Challengers: None
Why do you want to serve on the school board, and what qualifications do you bring to the role?
I’ve been part of the Christina School District community since my oldest started kindergarten in 2003. What began as PTA volunteering and leading Junior Achievement in classrooms — work I still do today, now in three kindergarten classes each year — grew into a deep commitment to education equity. As Trevor Noah writes, ‘you can only dream of what you can imagine’ — and expanding what our students can imagine is exactly what’s at stake.
I’ve served on the board since 2020, currently as President, and on the Citizens Budget Oversight Committee since 2010. I’m leading a transformation toward proactive, data-driven governance tied directly to student outcomes — building a clear five-year roadmap that delivers real results for every child in our district.
What specific changes would you want to bring to how the school board currently operates?
The biggest change I’m leading is a shift toward proactive, data-driven, student-outcome-focused governance. The core mindset shift is staying focused on what students actually know and are able to do, rather than drifting toward adult inputs and processes. I want to move our board to a model where we spend the majority of our time monitoring progress toward the specific goals our community helped us set — using clear metrics tied to literacy, graduation, and real student outcomes — ensuring that every dollar we spend and every policy we pass is directly connected to improving student success.
What specific action is required to address student achievement gaps and support underserved populations (students with disabilities, English language learners, and those from low-income families)?
The Board ensures that the programs our Superintendent designs are actually closing the achievement gap. Our specific action is twofold: budgeting for equity and rigorous monitoring. We must ensure resources are directed toward our most vulnerable students — including those with disabilities, English language learners, and children from low-income families — and then relentlessly track the data. My focus is on setting high standards and clear five-year goals that guarantee every student gets the support they need to succeed.
What specific changes should be made at schools to make the classroom a safer and more effective environment for maximizing learning and instruction (teaching)?
To maximize learning, we must treat school safety and classroom effectiveness as inseparable. My focus is on ensuring our Superintendent has the resources to build a supportive school climate where every student feels they belong. We know that when students feel ‘seen’ and connected to their school community, we see a direct improvement in engagement and attendance. When we prioritize a culture of belonging, we create a space where students want to show up and where high-level instruction can actually take hold.
Many educators say that not all parents are engaged enough with their children's education. How can the school board create policies that help forge a closer relationship and involvement among parents, their children and educators?
Real engagement starts with making sure every parent feels welcomed and valued in our schools. The Board ensures that engagement is a continuous conversation. We are using the community’s vision and values to set our five-year goals, and my priority is to establish a ‘return and report’ culture. This means the Board regularly goes back to the community to share our progress and show exactly how we are meeting the goals they helped define. By prioritizing transparent, two-way communication, we move away from a one-size-fits-all approach and build a true partnership between families and educators.
How do you plan to address chronic absenteeism and student retention, especially in early grades and high school?
Chronic absenteeism is a challenge facing districts across Delaware, and Christina is no exception. There is a piece we can influence: whether students feel like they belong. Whether they feel seen, connected, and like they matter. When students feel that connection, they show up — and when they don’t, they drift away. The Board’s role is to ensure the district is addressing both realities — building the resources and culture that deepen belonging, and monitoring the outcome relentlessly — because a child who isn’t in school cannot learn, and that will show up in our student outcome data.
School districts oversee multi-million dollar budgets, supported by taxpayers. What steps will you propose to ensure that the money is being spent wisely and efficiently on student instruction?
Managing a multi-million dollar budget is about ensuring every dollar is a strategic investment in student success. As the Board’s liaison to the financial review committee, I have championed the move toward an Academic ROI (A-ROI) framework. This ensures we don’t just track where the money goes, but measure the actual impact on student learning. The district is now developing a tool to evaluate our programs based on results, providing the transparency taxpayers deserve and the accountability our students need.
What is your stance on standardized testing, and how would you ensure that assessments support student learning rather than drive instruction (“teach to the test”)?
I view standardized testing as a ‘health check’ — a necessary tool to see where we are succeeding and where we need to improve. However, it should never be the sole driver of what happens in the classroom. As a board, we are committed to looking at multiple measures of success that reflect the whole child. This includes tracking year-over-year growth, classroom-based assessments, and even social-emotional well-being. By focusing on the broad five-year goals our community helped us define, we ensure our schools are delivering a well-rounded education rather than just teaching to the test.