Woodbury City Council — Transcript
Monday, September 23, 2024
Story
Six candidates debate school board priorities at ISD 622 forum
School Safety Approaches
Recognition of Academic Excellence
Cell Phone Policy in Classrooms
Definition of Equity in Education
Monitoring Student Social Media
Mental Health Support for Students and Staff
Votes (7)
Candidate Opening Statements
Candidates introduced themselves, outlined their experience (e.g., Ke Yang in HR, Katie Swore in budgeting, Charlotte Nardi with K-12 teaching, Justin Midah in business, Nancy Livingston in state education policy, Miriam Janich in MDE data), and stated key priorities such as school safety, academic achievement, mental health, equity, and teacher support.
Discussion on School Safety Approaches
The debate covered physical security measures, the role of SROs, and proactive mental health strategies. Charlotte Nardi favored physical barriers and social workers over armed SROs. Justin Midah advocated for armed SROs and trained teachers to prevent active shooters. Katie Swore emphasized relationships and a holistic approach. Ke Yang proposed a two-pronged approach (proactive and reactive), and Nancy Livingston highlighted the district's strong police relationships and prevention through trusted adults. Miriam Janich focused on parental responsibility for gun safety and legislative funding.
Discussion on Recognizing Academic Excellence
Candidates explored ways to elevate academic recognition. Ke Yang mentioned existing language certifications and the need for diverse curriculum. Nancy Livingston highlighted debate team success and the AVID program. Miriam Janich called for more robust public engagement and awareness campaigns from the board. Katie Swore shared personal experiences with academic awards and advocated for board members attending events. Charlotte Nardi affirmed that the district already recognizes diverse achievements. Justin Midah suggested daily goal-setting, small rewards, and 'fun days' to incentivize all students, not just high achievers.
Discussion on Cell Phone Policy in Classrooms
Candidates presented varied but largely restrictive views on cell phone use. Miriam Janich advocated for a near-total ban for younger students to improve focus and socialization. Charlotte Nardi and Nancy Livingston supported storage during school hours for academic focus, while allowing communication for logistics. Justin Midah proposed turning phones into homeroom teachers for the day. Ke Yang noted the district's 'phone away for a day' policy and emphasized responsible usage modeling by adults. Katie Swore suggested listening to teachers and balancing communication needs with academic distraction.
Discussion on Defining Equity
All candidates agreed that equity differs from equality, focusing on individualized support. Katie Swore used the baseball game analogy to illustrate providing different resources based on need. Nancy Livingston emphasized understanding each student's starting point. Ke Yang focused on providing resources regardless of individual circumstances to achieve academic outcomes. Miriam Janich linked equity to meeting both needs and wants for diverse student paths. Justin Midah highlighted income disparities and the school's role in funding activities for students from low-income backgrounds. Charlotte Nardi reiterated that supporting each child benefits the entire community.
Discussion on Monitoring Student Social Media
Most candidates expressed reservations about extensive school administration monitoring of student social media. Miriam Janich and Charlotte Nardi emphasized parental responsibility and the resource drain of such monitoring. Justin Midah suggested monitoring only school computers/internet or using algorithms for keywords. Nancy Livingston noted the district's current use of programs to flag hate speech for safety reasons. Katie Swore acknowledged the 'right to monitor' public platforms but argued against dedicated resources, focusing instead on parental education and threat reporting. Ke Yang, drawing on HR experience, stated monitoring would occur if students identify with the district, create a hostile environment, or pose danger.
Discussion on Mental Health Support
Candidates universally recognized mental health as a significant issue. Nancy Livingston cited principal surveys and linked it to post-COVID challenges, advocating for counselors and extracurriculars. Miriam Janich emphasized parental influence, staff mental health benefits, destigmatization, and balancing therapy with social interaction. Ke Yang detailed current district resources like social workers and nurses, and the role of affinity groups for students and staff. Charlotte Nardi mentioned state funding, the 'trusted adult' concept, and social-emotional learning for younger children. Katie Swore stressed staff retention, rapid response for crises, and teaching resiliency. Justin Midah proposed bringing back 'Emotional Behavior Disorder' (EBD) classes and providing targeted help for troubled students to reduce classroom disruption.
Notable Quotes (21)
My priorities um have always remained the same which is school safety building relationships and academic achievement. These priorities are all key to building a stronger community.
I'm running for Schoolboard because I've seen a change uh and decline over the last decade of grades State proficiency standards students behaviors student disciplines and students mental health.
I spent time at the Minnesota Department of Education actually in the Statewide assessments Division I learned so much about data about Education data about what we collect why we collect it what the state tells us we have to do.
I personally prefer having uh the uh the the double doors that we have and if we could someday also afford uh having metal detector I'll be for that uh because I believe that one of my goal is for every student that comes in in our school buildings to go home home safely and also feel safe when they're in our buildings.
I do believe that they [resource officers] should be the only way to stop an active shooter situation... the cops are always five minutes late so in five minutes somebody can do a lot of damage.
School safety begins in our homes if a student has brought a gun to school there were 150 steps before that gun entered a school or a knife entered a school that parents myself included need to take responsibility for.
Also providing curriculum that students are interested about so that they can excel in schools um would be also something that um you know I wish all students love stem but you know it's not always going to be the case and so if we could provide you know the Arts or other additional academics that they can also excel in so thank you
The question itself tells me that our School Board needs to have a robust public engagement plan that put pushes even more awareness not just of student academic achievement art achievement Athletics but also of what the board is doing what the issues are at hand.
I think the home room we could actually start doing more like goal setting exercises I think we don't teach enough about that we do it in college but by the time you're in college you're already not really a goal Setter.
I think that endless access to social media um and different um game applications are not necessary and actually detract from our children's ability to focus and pay attention.
Kids can bring cell phone to schools but they can give put them somewhere where it's stored until uh they're done with school because I believe that students need to communicate with the parents at home for rides especially for me who had children that were in athletics.
I find that as a parent as an adult both um at home and in the um workplace or the school Place uh we also have to model responsible behavior.
Equality is giving them all the same size stool which doesn't help the short could see over the fence and the tall person doesn't really need it um I think Equity is making sure that everyone can see over the fence.
For me Equity is providing what's needed for that student so that you can also provide what is wanted for that student.
I believe equity and school is really important um it really to me it believe it means really that every student has the same opportunity and tools to succeed... if a child isn't able to play football because they can't afford it the school needs to find a way to step in and uh and fund those types of things.
I don't think it's appropriate for public education time and dollars to spent on that monitoring I think the question really comes down to again what are we as parents doing how are we parenting our children responsibly.
If they do use the school computers and school internet um I think that they should be open to monitorization If and I think that we could maybe set up a program that has an algorithm that might pick up just keywords that might just flag something.
We do have a program that uh Flags certain um um uh hate speech and so on and I think that's important because uh we have to keep students safe in school parents have to be able to trust our schools and and trust that their students will be safe.
Principles uh in a in a survey identified mental health as their number one concern student mental health as their number one concern.
Mental health in children starts with how their parents Ed um and uh we can't change that for our students people have to change that for themselves but mental health in all of our school Community is incredibly important.
One teacher told me 90% of what she does is control and 10% is teaching and that's really ear opening to me.
Ordinances & Resolutions (5)
Platform where registered candidates for the office were listed.
An agreement mentioned by Justin Midah, questioned for its effectiveness in lowering the suspension gap for District 622.
A nationally recognized program within the district that prepares students for college, supported by Nancy Livingston.
Provides professional development opportunities for board members and publishes reports on educational concerns like mental health.
National body offering conferences and professional development for school board members, attended by Charlotte Nardi.