Daville Parent Running For School Board Position

Press release from Priscilla Graft:

August 17 2020

I live in Danville and my sons attend John Baldwin Elementary School. (My daughter will attend Kindergarten Fall 2021.) My oldest is entering 4th grade and I've been an active member of the John Baldwin PTA since he started in Kindergarten. I've served on the Annual Auction Fundraising Committee, worked our Scholastic Book Fairs and have also been very involved in in-classroom volunteering. This coming school year I'm proud to be a part of the John Baldwin PTA's Inclusion & Diversity Committee among other roles.

But even more importantly, I am the ONLY candidate in my area (Area 2) who has kids in our schools. So, not only is my commitment to, and investment in, our school community proven through the committees and in-classroom work I've done to date, it's a given due to the fact that my kids are IN our schools and my family is personally impacted by the decisions the School Board makes.

As I listen to the students, parents, grandparents and teachers of our district, what they’re telling me is – especially in unprecedented times like these – they want new energy, fresh ideas, and better judgment to steer our school community UP and OUT of today’s circumstances. They want to combine daily on-the-ground intel with an innovative mindset to make sure we’re providing the curriculum, the instruction, and the additional assistance that our students need and deserve. I bring relevant and valuable outside experience to the board, with the passion of a parent with kids IN our schools.

I have 20 years of professional experience, including the last six @ The Clorox Company where I am today. At work I’m known for harnessing the healthy tension that exists between stakeholders and pushing through noise to get things DONE. I've worked on large complex problems, and I know how to keep the big picture in mind while digging into the details. I have worked on major company initiatives that brought people together, ranging from back-to-school campaigns to our company’s Be Bold corporate culture initiative to our Inclusion and Diversity initiative. I currently sit on our Marketing Transformation team where I focus on forward-looking initiatives.

Here's what I think needs to happen:

The Board's #1 priority needs to be to address the issues actually facing students, parents and teachers.

1) The Board should be doing all it can to return all children SAFELY to in-person learning.

- Not only is that the best way to educate our kids, but it's also essential to social and emotional development.

- Are we ready to go as soon as we get the green light from the State? I would keep pushing to ensure this is number one on the Board's list.

- I would also advocate for maintaining a remote learning option for as long as needed (past re-opening) for those families and teachers who need to continue with remote learning for longer. This will in turn help in fostering social distancing for those who do want to return.

- The waiver process for reopening elementary schools safely needs to be explored more vigorously - in line with what the science is telling us.

- I haven’t heard nearly enough about ventilation and how to address upgrading it – which is something experts have been emphasizing more and more. Mask-wearing needs to be part of the answer as well of course.

2) The board should also make sure our distance learning approach is the best it can be -- and that the remote curriculum acknowledges the varying learning, social and emotional needs of kids across elementary and secondary school.

- For elementary school, I would make sure we’re addressing the speech therapy and special learning needs that are not currently being met by our remote curriculum. We have a finite window of time to address these needs – in some cases prior to 2nd grade – and we can’t let our young kids down.

- For secondary school, we need to prioritize outlets for social and emotional interaction. We’re seeing and hearing about depression and isolation as the opportunity to meet and connect with fellow students and teachers has gone away. The idea that PE (an outdoor activity) would be an elective under the current circumstances is unfortunate. This is exactly the time to be identifying activities and rethinking courses (PE, art, music, science, health) that could be conducted outdoors.

- And to capture all of the new gaps and opportunities that appear, I would hold regular office hours for students, teachers, administrators and parents to talk with me directly + I would advocate for student-elected Student School Board representatives to be trained and play an important linkage role between the student body and the School Board.

My #2 priority would be rethinking the way we fund our district.

The state formulas are not working for us, so that needs to be addressed, but we also need to do a better job of recognizing that we can't slough it all off on parents.

- We could do much more in the way of facilitating corporate donations, sponsorship, more frequent corporate matching cadence.

- There are dollars out there that we're not tapping into, and we need more creativity surrounding how we deliver our elective instruction to our kids. Who better to explore those options than a person w/ extensive experience in the corporate world, like me.

- There's a feeling amongst parents that money going to the reserve funds of schools isn't being properly utilized. (They donate, it goes into a surplus account, and then their kids graduate and never see the benefit of their donations.) That needs to be rethought w/ added transparency into where our dollars go.

And of course, teachers cannot continually be put behind the administration when it comes to pay equity.

My approach to my school board seat will be driven by my experience in the trenches and a devotion to what is best for our kids. This will take great teachers who feel supported and appreciated by their community. It truly takes a village. And the board needs to look a lot more like the actual village. As the ONLY Area 2 candidate with kids IN our schools + my proven track record of working hard, thinking creatively and getting things DONE, I’m the best suited candidate to serve our community.

This press release was produced by Priscilla Graft. The views expressed here are the author’s own.