Stephen Sandoval is running for School Committee seat in Gardner election
Why are you running to serve on the School Committee?
Since the advent of the World Wide Web, it connected the planet, making it more effortless for individuals to acquire knowledge, share, and express opinions. It is only a matter of time before Gardner students become inundated with woke ideology. In a journal article by Erika Sanzi, “Monster is in the Classroom,” her research showed that in Lexington, Massachusetts, fourth graders are becoming indoctrinated in woke ideology. The Fairport Educational Alliance introduced an article by Thomas Sowell, who asked, what is wokeism? Included in the journal, Sowell gave his readers a breakdown of terms relevant to this ideology. My answer for the community at large who have children in Gardner's school system. I am prepared to speak up and uphold Gardner’s educational and ethical values. I purpose in building relationships with Gardner's school administrators in helping students to succeed, becoming creative, dynamic, energetic, inventive, prolific, vigorous, advantageous, constructive, and valuable future leaders for the Commonwealth without adding progressive wokeism to our existing scholastic make-up.
What do you see as the main challenge facing the district, and what is your plan to address it?
Yearly school budget increases, coupled with Gardner's K-12 overall ranking within the Commonwealth. My passion is to join a dedicated group of Gardner's school council public servants. I desire to be a productive team member to help support educators in the Multi-tiered System of Support, Tiered Focus Monitoring, and international migration of newly arrived immigrants. One remedy that may help, during the SC focus group discussion, is that we investigate adopting academic ideologies from effective school districts in the US and abroad to address needs that plague our school system.
What should the SC do to get more parents involved in the district’s decision-making process?
Positive parent engagement is, hands down, the great solution for many of education's troubles. If we are not actively working to keep parents engaged in their child’s education, we may be missing the biggest influence on student success without parent involvement. Research shows that student success is most dependent on something that occurs mostly outside our building, amongst the community at large. If one has not been adopted, Gardner’s school district should create a school communications planning guide, The School Communications Planning Guide is a resource for engaging our school community. As communications channels expand and evolve, it’s important that a school’s communications plan keeps up – one that aligns our district with modern communication practices and parent communication preferences. From the crisis to the lunch menu, schools need to be prepared to connect with accurate and timely content. Parents need to be equipped to connect with what matters most to them.
How will you measure the success of your tenure if elected?
The City of Gardner appears to be one of the high-achieving school districts. As I see it, a good school committee is more likely to engage in goal setting and monitoring their progress. Gardner's school committee appears data-driven, identifying student needs and justifying decisions based on raw data. I would measure my success as a school committee member by possessing detailed knowledge of Gardner's school district. As a school board member, it benefits me to craft a working relationship with our superintendent, teachers, and administrators based on mutual respect, coupled with a joint commitment to enhance our K-12 student success.
What is your pitch to voters on why they should elect you?
As President John F. Kennedy said, “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.” Education, not indoctrination. Schools are for education, not indoctrination. We must reform our curriculum if necessary and get our students to return to the basics of learning. Working in public schools, I know students arrive with different needs. Some have experienced trauma, others are learning English for the first time, and still others may be reading below grade level. Our students will need different things to thrive to meet their full potential. My focus is to treat our students the way we would want our children to be treated. As a member of the school committee, I acknowledge students’ differences and must give them what they need to be successful. It also means staying focused on outcomes, both academic and developmental. If elected to the school committee, I know as a team member, we are heading in the right direction when kids’ backgrounds no longer predict their outcomes.
This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Gardner School Committee election: Stephen Sandoval
