Please list your occupation.
Retired Educator with 45+ years of experience.
Please list your connections to or involvement with CMS (children in the district, PTO experience, etc.).
My two children attended CMS schools: Olde Providence, Carmel, and Myers Park High School where I served on all three PTSA boards.
Please list your political experience and any education or political advocacy groups you’re affiliated with.
I ran for School Board in 2022; prior to that time I had no political experience. I am a member of the Republican Women of Greater Charlotte and the Hornet's Nest Men's Club. As an educator, I was a member of the Classroom Teachers Association.
Please list any other relevant professional experience.
After retiring in 2019, I worked at Equitable Advisors.
Why do you want to serve on the school board?
Education has been a lifelong passion. Our students, parents and teachers need a voice on the School Board and that is what I am.
Name one thing you feel CMS currently does well and one thing you would push the district to improve.
CMS is very good at monitoring student growth and addressing their immediate needs. I would like to see them raise the bar on expectations of students: from test taking to attendance.
In your opinion, what is the CMS school board’s most important function?
While we have adopted a Governance model where we oversee the work of the district, our most important function is to serve our constituents and be their voice.
What do you think should be CMS’ biggest funding priority? Where should that funding come from?
We must make sure we are providing usable resources in every classroom with trained teachers. Every child deserves the best possible teacher with the best possible instructional materials. Our funding should be a priority to the state and local county commission.
There has recently been uncertainty around school funding from both the state and federal levels. What actions, if any, should the school board take to navigate this uncertainty?
We need to examine all expenditures and make sure we are using our funds with fidelity. The school board should continue to lobby the state to get their budget passed to pay our teachers and review our yearly budget to determine if the "needs" are truly "needs" or "wants."
How can the board support the closing of performance gaps between high- and low-performing students?
We can continue to review the data provided by staff and support their work in closing the gap between high and low performing students by asking those hard questions.
The share of students enrolled in public schools is shrinking while private schools and charters have grown in recent years. How should CMS react?
We need to look at what is driving people away from our district. Look at why and how people are not choosing CMS and make adjustments to making our district their number one choice.