001School Board candidate Forum sponsored by Edina Public Schools parent leadership Council the purpose of today's form is to hear from our two candidates Christina Jordan and Regina Neville who are running in the special election to fulfill the remaining one-year term of the vacant seat on the Edina School Board my name is Karen treeweiler and I'm a member of the Edina PLC and moderator for today's forum thank you all for attending before we get started I ask that you check your cell phones either turn them off or put them on silent thank you we are gathered at the Edina Community Center in boardroom 349 this form is being live streamed and recorded so please hold your applause until the very end a recording of this form will be available for viewing on the district's website later
002this week this forum is an opportunity to get to know the candidates running for Edina School Board all candidates who have filed for the office of school board and who will be on the November 8th 2022 ballot were invited and both are in attendance today I want to thank our candidates Regina Neville and Christina Jordan for participating in today's important event here are the rules and format for today's forum speaking order was randomly assigned prior to the Forum I will call on candidates to answer general questions by both first and last name each candidate will have 60 seconds to make an opening statement each candidate will have 90 seconds to make a closing statement all candidates will answer General topic questions and will indicate whether that particular question is allotted 60 seconds or 90 seconds
003all candidates will also answer lightning round questions that consist of answering with either a yes or no only all candidates will raise their provided paddle at the same time to answer the yes or no lightning round questions in addition to your paddle answer you will also give your verbal response in alphabetical order I will indicate your turn with a knot of my head members of the PLC will be tracking your time and will indicate to candidates whether you have 30 seconds remaining 15 seconds remaining and when you must stop the PLC solicited questions from our parent leaders and attempts in good faith to cover as many topics submitted as possible within the time constraints all questions are the property of parent leadership Council one final note if you need a question repeated at any time
004just let me know let's begin we will start with an opening statement from each candidate each of you will be given 60 seconds to respond we will begin with Regina Neville thank you hello my name is Regina Neville and I'd like to thank the parent leadership Council for hosting this forum I'd also like to thank everyone who's participating here and watching the recording to become informed about this year's Edina School Board election my husband Tom and I have lived in Edina for 22 years and we're the parents of three proud graduates of Edina High School I've consistently served Edina Public Schools in multiple leadership capacities for over 20 years I'd be honored to serve in this year ahead with the depth of experience I've accrued with 12 years of school board experience I've acquired knowledge
005in school of Finance policy development and collaboration I have classroom teaching experience and I continue to work with students at Valley View Middle School in the theater program please vote for me and learn more at www.regina for neville4edina.com Christina Jordan thank you and thank you all for being here this morning and giving us the opportunity to speak to you all I am a lifelong resident of Minnesota and a 25-year Edina resident my career in education spans over 33 years and 25 of those were spent as a Minnesota public school teacher the last eight years I've worked as an independent education consultant partnering with Educators on a national level to help develop best practices in education I've experienced education from the inside at all levels and I have worked on groups to bring community and schools
006together Edina has traditionally been a leader in Minnesota education preparing generations of students for Success I'm running for school board because I see opportunities for growth and I want to ensure that future Generations receive the same level of quality education that my three children had we owe it all of our stakeholders to get back to our best and honor our commitment to defining excellence thank you the following is a general question you will each have 60 seconds to respond why are you running in this special election what experience and abilities do you bring to the board specifically what differentiates you as a candidate we will begin with Christina Jordan so I alluded a little to that I think in my opening statement I I've been a lifelong educator and anybody who knows me knows that
007education has been a passion of mine even when I was a young child and I chose Edina as the school district to have my kids go to school and they received an amazing education here um I'm running because I've had a lot of community members come up to me and say that they feel like their voices aren't being heard and I think what differentiates me is that I have seen education inside and out I traveled the country I work with school boards I work with them on their strategic plans I work with principals and superintendents we do audits on what's working and what's not so I've seen best practice I've seen what is being successful and what is not across the country and I can bring that wide perspective to Edina Public Schools and I
008think that's something that we don't have on our board right now and I think we need to welcome some diversity of thought and I can bring that to our school board Regina Neville I have the necessary experience to serve in this one-year term replacing Lenny Wallen Friedman who had 12 years of school board service and I've also had that number of years of experience both on the Edina School Board where I served for eight years and on intermediate District 287 where I served for nine and a half years they overlapped that's how you get to the 12th but I know how School boards work it's at least a year to learn how it works so that learning curve wouldn't be necessary within this particular one-year term I understand policy I have Financial guidance experience I've
