ANN ARBOR, MI - From the district’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, to how it will approve spending its $1-billion bond, Ann Arbor Public Schools board members carry great responsibility during a time of uncertainty and unpredictability in K-12 education.
Seven candidates are vying for three open Ann Arbor School Board seats in the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election.
The candidates are running for board seats currently filled by Simone Lightfoot and interim board member Glenn Nelson, who are not seeking reelection.
Lightfoot has served on the board since 2009, while Nelson has been on the board in an interim role since former board President Harmony Mitchell resigned in February.
MLive has partnered with the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Michigan to provide information to voters. Check out the league’s voter guide at Vote411.org/ballot to find information about candidates and issues on the ballot.
Here’s a look at the candidates and where they stand on key issues facing the district.
Krystle R. DuPree
Krystle R. DuPree has a history in social work, currently serving as the Youth Program Coordinator for Avalon Housing. She also has worked as a public policy analyst and community organizer with Mothering Justice. DuPree earned a bachelor 's degree in social work from Eastern Michigan University, followed by a master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan. DuPree also served in the Army and worked with UNIFIED, then known as the HIV AIDS Resource Center educating youth and the community about how to stay healthy in relationships and other partnerships.
What are your goals if elected to the school board?
Dupree hopes to strengthen the connection between students and the district by supporting the creation of a student advisory committee with no less than two representatives at board meetings. She also wants to see funding directed to ensure consistent special education information and services are available in the district. She also wants to see coalition building meetings with community organizations that work with students outside of school, as well as expanding the district’s relationship with the University of Michigan in working to reach carbon neutrality by 2030.
“These changes may not require additional resources, yet figuring out a way we creatively use the bond money to work towards our goals,” DuPree indicated in the League of Women Voters guide.
What should be done to improve student achievement?
DuPree said research shows three factors contribute to the opportunity gap in schools: Resegregation of school, unequal access to qualified teachers and the lack of access to high quality curriculum. The district should be working with social workers and staff to better coordinate to support families in need, she said.
“Our children’s experiences across the district are inconsistent,” DuPree said in the voter guide. “Many times, in conversation, the achievement gap is explained by outside factors such as poverty and single parent homes. … We need to focus on consistency in education across the district, while providing support for underserved students and families.”
Jeff Gaynor
Elected to the school board in 2016, Jeff Gaynor previously taught grades 1-8 in the district for 32 of his 38 years in the classroom. Gaynor said his time on the board has helped him gain insight into how the district works by working with the administration and hearing the concerns of parents, students and staff. He currently serves on six committees for the board, citing his “independent and critical view of issues” as a strength in his role as a board member.
What are your goals if elected to the school board?
Gaynor said openness and transparency about issues and fostering community input and discussion are among his goals as a board member, including monitoring the $1 billion bond spending and supporting carbon neutrality measures. He also pointed to the district’s decision making regarding equity and social justice as a critical issue of importance, while balancing public health, family needs and connecting with students during the 2020-21 academic year as areas of emphasis.
“These goals largely require a commitment and adherence to core values, rather than a financial infusion,” Gaynor said in the voter guide. “I supported the large bond proposal in order to specifically support sustainability and carbon neutrality measures. This is independent of the budget restraints in our operating budget. By listening to community members and working with other Board members and administrators in committees, I can advocate for these.”
What should be done to improve student achievement?
Despite achievement rates that are high compared with state averages, Gaynor said there are discrepancies in performance by racial groups and economic status. AAPS must reach every student and provide resources proportional to their needs, Gaynor said, with a goal of student growth, rather than passing arbitrary grade level standards.
“Students need a range of ways to express themselves, not simply responses that can be measured easily. And teachers must show they care about each student,” Gaynor said in the voter guide. “While academic achievement is important, we want students to be caring, responsible and engaged citizens. Looking at any student in a one-dimensional way does them, and our society, a disservice.”
Jamila James
Jamila James has been a single parent of children of color in the district for 16 years, her voter guide profile states. She points to overcoming many obstacles including balancing going to school to become a nurse with working and being an active parent. She points to her loyalty to children as a reason she is running for the board, keeping their best interests at heart.
What are your goals if elected to the school board?
James emphasized preparing children in the district for the world they are going into, instead of a world that has passed. She wants to be able to draw from the Ann Arbor community and its wide variety of resources and expertise to support children. A key area to help children in the future, she said, will be helping them navigating an ever-evolving technological landscape.
“With how swiftly technology has grown and changed in my 45 years alone, our children are growing up in a much different world than I was,” James said in the voter guide. “They are bombarded with so much information so much earlier than we were. It’s our responsibility to help them navigate this information and new frontier in a way that is beneficial to them.”
What should be done to improve student achievement?
James said autonomy for teachers in how information is distributed and giving children more ownership of their education are steps the district should take in improving student achievement.
“A real will to see change and know it will be uncomfortable, but a willingness to sit in that discomfort, knowing that it is needed for change to occur,” James said in the voter guide, explaining the process the district must take.
Maggi Richards Kennell
A mother of three children in the district, Maggi Richards Kennell has served as a PTO present, and volunteer coordinator in the district. A trained research scientist with degrees physiology and cellular and molecular biology from Eastern Michigan University, Richards Kennel previously has worked with the Washtenaw Intermediate School District at their Center for Young Adults providing IT support to serve at-risk students in Washtenaw County. In recent years, Richards Kennel has been active in the district’s Booster Club auction, band association and Pioneer Rowing Club.
What are your goals if elected to the school board?
