STUDENT SAFETY
With the tragic events in Oxford and other schools recently, student safety must be a top priority. Beginning with our 2016 bond, CCS has consistently worked to upgrade our facilities, providing secure entryways and other building improvements. Our staff participates in ALICE training. We have recently increased the number of Oakland County Sheriff’s Department resource officers in our schools and have an active partnership with the Sheriff’s Department, . I am proud that an independent audit of CCS’s building security, policies and procedures found that our security is among the best of any school district in Michigan. However, we must never be satisfied. We must continue to audit our security and make all improvements necessary to ensure that all of our kids are safe.
STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Student Growth – Every student in our school district is different and has different learning needs. While this statement may seem simplistic, in reality we must acknowledge that every student starts the school year at his or her own academic level. A “one-size-fits-all” classroom approach is doomed to failure We must take that student’s starting point and make sure that student has a learning plan to ensure they will show a year’s worth of academic growth every year they are with us. Our administration is constantly reviewing research in this area and provides the Board with suggestions for best teaching practices.
COVID - I fought to keep our kids in school as much as possible. While we were legally required to move to remote learning during the pandemic, CCS did many things to make a difficult experience better. We provided devices so that every student had the needed technology. We consistently adapted our learning plan to address issues as they arose. While some learning loss was inevitable, the effects were largely minimized. Our work is not done though, we must continue to provide strategies to address that learning loss and get our kids back on track.
l am proud of the efforts we have made in this area, but we must continue to refine our curriculum and teaching strategies to meet this goal.
STUDENT WELL-BEING
No student can learn unless he or she is healthy, physically, and emotionally, engaged with learning, and feels safe and secure. I am proud of the efforts our district has made in being proactive in 1) allocating resources among our schools so that every child learns, and 2) to make connections with each and every child to ensure their well-being.
EMPLOYEES
Employees – We will continue to treat our employees with respect, professionalism and the admiration and appreciation they deserve. We should not build up a savings account on the backs of our employees. We have excellent staff members in Clarkston, and we need to do everything we can to keep these employees who understand and live our family culture.
BUDGET
Because of legislation almost 30 years old, CCS has historically received the lowest amount of per student state funding. Despite this, we continue to innovate with our programs and partnerships so that we can generate enough revenue to pay competitive salaries to retain our excellent our teachers and staff and have the ability to maintain and improve our academic offerings. We have been very prudent financially and we fortunately have had the capacity to absorb changes in revenue handed down from the state
I have always been an advocate for fair compensation that ensures that we can continue to recruit and retain our excellent teachers and staff, recognizing we have limited district revenues.
We have always practiced financial transparency. All of our budget documents are available online, along with a check register showing each and every expenditure made by the district.
FACILITIES PLANNING
In my time on the board, I am proud that we developed a long-range facilities plan, and began implementing that plan with our successful 2016 bond issue. We have now updated our facilities plan recognizing the accomplishments we’ve made and continue to plan for the future. The Board closely monitors our facilities plan and implementation to make sure that we are spending our taxpayers money wisely and as efficiently as possible. We must continue to combine short-term implementation with long-term planning when it comes to our school buildings and technology infrastructure. We need to make sure our facilities are properly maintained and examine all options to pay for the replacement of these items as they fail or need to be improved.