009collaborated with superintendents a lot of my work with intermediate District 287 and with the Dyna education fund has been in mental health and wellness which is a significant need of our district and in literacy and literacy support so I believe that I have the necessary background and collaboration relationships put together to serve in this year thank you the following question is a general question with 60 seconds for response time what would be your approach with the current board to collaborate and Lead we will begin with Christina Jordan so I think that's a pretty broad question because at its core our job as a school board is to collaborate and Lead so first of all as somebody who is new to the school board but certainly not new to the process or new to education as
010a whole I would I would listen not only to my fellow school board members but to our community members as well I've spoken to many groups across our community from students to our Somali groups our Asian groups I've spoken to conservative groups and liberal groups and neighborhood groups and in every single one of those Arenas people have said to me please please please if you're on the school board listen give us a place to voice our opinion make sure that everybody's voice is heard so I think that would be my number one goal is to make sure that we listen and not only that we listen that we do something with that information Regina Neville building relationships is key to the collaboration with everyone in the district and specifically with my colleagues who would be
011on the school board and the superintendent so building on relationships that I've established and working with them in the past but also listening to the ideas that they bring to the table the advantage of a school board is that there are different points of view and that all informs the decision-making process so I hope to continue to learn from what they offer and listen so that I can make informed decisions I also appreciate and welcome the opportunity to support this group because we're all working in the same direction with an excellent school district and looking for opportunities to improve thank you candidates there will be 90 seconds for the following question the first sentence of the Edina Public School Mission States EPS is a dynamic Learning Community delivering educational excellence and preparing all students to
012realize their full potential what does this mean to you and how would you measure if this is being delivered we will begin with Regina Neville Dynamic Learning Community is a fantastic phrase and I appreciate it being in the mission it applies to each of us individually as well as to our district as a whole so it speaks to the potential of each of us as both students and Educators and we're all Educators in different capacities whether we are parents working with our students Educators in the classroom and community members supporting our students so dynamic means a willingness to change and grow our opportunity as a school district is to look at where the gaps may be if they are opportunity gaps learning gaps and find ways to support so that phrase and the mission indicates
013a district that is willing to grow willing to listen to best practice that may be from other communities listen to the voices in our community and address how can we make the adjustments that are necessary to provide the resources and also the learning environment that is welcoming and supportive for all of our Learners regardless of what they bring to the school we want to celebrate what they bring and then give them what they need to move forward Christina Jordan so I think that we have a wonderful Vision here in Edina and I think that um we need to look at that and truly follow that but in that dynamic means that sometimes we need to be willing to take a chance in education I feel like a lot of times and this is not just
014any dyna thing this is across the board no matter what state I'm in we look at the new shiny and we sort of implement it because it's the fun thing to do or the cool thing to do and then we get rid of it because it just wasn't serving us right so in truly being Dynamic we need to be willing to take a chance but not only to do that but actually Implement things with Fidelity I think we need to offer diverse programming for our students we're doing some really cool things I met with Dr Stanley the other day she told me about the science Space Program oh my gosh that's the best thing out there we should do more of that we also should listen to our student voice because we are shaping what
015they are living every single day and when I met with the Student Center that the other day they said they want more choices they want more creative Outlets they want to explore more vocational opportunities and I think being Dynamic is also reaching outside of our community partnering with our what our students truly need and want and making that happen for them thank you the next general question is a 60-second response time how can the district ensure that its mission and vision are applied consistently across all schools and programs yet still allow for individual school and program identities and cultures we will begin with Christina Jordan so as I just stated I think that every thing that we do in our district should be funneled through the lens of our vision and our strategic plan that's
016why we have it there right so that should be our overarching lens for everything we do but that being said every school has its own culture every school has its own makeup of students that make it unique and certainly where I taught I taught at a school that was radically different in financial cultural diverse makeup I didn't we didn't fit with the rest of the district so allowing every school to still hold true to that mission to look at unifying our tests and applying that across the board but allowing for individuality in the programs that some schools may need versus others is something that's really important because if we're really individualizing instruction for our students we need to make sure that we have the flexibility to give each site what they need Regina Neville implementing