Richards Kennel has focused on four categories of goals the district should focus on with currently limited resources: Equitable education, with a focus on reviewing processes for inclusivity and racial advocacy and implementing school bond funds in an equitable way; and responsible leadership via a thorough budget review and improving accountability and transparency of funding implementation, including aligning green initiatives to meet the A2Zero plan adopted by the city, her voter guide profile indicates.
Richards Kennel also is focused on inspiring academic achievement by freeing teachers of the constraints of testing-focused curriculum and working to establish collaborative communities through allowing teachers to improve qualitative learning outcomes through innovative programs, Increase transparency and community input, according to the voter guide.
What should be done to improve student achievement?
Richards Kennel said there are three main indicators or student achievement: talented teachers, smaller classroom sizes and the alleviation of poverty issues.
“To keep the best teachers, we must invest in them as vital members of the community and pay them accordingly,” Richards Kennel said in the voter guide. “Smaller classroom sizes have proven to be better for all students. … Poverty is considered an early childhood trauma, our schools need to be able to help those students who may need extra support with equitable practices.”
Ernesto Querijero
Ernest Querijero has been a resident of the area for 25, spending the last 15 years as a teacher at both Tecumseh High School and more recently as a member of the faculty at Washtenaw Community College, teaching developmental writing since 2010. Querijero graduated with a bachelor’s degreee in English from the University of Michigan and a master’s in education from the University of Pennsylvania. At Tecumseh, he taught basic and AP English from 2005-13. At WCC, he served on the Developmental Task Force and other committees related to diversity and student success.
What are your goals if elected to the school board?
Querijero’s goals include recommending policies that advance long-term student learning, as well as increased representation, fairness and inclusion. Students learn best when they know they are in safe learning environments, whether they are physical or virtual spaces, he said.
“Entry into these spaces affects our children’s mental wellness as learners, particularly for elementary school students. Students should have many opportunities to demonstrate their understandings and competencies; programming that supports AP Courses and dual-enrollment should be expanded and supported,” he said in the voter guide. “I will fight for student support, access and self-advocacy.”
What should be done to improve student achievement?
Querijero said the best way to improve student achievement is to foster and strengthen the relationships between families and the learning support services and community outreach programs the district offers. The coronavirus pandemic challenges the community to reimagine both a return to school and how the district assesses student learning, particularly when it comes to standardized testing.
“Our district should use multiple measures taken over a long period of time in a holistic approach, and not rely solely on high-stakes tests that are culturally bias, create undue test anxiety at an early age, and hurt students' wellness,” Querijero said in the voter guide. We should move to de-emphasize the value put on these tests, particularly for elementary school children. They create barriers for long-term student learning, and our district shouldn’t buy into them, literally or figuratively."
Angie Smith
Angie Smith has been engaged with the district and community as a parent for 17 years, volunteering in governing boards like the Washtenaw Food Policy Council, high school PTO, and the community pool. Smith said she has taught worked and volunteered at every level from preschool to adult education.
“I’ve helped students with unique goals and challenges including traumatic brain injury, gifted, incarcerated, and community college learners,” Smith said in the voter guide. “I have learned that we need to invest in what we value, and I am ready to work hard as a board member to reflect and respect the values of the community of Ann Arbor.”
What are your goals if elected to the school board?
Smith said she is running for the board because a more equitable education is the greatest gift the district can give to children and the entire community. She stressed that cultural crises related to public health, including climate change, racism and equity will cause fundamental changes to education.
“Through my involvement in our community I have learned that it is essential to invest in what matters to and collaborate with the community of Ann Arbor,” Smith said in the voter guide. “I intend to use the board seat to challenge everyone from teachers through top administrators, to work collaboratively and creatively to continue to provide all of our students with the best possible education.”
What should be done to improve student achievement?
To improve student achievement, Smith said the district first needs to examine how it measures and defines it. She advocates for encouraging best practices in the use of standardized tests for each grade level and expanding programs that better enable success for students who may not be college-bound.
I have a graduate degree, but not everybody wants or needs to go to college, and public schools need to prepare all students for their future," Smith said in the voter guide. “We can empower students and teachers by strengthening collaboration between teaching staff and administration.”
John Spisak
John Spisak has extensive experience in both general and special education, currently working as an applied behavior analyst for Centria Autism. Spisak has previous experience as a committee member of the Institutions of Higher Learning, as well as the special education program director for Concordia University in 2018-19, after previously serving as an adjunct faculty member in special education. Spisak has several degrees, including a bachelor’s of business administration from Eastern Michigan University; a master of education from the University of Michigan and a master of science in special education from Purdue University. He currently is pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership from Michigan State University.
What are your goals if elected to the school board?
As a former educator, Spisak said the district must look at what it is doing right in these unique circumstances, what needs to be changed and what needs to be done to get there. He stressed taking a long look at the budget to make sure both general and special education students' needs are being met in the most foundational ways.
“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Are we appropriately deploying money that is really meeting the needs of our kids and are we putting enough resources into the classrooms?’” Spisak said. “As a former teacher, I think sometimes you get the money you need, sometimes you don’t get the money you need.”
What should be done to improve student achievement?
In an area and district that places a high level of importance on education, Spisak said it is important for the district to focus on ways to make learning more enjoyable for all students. While those standards are high, Spisak said the district must focus on if it is meeting its goals for student achievement based on its own lofty standards.
“We put so much pressure on these kids to learn, we don’t make learning fun,” Spisak said. “That’s easier to do in a self-contained (emotionally impaired) classroom. It’s not easy to do in a gen ed room when you’ve got 35 kids and your job is dependent on a certain number of them getting a C or higher.”
READ MORE:
Ann Arbor Public Schools holding firm on plan to start year remotely
How low-income families are getting help with online learning from this community center
These are the 42 candidates running for school boards in Washtenaw County
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