NUSD Race: Relationships with Good Results

THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz

FOURTH IN A SERIES

THE NATOMAS BUZZ invited the four candidates running for the Natomas Unified school board to participate in a series of articles wherein they answer questions submitted by readers. Today’s question asked,

“What collaborative relationships have you formed within NUSD that have produced positive results?” -Elizabeth Brushwyler

Here are the answers submitted by the deadline, in the order they were received:

Jag Bains

JAG BAINS
Over the past year, I’ve talked to thousands of reform-minded parents, teachers, and students who want to see real change in Natomas Unified School District. These are relationships that I value the most, because our conversations have raised awareness about the most troubling issues in our school district, like the fact that 78% of students who have been expelled are African-American, or that many Latino parents have been complaining about school buses that don’t run on time. I consider raising awareness about these issues to be a positive thing, and if you hire me for the job in November, I’ll continue to develop and maintain relationships with the community. I’ve also established strong relationships with reform-minded elected officials on both sides of the aisle and have deepened my ties with the charter school community. I believe these collaborations produce a positive atmosphere for change that I’ll bring to the board.

Sachiko Konatsu

SACHIKO KONATSU
As an involved parent of my special needs student, I have been advocating for his rights and the rights of other students. At the schools my children attended I got elected to be one of the voices at School Site Councils in a collaborative way with administrators, teachers classified employees and other parents. I attended ELAC & DELAC committees. I was one of the parents on the district advisory committee that met with the Superintendent. My volunteer years on PTA brought programs and funds to the students.The past eight years I regularly attended the NUSD board meetings and spoke on behalf of my children’s schools, programs and the rights of other students and parents.

Teri Burns

TERI BURNS
I have long-standing relationships with our local elected officials that have benefited the District in our negotiations at the State Capitol, City Council and Board of Supervisors. My work with them gives us early information about laws and regulations likely to impact our schools in time to advocate for necessary changes and plan for implementation. Likewise, from my years working at the Department of Education I remain close to the people implementing state programs and overseeing regulations. I have a positive relationship with the Executive Directors of each of our charter schools so we can easily address any concerns that arise and help develop a wide variety of programs to meet local student needs without duplicating existing services. As a member of the Natomas Historical Society I have worked with the district to engage students in collecting and cataloging local history and housing those artifacts in our district.

Lisa Kaplan

LISA KAPLAN
As your Natomas board member, I have formed numerous collaborative relationships producing positive results. One partnership I approved is between Inderkum High School and American River College (ARC), establishing the California Early College Academy (CECA). CECA is a college readiness pathway that affords students the opportunity to graduate with upwards to a full year (or more) of transferable college credit through ARC. However, personally, I established the “Closing the Digital Divide” scholarship and partnered with the Natomas Schools Foundation in order to reach a greater number of students. The mission of this scholarship is to yearly provide Chromebooks to deserving high school students from low-income families. As technology advances at a rapid pace, our most needy students must have access to technology to succeed. A Chromebook is one tool to help our deserving students be successful in the 21st century in both their personal and school lives.

Submit candidate questions for consideration to [email protected]. A public forum for the Natomas Unified School District candidates, hosted by Natomas Charter School, is set for 6 p.m. on Oct. 28 at the Benvenuti Performing Arts Center, 4600 Blackrock Drive.