017the mission and the Strategic plan begin with policy and part of the role of school board is to take a look at policy and make sure that it is Equitable in what we say and in how we want to bring things forward so part of our policies in place already addressed the fact that one funding needs to be Equitable across all Sites so it's taking a look at the support that different sites receive and how we as a district support them but that said there's always the opportunity for personal choice and voice and that's what builds the unique identity of each of our schools and each of our programs so each of them might have a different opportunity for focus with either a language or esteem Focus that is a great fit for each individual
018student we celebrate that and then at the meantime make sure that no one is identifiable by their site or learning program in their ability to to achieve success K-12 thank you we now move to our first lightning round the answer is either a yes or a no by raising your paddle and then your verbal response each time in alphabetical order school boards are a non-partisan position have you or your campaign accepted financial support or endorsement from a pack a political party or a political campaign it's not a yes or no answer for me sorry no do you think politics should influence teaching and instruction in the classroom no no do you think politics should influence board members and School Board policy no have you or will you participate in any partisan-based forums no no have
019you received support or endorsement from Education Minnesota the teachers union it not yet that will come out on October 13th do you support federal school vouchers for private education no thank you we now move back to the general questions the following is a 60-second answer what is your view of equity in education do you agree with how Equity is addressed in the Strategic plan we will begin with Regina Neville Equity is foundational in our school Community for all of our students and for everyone who is a part of Edina Public Schools and this is embedded in our strategic plan it also needs to be embedded in how we welcome people to our community how we create a safe learning environment and a supportive learning environment so some of the issues that have been identified with
020our one town one family conversations that we're a community that steeped in Rich tradition sometimes those Traditions are not welcoming sometimes there's a feeling of a lack of belonging sometimes we normalize bad behavior we have the opportunity as a district to be introspective to learn what we don't know to unlearn what might not apply any longer and to listen to each other so that we can grow together it starts with individual growth I'm committed to my individual growth so that we can serve each other collaboratively Christina Jordan so Equity means removing barriers for our students and our Educators in their environment and I agree with Regina when she says we need to be open to conversations we need to learn about each other and understand each other so that we can provide an environment where
021everybody feels like they belong that should be core at every building across our district but Equity doesn't only mean racial Equity that's a part of it and it's a it's an important part of it but it also means financial and educational Equity as well we need to make sure that our students with IEPs are students that are dyslexic and are parents that maybe are struggling right now to make ends meet have the barriers removed so that they can be successful in our school district as well and so when we talk about Equity we need to look at all of those things and make sure that the barriers are removed for all of our students that are struggling with something so that they can learn in the environment that best suits them thank you candidates there
022will be a 90 there will be 90 seconds to respond to this question what specific ideas do you have to improve culture and climate in our schools to ensure all students feel welcome respected for differences and enjoy an overall sense of well-being and belonging we will begin with Regina Neville climate does make a difference we all know when we feel welcome when we feel a sense of belonging and when we don't so creating climate starts with one that invitation to join to belong to be part of that invitation will look different depending on who's receiving the invitation so it might be something posted on a website or in a newsletter but I think it's important to ask is the welcome mat out can everybody read it and what do we feel when we get inside
023the door so what we can do is continue to listen with the one town one family discussions partner with the city and the community partner with parents and community members student voice is key our student Senate speaks beautifully to this when they shared with me their opportunities for growth which is just communication making sure that their voices are celebrated making sure that we celebrate a range of things that are important so Athletics academics achievement and individual activities are important reviewing that list is it a com is it a comprehensive list so it's listening to voices it's adding Partners to the table and I think with that intense listening and continuing what we have in place we'll continue to build a better culture Christina Jordan could you repeat the question please what specific ideas do you
024have to improve culture and climate in our schools to ensure all students feel welcome respected for differences and enjoy an overall sense of well-being and belonging I think that one of the things that is truly a gift here in Edina is that we have such a big school there there really is a lot of opportunity for people to belong and I remember when my kids were in school like I was amazed there was a fishing club and there were an archery club and all these things that my friends didn't have as part of their kids schools because they weren't in such a large environment that being said because we are such a large District we do need to make sure that we are hearing those voices of our students and our families when I met
