MVLA candidates on school lunch, 8:30 start time, online forums, their priorities, speed of response

The Los Altos Town Crier has a great article but here are some supplementary questions

http://www.losaltosonline.com/news/sections/news/357-elections/48537-meet-the-candidates-for-the-mvla-board-of-trustees

Here are questions I sent to the candidates and their responses, In order of speed of response.

1. do you think that school lunch affects academic performance? Should schools role-model and provide healthy lunches? and provide healthy options?

2. if you have/had kids in the district, how many days a week do you/ did you order lunch?

3. What do you think of an 8:30am start time per American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation? http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/school-starts-too-early/

4. Do you think the MVLA board could/should be more inclusive by allowing online forums rather than just in person meetings? (May I suggest the Bigtent platform or something like it)

5. What are your top 3 priorities?

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Kevin Kramer, speed of response 16 hrs

answers are as follows in CAPS:

1. do you think that school lunch affects academic performance? YES. Should schools role-model and provide healthy lunches? YES. and provide healthy options? OF COURSE.

2. how many days a week do you/ did you order lunch? ZERO, ALTHOUGH MY OLDER SON DOES PURCHASE SNACKS BETWEEN CLASSES SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK.

3. What do you think of an 8:30am start time per American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation?

I WHOLEHEARTEDLY SUPPORT A LATER START TIME FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.

4. Do you think the MVLA board could/should be more inclusive by allowing online forums rather than just in person meetings? DEFINITELY. THE BOARD NEEDS TO CHANGE HOW IT OPERATES.

5. What are your top 3 priorities? I HAVE ONE PRIORITY, AND THAT IS TO IMPROVE BOARD DYNAMICS BY IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY OF DECISION-MAKING, IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY AND COMMUNICATION WITH THE COMMUNITY, AND INCREASING ENGAGEMENT AND DEBATE ON THE ON THE ISSUES FACING INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS.

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Dana Bunnett response time 1 day

1. Your question prompted me to go find out from my son what is happening at the high school. I remembered a couple of years ago that there was a fight about where the Taco Truck parked to sell unhealthy foods to the students. I had assumed this was because the students didn’t like the healthy food. However my son tells me that the food sold in the cafeteria and at the pizza truck is pretty unappetizing and not healthy. No salad bar. I think the district should provide seed funding for a switch to healthier food. At Almond Elementary school we decided the kids needed healthier hot lunches and made a switch from several fast food places that provided pizza, hot dogs, and hamburgers, to a vendor who made whole grain, low-fat healthier foods. The students were not thrilled about the change, but they got used to it.

2. AJ (now a senior) has either brought a bag lunch to school or came home for lunch. I don’t think we every ordered hot lunch, although he may have brought money to school on occasion to buy lunch.

3. What do you think of an 8:30am start time per American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation?

I support this idea. Teenagers’ biological clock is definitely set to stay up late and sleep in. Plus, if schools are at school a little later, this coincides better with parent work schedules. What I don’t understand is why this topic has failed to get much traction. It is plain old inertia or are there some legitimate concerns that would need to be addressed in order to institute a later start time. I think it would be a worthwhile endeavor for the governing board to study this issue.

4. Do you think the MVLA board could/should be more inclusive by allowing online forums rather than just in person meetings? (May I suggest the Bigtent platform or something like it)

I am on the record in support of webcasting the board meetings and I think steps need to be taken to make the meetings more inclusive and the decision-making more transparent. I like this idea, however I am not sure what the implications are for the Brown Act. If there is no legal reason not to do this, I think it is a good idea.

5. What are your top 3 priorities?

A. Schools where every child graduates with a lifelong love of learning and ready for college and career. I fear sometimes that the emphasis is on filling the bucket rather than lighting a fire. Too many of our high achieving students go to college feeling burned out and too many of our low-income students just slip away. I would support an annual school climate survey to understand whether students feel connected to each other and caring adults and if they feel like they are unique contributors in the world.

B. Greater inclusion by the community - students, staff, families and the community at large - in policy and budget decision-making. While it may take more time, when there are more voices at the table, you ultimately make better decisions and you create greater commitment to the goals and the priorities of the district.

C. Closing the opportunity gap that leads to different academic outcomes for our low-income students and Latino students and our not socio-economically disadvantaged students. While the district has made progress in this area, I am concerned about the students who are in the gap right now. We need to figure out which of the “levers” are making the biggest difference. I would like to see us grow the AVID program where students are connected to adults and each other on a pathway to learning success.

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Fiona Walter - speed of response 4 days

1. Yes, I do think that healthy food affects a student’s performance in school. An obvious example of this is when younger kids eat too much sugar and become unfocused and hyper. Our schools do provide healthy lunch options and meet all State nutrition requirements.

2. I have two kids at MVHS. They bring lunch from home four days a week and eat food from school one day per week. Prior to MVHS, they only brought food from home.

3. I am also familiar with this article and understand that even a half hour later starting for high schoolers can impact their grades. Our high schools currently start at 8:10 which is closer than many districts to the recommended 8:30. The difficulty in shifting later is of course how to squeeze in after school activities. Before contemplating an 8:30 start, I would need to investigate the impact on all of our after school programming. Another consideration is coordination with surrounding districts and their start times such that we attempt to avoid (to the extent possible) major traffic problems in the morning. Yet another consideration would be the impact on working parents who need to get to work after dropping their student at high school (while many students drive themselves or bike, many still ride with their parents to school prior the parent going to work). The extra 20 minutes would impact all three of these items.

4. Do you think the MVLA board could/should be more inclusive by allowing online forums rather than just in person meetings? This is an option that the district may choose to use. I’d prefer to start smaller by streaming board meetings and encouraging the community to watch from home if they are unable to come in person.

5. What are your top 3 priorities?

• Enhance communication to parents and the greater community
• Expand programs and curriculum for kids at all levels
• Effectively manage the transition to Common Core Instruction

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Joe Mitchner response time 5 days and

Debbie Torok response time 10 days (sorry PATCH limits responses. so will be continued here) http://patch.com/california/losaltos/mvla-candidates-school-lunch-830-st... MVLA candidates on school lunch, 8:30 start time, online forums, their priorities, speed of response (part 2)