state-wide curriculum changes?

Support a good curriculum selection team that has a pulse of what is going on in the world and trends and can find a way to insert flexibility into our curriculum selections and delivery systems is critical. As states try to come up with state-wide curriculum there will continue to be more and more revisions as reality comes to play during the implementation of those “mandated good ideas”. There was a meeting of the State Board of Education on Sept. 14-15 and they had pages and pages of revisions to the Core 24 graduation requirements. They also reviewed the new alternative education legislation. Why? Because it is getting harder and harder to fit what every child needs to know in a box. Being innovative and flexible is the key to success today. There are still basics kids need to know, but making them all march down the same path would be a mistake.

21.   What will you do as a school board member to help stop the declining MSP math scores in our district?

 

I don’t think they are declining in all schools. Each class is different and as a whole may perform at a higher or lower level than the previous class, the tests changes etc. There are a lot of moving parts that go into each testing window so an apples to apples comparison each year is not really possible. That being said, we have put into place several creative strategies such as construction geometry which teaches students geometry and then allows them to apply the geometry in the shop which makes the math relative and relevant. We just introduced a new Robotics CTE program at the high school and are working on designing our STEM program. These are the types of programs that will get the students engaged and excited about learning math and science. I was at the CTE Advisory meeting on Wednesday at Mount Si. It made me wish I could be a Mount Si Student as I watched the students demonstrate the robots they had built in class. That is a class I might find myself visiting often.

Questions from fellow candidates

Carolyn Simpson Asks: 

What are your plans to acknowledge and improve the fact that more than 1 out of 5 students who start high school here do not graduate within 4 years because they either dropout or take 5 years to graduate from high school?

First of all it is not a FACT that 1 in 5 students do not graduate on time in our district. Just because you pose a question does not make it so. If you just look at the Mount Si HS on time graduation rate for 2009-10 as shown on the OSPI website it is 94.8% and with an extended graduation rate of 99.2% This is an example of the kind of misinformation that gets traction because it sounds alarming, but isn’t really true. Now we have to spend time disputing it.

Geoff Doy Asks:

Why do you think the result of almost every vote taken by the Snoqualmie Valley School Directors is unanimous agreement?

I refuse to apologize for the fact that we have a good working relationship and a highly competent team. One of the byproducts of that is that we are able to reach consensus regularly. Some of the compromises or concerns are addressed at a committee level or having a board member speak with the staff member one on one to gather more information. We aren’t going to create conflict just for conflict sake.

It has been an honor to serve the Snoqualmie Valley School District on the Board of Directors since 2008 and I look forward to serving another four years with your help.

Please vote for me for the School Board on November 8th.

Thank you!

Caroline Loudenback

Snoqualmie Valley School District

Board of Directors – District 2