025with the student Senate the other day I sort of just let them talk and they had a lot to say and one of the things that they wanted to make sure that people knew so that they felt welcome and understood was that there they're more than a number and a test score they wanted to no I wanted the leaders to know that Excellence means more than just academics so I think providing avenues for them where they can engage in things be Beyond just academics I also think culture in the schools expands to our families and I think that we need to make it easier for our families to attend we have a lot of working parents in our district let's have meetings at time that work for them we have a lot of families that
026don't speak English as their first language do we have translators for those people at our meetings I've never seen it also let's provide child care at our meetings for our families so that if they are at home with small children they can still come be a part of the process and make sure that their voice is heard thank you you will have 60 seconds to respond to this next question what if any experience do you have with our multilingual community and families of color how do you plan to engage these communities in your work as a board member Christina Jordan so the 25 years that I spent working in the Robinsdale School District I taught at a school that was directly across the street from Brookdale my student population was 95 percent free and reduced
027lunch 75 percent of my student population were students of color and of that 75 percent of 40 percent did not speak English as their first language so I lived that every day for 25 years I also was in charge of school Community liaison at our school so I was the person who helped implement the programs that welcomed our families into our school made sure that they understood our processes made sure that there were interpreters there made sure they had transportation to our schools like I said just a minute ago I think we need to look stop thinking that we are a two-parent one income household we're not anymore we're a very diverse community and we need to reach out to those members of our community that don't feel that they fit into that mold and
028I have 25 years experience variance doing that because I lived it in my classroom every day Regina Neville well my first experience is with my students at Valley View Middle School and I'm grateful to have a diverse group who are interested in theater and I'm interested in theater so I learn a lot by working with them every day but on a larger scale I've had the opportunity to be a part of intermediate District 287 serving our Edina students and other students from our total of 11 collaborative districts where the majority of our students are students of color I learned a lot as a board member with professional development and working with our Educators and students to hear their voices within Edina I'm active with the anti-racism collective to actively promote racial equity and healing with
029our community I've had the opportunity to meet with a representative of the Edina Asian American Alliance I've also participated with our students when they had a walk out last spring in response to some hate incidents in the school and to just listen and share that hurt that happened during that opportunity thank you now for another lightning round candidates please grab your paddles remember again if these are yes or no answers only and then your verbal response in alphabetical order these following questions are aimed at understanding what you have done to prepare for potentially being a member on the school board have you visited at least one elementary middle and high school this past year yes yes have you volunteered in or for any of our schools since the start of this school year no no
030this is a three-part question have you connected with any teachers at the elementary level to understand their goals and challenges for the 2022-2023 school year yes no at the middle school level yes yes at the high school level yes yes have you spoken with at least one principle in elementary middle and high school in preparation for running for school board yes yes have you attended at least one regular board meeting in its entirety in the last year yes yes have you attended at least one board work session in its entirety in the last year no yes have you taken the time to speak with the superintendent in preparation for this role on the school board yes yes have you taken the time to speak with our assistant superintendent or any members of the district leadership
031team in preparation for this role no yes thank you we now move back to the general questions you will each have 90 seconds to respond to this next question what do you consider to be the two biggest successes for Edina Public Schools in the last year on the flip side what is one area of opportunity we need to improve upon please be specific Christina Jordan well I think that we always seem to receive National and Statewide recognition and that's something that we have achieved again this year we were just voted the number one college prep school in the nation and that is no small task our teachers work very hard with our students our curriculum is rigorous to help allow us to prepare our students for college I have three recent graduates myself they were
032very well prepared for college by the Edina Public Schools so I think that that's not just a success this year but also a success that we have had in the past and hope to continue to have in the future I think that looking at our literacy program is another success that has happened in the past year looking at how students develop language how language is acquired as students learn how to read is something that is a really big accomplishment event that has been achieved by our school board our teachers are going to be receiving the right professional development so that they can Implement those reading practices and so I think that that is a huge win for our school district and our school board as well one thing that I think that we can could
033improve on is our community communication I think we have a lot of people who feel like they aren't part of the process and we need to do a better job with that Regina Neville our Niche recognition from from the organization niche as the number one school for best college prep is impressive and it's something we've had repeatedly and it's worth being proud of uh it's also impressive that we've launched the Dual language immersion program and expanded our steam opportunities uh fast bridge is another specific implementation that's making a significant difference in early Universal assessment for both math and reading literacy moving forward what I know we're already doing but is it this opportunity for improvement is expanding our math opportunities and our math assessment and support again it's something the district has addressed it is
