I’m running for Redlands Unified School District school board because I feel I can be of great service to this district’s children and their families. I am a Christian, a wife, mother to 5 kids, and an RN. I will stand to protect the children, support the parents, and empower our teachers.

For four years now, I’ve unsuccessfully made pleas to the RUSD board regarding decisions and practices I felt were in the students’ best interest. I’ve come to realize that in order to actually put into place sound policies and procedures to protect children, I needed to run for office myself.

I believe our classrooms need to be focused on academics, politically neutral, encouraging children to form their own opinions and taught to think critically about all sides of any subject, debate, or political issue. All five of my children have gone through the Redlands Unified School District, and in my experience, there has been much more than academics taught in certain classrooms. I will advocate for strengthening our scholastics and shifting the focus back onto education, which I feel should always remain the primary purpose of school.

Many studies have shown that one of the largest keys to student success is parent involvement. I aim to change the current parent secrecy guidelines and will advocate for the mental, physical, and social well being for ALL students in this district. Parents have a God-given and constitutional right to raising their children—their rights are not suspended once a child sets foot on campus. If elected, I will serve to maintain this bond between parents and their children. I fully support constitutionally based policies and informed consent of parents regarding their minor children. Accountability and transparency are also top priorities of mine for parents to understand board policies and decision making.

It is of great concern to me that teachers receive the resources and skills needed to handle disruptive and violent children in their classrooms. I would love to see teachers trained and well-equipped for these situations, feeling empowered with a skill set to protect all of their students from violence in the classroom.

Teachers should be respected for keeping a politically neutral environment! Having the courage to join alternative teachers unions if their values do not align, should be supported without fear of administrative bullying or harassment from the union. All too frequently, teachers report feeling pressured to support political ideology that may be harmful to students, the parent-student relationship, or in contradiction to their own personal values.

Teachers also need to be paid at the highest wages acceptable for their title and experience. Great teachers are hard to find and even harder to retain. Aside from parents, teachers are typically the most influential adults in our young children’s lives.