Candidate for
Board Member; Fremont Unified School District

Fremont Unified is a high performing school district with an excellent reputation. Our District Academic Performance Index (API) exceeds the State target of 800 by 20 points and is 127 points above the State average of 693. Twenty-two of our 40 schools have scores above 800, and only two have scores below 700. Still, we must continue to do more to ensure that each of our 31,785 students reach their full potential.

Our District has maintained a balanced budget - while preserving core programs - despite the State's financial crisis and the resulting cuts to school district funding. We must continue to seek out additional funding sources, maximize benefit from existing resources, and invest in our future.

As a community, we have demonstrated our commitment to our schools through the passage of a $157 million Health and Safety bond (2002's Measure B); a strong base of volunteers in our PTAs, PTSAs, PTOs, and Booster Clubs; and through support of the Fremont Education Foundation.

We are blessed to live in a culturally-, ethnically-, linguistically-, and economically- diverse community. I truly believe that our children will be much better equipped to succeed in the ever-shrinking world of the 21st century for having grown up in this area. However, such diversity also brings challenges related to home/school communication, educational priorities, parental involvement, and potential prejudice. We need to continue to focus on how to improve communication, encourage greater participation from all groups, and ensure that our schools are welcoming and safe for all students, staff and parents.

Over the past four years, we have improved our internal decision-making processes by engaging more parents and community leaders in committees and commissions ranging from those dealing with hiring a new superintendent and other senior staff, to those dealing with budget cuts and budget priorities, to those dealing with issues of instructional equity. I will continue to stress the importance of open communication and sound decision-making processes, specifically as they relate to the three priority areas that, in my opinion, will continue to require our greatest focus over the next four years: Student Achievement, Sound Financial Management, and School and Student Safety.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT: Our greatest priority must be to help all students reach their full potential. Whether a child is a high performer, has obstacles to overcome, or falls somewhere in between, each student must be given the resources, programs, and challenging opportunities to close the gap between potential and achievement. We must:

-> Continue to recruit, hire, and retain high quality teachers and to invest in ongoing teacher training.

-> Expand opportunities for all students to `find their passion' by providing a broad range of challenging courses, elective classes, magnet programs, and seamless integration with the Mission Valley Regional Occupational Program.

-> Regularly evaluate the effectiveness of our instructional programs and stay current on school reform programs and educational models that are achieving success with comparable student populations.

-> Provide school-to-career planning for all students, whether they plan to pursue degrees in higher education, attend post-secondary occupational training programs, or enter the workforce directly.

-> Support alternative education programs such as those provided by Robertson Continuation High School and the Fremont Adult School.

-> Invest in technology as a tool to provide increased learning experiences for students and improve home/school communications.

-> Encourage and welcome all parents as active participants in their children's schools and education; create opportunities for meaningful parental involvement.

Let Nina hear your opinion on this subject. Send email to: nmoore@earthlink.net

SOUND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: It is the Board's responsibility to manage the District's assets in the best interests of the students of today and tomorrow. We must:

-> Maintain a balanced budget, with the required reserve, while providing a high quality learning and working environment that supports our educational objectives.

-> Maximize benefits from our assets, through effective and efficient use of resources.

-> Ensure successful completion of 2002 Health and Safety Bond projects, on time and within budget.

-> Invest surplus property proceeds and developers' fees into facilities enhancements and expansions that will serve our students for many years.

-> Preserve our investment in facilities by identifying maintenance as an ongoing priority.

-> Actively pursue all potential sources of State, Federal and private funding through utilization of a grant writer or grant-writing firm, as approved by our Board.

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SCHOOL AND STUDENT SAFETY: Our schools must be physically safe and provide a safe and inclusive learning environment for each and every student and staff member. We must:

-> Ensure successful completion of 2002 Health and Safety Bond projects.

-> Strictly enforce anti-harassment and anti-name-calling policies.

-> Create an environment of inclusion for students, parents, and staff through diversity training, character education, and other programs that foster awareness of inclusive vs. exclusive behaviors.

-> Periodically survey our students and staff members to determine the effectiveness of our efforts to create an inclusive environment.

-> Reach out to parents from diverse backgrounds and find ways to overcome barriers to parental involvement.

Let Nina hear your opinion on this subject. Send email to: nmmoore@earthlink.net