034moving forward and I know that that will be successful another opportunity for improvement is just continuing to develop our culture and our listening as a district to students Educators parents and community Unity thank you you will each have 60 seconds to respond to the next question if tasked with budget cuts what one thing would you focus on cutting first and if you could add something what would it be we will begin with Regina Neville budget cuts budget adjustments as we often refer to them are the most challenging aspect well there there's a lot of challenging aspects it's challenging um because with budget cuts we want to protect the classroom and that's always the leading question so in terms of making a budget cut it would be something that takes it uh that protects the core
035classroom instruction and rather than a specific cut it often the opportunity is for a generation of Revenue so I would look at opportunities for generation of Revenue but if we need to lose something it's just taking a look at um any of the any of the needs that are it's people it's really hard to take a look at people and say who can we you know possibly cut back on and then we need to develop Partnerships what I would put back in first is people people in the classroom para support Educators any opportunity to support educators no Jordan so this is a tough one and I don't think we can just say I would cut from here first I've lived through budget cuts as an educator in a district and the reason that we have
036programs and resources in places because we feel they're valuable for our students so to just blankets say I would cut this I don't I don't think I could do that without analyzing and looking at actually where we're spending our money that being said I would agree with Regina when she says we need to keep our Educators our Focus first and not cut from there because they are the people who are with our students every single day and they are essential in delivering our strategic plan so if I had to add something back in assuming that we already had money to do it I think I would add more diverse opportunities for our students like in the Arts and to explore other avenues because that's what the students told me last week that they wanted thank
037you you will each have 90 seconds to respond to the next question in education the Learners support needs of students are diverse whether it's intervention for special education meeting the needs of high achieving Learners or any touch point in between specifically if there were a limited and declining budget how would you go about prioritizing the needs of various groups of students we will begin with Regina Neville the core of meeting students needs is finding finding out where they are so as opposed to intervention I think that a better match for Edina and for our students is meeting students where they are identifying those needs sometimes it's for acceleration sometimes it's for building foundational support and often for our students they're making 12 18 to 24 months of progress within one year that's extraordinary and something
038to be celebrated I don't know that one need can be prioritized over another that's not how our district works I know that we take a look at the needs across the board and we figure out how to get there together so that's a partnership answer it's Gathering the data that's necessary to make the decisions analyzing that data and then working in partnership with our organizations such as the Edina education fund Edina giving go filling opportunity gaps and working with our Educators who know our students who have those relationships and building that instructional size into that one-on-one opportunity to make sure that students are met where they are Christina Jordan so this is what I do in my job every day when I meet with school districts Across the Nation I go in and I help
039them do an audit of what they are using in their school so when we look at Edina we would want to take a look at the map tests that we're giving all of our students there's a wealth of information that we get from that test are we utilizing all that information we can get summative informative data on achievement from that test from there are we allowing our Educators time to meet and analyze that data to use that data to differentiate instruction within their classroom if we're not we need to make sure we're giving Educators that time because only then can we assess where our students are and looking at that data frequently is really important and not just the map but the formative assessments that our educators are doing as part of their regular classroom
040instruction is important to look at too because when we differentiate instruction those groups need to be fluid I could be in one group this week because I completely missed a concept and then be moved up to another group in another month and so digging into that data making sure we're looking at multiple data points that are both summative and formative and not only looking at achievement but ability too and I know we've moved away from looking at ability in Edina and I think that if you really want to focus on where those children are at and we're truly taking a whole child view of our students we need to look at both ability and achievement and we need to look at what we're already utilizing and make sure that we are deriving all the data
041from that that we already have thank you we're now going to move back to a lightning round this one is short remember yes or no answers only do you know the excuse me do you know how the state funding formula works for public education yes but I'm not an expert on it yes not an expert do you know the per pupil amount the state provides to our district yes yes do you know the total annual operating budget for Edina Public Schools I do not yes thank you we're going to move back to the general questions the following is a 60-second response time per the Strategic plan literacy is identified as a priority for the district do you think any progress has been made in the comprehensive literacy plan we will begin with Christina Jordan I
