Overtime: WCSD Board Candidate Angela Borchardt Responds to More Voter Questions

• Please explain further the "strategic plan" that the school board has in place to improve the current situation in the district i.e. growing class size and reduced resources.

The WCSD strategic plan is the product of a team comprised of teachers, staff, parents, community members, principals and board members which  lays out the priorities and goals  of the district. This helps us determine how to spend out limited resources. We are starting to plan what to do when we do have more money - how we will restore things that have been cut.

• What are the benefits versus the costs of allowing out of district students to attend WCSD campuses?

Then benefit of taking inter-district transfer students is that we get the revenue limit $ for the children that transfer to our district (about $5,000 per ADA). Also it help us to run our schools more efficiently because we are closer to capacity. There is not cost to bringing in inter-district transfers.

• To incumbents Angela Borchardt and Barbara Pennington, what do you think you have done to re-earn your vote?  

I think we have done a good job of managing the interests of our constituents and providing the students of WCSD with a high quality well-rounded education.  I hope the voters will agree! 

• If monies were to become available and there were things that could be restored in the budget, what process would you use? 

We are just starting to discuss this. Even though we do not anticipate an economic upswing in the near term, we want to take the time to reflect on how to rebuild and be ready to go when we have the funds.  We would use a similar practice as we do for strategic planning and for the budget cutting. We will work with teachers, staff, parents, principals and determine the priorities for restoration.

• What are you the proudest of in the district?

The students. I love going on campus and seeing the kids hard at work in the classroom and playing on the play ground. Every year the board addresses the 8th graders at graduation and I am always impressed with them. I have seen first hand how well prepared our students are when they get to Las Lomas, one of the best high schools in the state.

• How would you handle the equity / inequity of funds raised per (school) site vs. funds spend per (school) site and the direction of that spending?

The same way we do now - it is critical (and the law!) that we ensure access to an equal education to every child in the district. We revisit this issue every year and annually put out guidelines for what the individual sites can fund.

• What would you do to cut down on the number of special education legal actions in which parents have unreasonable expectations about, the district's ability to accommodate them?

Every child deserves a high-quality education and every student can learn. WCSD works closely with the families of special education students to find the best possible placement. In the past few years the district has opened a few new special education classrooms in an effort to better serve the students and to  keep the children closer to home.

• Isn't it true that one of the biggest impediments keeping California from investing in its children is the enormous drain on our state budget caused by the huge public employee pension obligations? What would you do to try and change this on the district level?

The state economy had a number of seemingly insurmountable issues, I cannot guess which is the biggest. I can say that the district does not carry large employee pension or benefit obligations.

• I understand we have a need to boost test scores and help the struggling students "catch up." I would like to know how the candidates will work with the superintendent to foster existing programs or develop new programs for the students that are advanced learners / high achievers.

We have great test scores and do not need to necessarily "boost" them. What we do need to do is make sure that all students are succeeding and that we work to close any gaps we have in achievement. Every classroom offers opportunities for high achievers with differentiated instruction. There are other opportunities for high achievers such as the annual ROPES program, GATE programs and Odyssey of the Mind.