042touched on this a little bit earlier as this was one of the wins for our district um again I work with schools all over the country and more and more schools are moving away from that whole language approach I think this is the exact direction that we need to be going we need to be looking on how language is acquired and that's not only going to benefit our students who are going to be good readers anyway but that will help our students that are dyslexic and that will help our students that are El and so I think that we are going exactly the right direction by doing that I know that our teachers are receiving professional development on how to deliver this instruction in their classroom I'm familiar with the professional development that they're receiving
043and it's spot on so I think that this is a really great thing for us it will serve more students across the board equally and it will benefit our Educators as well Regina Neville the district is making great progress in literacy and when the district is addressing literacy it's both reading literacy and math literacy and there's a specific plan in place that is being implemented to support both fast Bridge assessment has been extraordinary it provides a comprehensive assessment earlier in the school year for students it is a more efficient test to deliver and it's data that can be implemented right away the letters training for instructors expands their professional development to recognize specific reading issues and dyslexic being one of them but any kind of reading issue that a student needs how can we get
044the tools that we need within our educator staff to address those needs math I've addressed earlier I know that the district is also working with math in its literacy plan to roll that out and make sure that students have support but part of that support that was implemented was with Community Ed earlier this year with Support classes to get students ready for math courses thank you you will each have 60 seconds to respond to this next question how should EPS support the social and emotional health of all its students and staff we will start with Regina Neville supporting the mental health and well-being of our students and staff is foundational students can't learn unless they are feeling safe and feeling that they're in a welcoming environment the same is true for our Educators this is
045a stressful position teaching is hard and there's often what I've heard called a wind chill factor from Jeff Jorgensen this is true I think for all of our Educators being in the classroom is one thing and then there are other things that come at you so this is foundational the partnership with the Edina education fund has been extraordinary I was fortunate to chair the Ed fund board when we work together to expand our Mental Health Access in the buildings with Frasier and I know that we can do more to expand Mental Health Services and support for our Educators this will this will provide a better foundation for all of our students and our staff Christina Jordan it's my my graduate work is in Psychology and so this is something that I feel very passionate about
046is the the mental well-being of not only our students but of our teachers you know and I I think we can all agree that we've come on the other side of a very trying couple of years for everybody involved and um some of our kids are doing great and some of them aren't so we need to make sure that we are checking in with those kids we need to make sure that in our SEL curriculum that is part of our everyday teaching anyway right we that's always been part of teaching that we're giving students the opportunity to voice any concerns they have and we need to check in on our staff because the relationship between staff and students is very intense and we spend a lot of time with those students and so if the
047teacher is not okay sometimes that transfers to the student and when the student isn't okay it transfers to the teacher and it's sort of cyclical that way so we need to make sure that we have of programs in place for support and that we are checking in with everybody in our school Community to make sure that they're doing all right thank you you will each have 60 seconds for this next question collaboration with and getting input and feedback from teachers is important with limited teacher contract hours how do you plan to get teacher voice and input into board decision making Christina Jordan this is an area where I think the partnership that we have with the Union is going to be very key we have the Union as the voice of our teachers and they
048speak with our teachers all of the time and it's and it's their job to make sure that their teachers feel supported and have the proper contract in place to do the job that they need to do so partnering with our Union I think is a really big piece of that there are surveys we can do but we really actually need to look at the data that comes out of those surveys from our teachers and we need to sit down with representatives from our educating Force to make sure that we are implementing um things that are supporting them and I don't know if that looks like a town hall for teachers or if we do that just through surveys or through the union but giving them a voice where they feel comfortable to share what they
049need and then responding to that I think is one of the most important jobs as a school board we can do Regina Neville this is about Partnerships and with Partnerships comes the need to find time so time is a commodity that if we can find any ways to flex it it can be helpful to Bringing people to the table teachers have the the knowledge and the educational expertise to inform our decisions to inform our curriculum these are the people we need at the table so asking questions when we come to a decision who is at the table is there any impact from that decision that will be a negative impact and if there is how can we mitigate that impact so finding ways to flex the time that we have to gather that voice to
050partner together uh and then to develop the decisions whether it's policy or curriculum is going to make a difference the union is certainly a key partnership but also intentionally reaching out to teachers by grade level by sight and by specialty expertise thank you now for our last lightning round candidates grab your paddles and again yes or no answers should teachers and principals have input into deciding what courses are offered in their buildings yes yes should it be required that the district teaching and learning Department be involved when the board is crafting or modifying policy regarding new course offerings yes yes is it appropriate for the school board to be involved in selecting specific literature and textbooks for EPS classes yes no do you think our current course offerings provide enough rigor for our students yes
051yes do you think our current course offerings provide enough intervention or learner support for our students no no thank you we're going to move on to our final general questions and then hear closing statements from each candidate the next question is allotted 90 seconds what is the biggest area of challenge in elementary at the middle level and at the high school how would you approach addressing these issues we will start with Christina Jordan I was an elementary school teacher for 25 years so I'm pretty certain that some of the things that I had as a challenge are Universal across the board as an elementary school teacher you have a whole class in front of you that you are charged with teaching every subject all day long and in that classroom you have diverse Learners so
052I think at the elementary level time is something that we need to make sure our teachers are getting it was certainly something that I needed time to make sure that I could look at my students data review my curriculum make sure that my students were grasping the con Concepts that I was teaching in my classroom and making sure that I had time to adjust my curriculum and diversify in my classroom to meet the needs of my students and when you have 28 32 a large group of students in front of you that's a really really big task I think at the middle and high school level Middle School is you know those are special teachers who teach Middle School they that's a challenging time of life for kids and parents alike but I think making
053sure that we have the emotional support resources at the middle school is something that I heard from the students they feel like the counselors have to deal with academic things they would like to make sure they have a place to go when they are struggling with just being a teenager and at the high school I think making sure that we offer a wide range of classes and that we have the teachers to deliver those classes to meet the needs of all of our graduating students Regina Neville well there are certainly lots of opportunities that are a through line throughout Early Childhood to grade 12. but to be specific at each level for elementary assessment identification of potential need the earlier the better so it happens pre-kindergarten when possible but when students enter Elementary School it's
054identifying what those needs are and a strategy to address them with that is developing a love of learning to develop that love of learning in elementary school is a gift that we can give an individual that can last through their lifetime Middle School it's about development and belonging so honoring choice and voice and also providing that support that each students need in Middle School to navigate academic choices but also personal choices for high school involvement is key students who have an extracurricular activity of some kind do better and that involvement needs to be coupled with a trusted adult so developing adult relationships needs to continue through high school so students have someone in addition to a family member who can listen to them and then guiding post-secondary choices and opportunities making sure they know what's
055available and that they know what that path is to access what's available so though that's a key for for high school but love the kids that's key at all levels they need to know that they are loved and the community cares thank you this general question is 60 Seconds how would you sell or Market Edina Public Schools to a family moving into our community we will start with Regina Neville it's probably some of the same things that invited me to move here 22 years ago this is an excellent district and an excellent community and it's fantastic because of the opportunities in school but with the dis with a community that has a minority of families who live here who have students in school it's important to recognize that this community supports education they've supported it
056by approving levies and bonds to support our schools and you feel that when you come here I would encourage families to come and then to ask questions and get involved and find ways there are so many ways that they can get wrapped around to be supported and by joining here and finding the opportunities we have Liaisons we have cultural Liaisons we have building Liaisons we have parent councils we have amazing neighborhoods so it's reaching out and saying nope you're not alone someone else has had that question we're going to figure it out together Christina Jordan so we certainly have a reputation for being excellent in education and that has preceded us for decades I I grew up in Bloomington I knew um that Edina Public Schools were great schools to go to even when I
057was in high school and I chose to move here as an educator I chose to move here and have my children educated in these public schools because of the reputation I would share with people that um because we are such a large community there's a place for everybody to believe to belong like I stated earlier there are areas for kids to get involved no matter what their interest and I would Echo what Regina said that we really do value education here it's very rare that you are in a community that passes referendum after referendum after referendum and we do that here in Edina and so our support from our community whether they have kids in our schools or are not is very strong and I think that is felt collaboratively within the schools as well
058thank you this following will be our last general question and then we'll hear closing statements this question will be allotted 90 seconds what educational Innovations outside our district would you like to bring to Edina we will begin with Regina Neville the district is incredible and that it's always looking for Innovations outside of the district having the Consortium of like districts that was here in our community just a couple of weeks ago is evidence of the fact that we're always looking for that opportunity to improve what I would like to add that we're already moving toward but it's Partnerships to build community within our schools this will help everyone feel that there is a place where they belong that their voices matter that all of our differences are important and valued and I don't know what
059that program is other than what we're creating ourselves I mean I don't think there's a lot out there but the fact that we have one town one family as initiated by Dr Stanley that we have Partnerships with groups when are within our community who say yes we want to come together talk about this learn and partner because our relationships are going to impact our students in a positive way so the Innovation is what we are actually creating to have the conversations to do some of that personal introspection to examine my own self how can I do better and now how do I find the people who I can talk with with whom I want to move forward together Christina Jordan so traveling around the country like I do I see so many cool things I
060mean I can't even think of one thing that I would say oh we need to have that here in Edina because there's so many but um I know that when I spoke to the students the other day one thing that they were very adamant about is that they want opportunities to explore careers earlier and I know this is something that a lot of states require of their high school students they are required to take plumbing and becoming an electrician and nursing and teaching and ROTC and computer programming their Junior and Senior year so that they know if those are things that are interesting to them so I would suggest partnering with our I know we have Partnerships with Normandale Community College and votech schools around the area I would strengthen those Partnerships and because our
061numbers too when we look at our pseo we see that students are going to those programs outside of their their high school days so I would strengthen those Partnerships that's one way I think we could be really Innovative with our students I also think that again this goes back to what I keep saying listening what does our community want what Innovations are they seeing out there that they would like to see in our community we heard that they wanted a steam option we listened to that they wanted a dual immersion program we listened to that so like I said there are a lot of really great things going on right here in our own District but also out there across the country and listening to our community to decide what they want and what works
062best for us is what we should do thank you now we will begin closing statements each candidate will have 90 seconds we're going to start with Christina Jordan so first of all thank you again for allowing us to have this platform to come and share our ideas with you we appreciate you being here and listening to our thoughts anybody who truly knows me knows that my belief in helping every child reach their full potential is fundamentally who I am so strongly that I've dedicated my entire career to education for me being an educator was really a calling my three children have graduated and I'm really thankful for the high quality education that prepared them for their future ensuring this Excellence for future Generations in Edina will take intentional work that involves digging deep asking the
063tough questions using data to drive our instruction and partnering with Administration to ensure that implementation of our strategic plan is happening and welcoming diversity of thought from our community and from within our own School Board taking a one-year position on the school board will be challenging but I am ready I see what's working and what is not Nationwide through my work with Educators at state and local levels and I collaborate with them on curriculum assessment data and understanding the complexity of what happens in the public school system that is a perspective that no other board member can bring to the board that global perspective of Education on the school board I will work tirelessly to achieve that we reach our motto of defining excellence and I think that my broad Vision will only serve to
064enhance the current vision of our leadership ensuring to our community that Edina Public Schools continues to be on the path to Excellence that has always defined us thank you for your time today and I hope I earn your vote in November Regina Neville well thank you to the parent leadership Council for hosting this forum and for everyone who's attending and listening to the recording as I hope I've shared throughout the Forum I have the necessary experience to fulfill the demands of this one-year term I've been an effective leader of multiple education and Community organizations both while my children were in school and since their graduations I will work hard as an advocate for all of our kids in my core values I believe that every child matters every child can learn and every child deserves
065a welcoming and safe learning environment education has the power to touch every child so they recognize that they matter and they have the potential for excellence and they are supported on that journey by a community who believes in them we're fortunate to have an outstanding school district and a supportive community that is open to Improvement I'm committed to Edina Public Schools and I look forward to serving as I listen to students families and Educators communicate what's important to them please visit my website at neville4edina.com and please vote for me on November 8th thank you we have come to the end of our candidate Forum the PLC wants to thank each of the candidates for taking the time to join us this morning we greatly appreciated the opportunity to learn more about both of you and
066we thank you for your willingness to serve the students families staff and community of Edina Public Schools I also want to thank our audience for attending and the Edina parent leadership Council for hosting today's event as a reminder a recording of today's form will be available online soon at www.edinaschools.org and finally please remember to vote on November 8th thank you [Applause]