An attorney and a nurse are vying for open seat in Elk Grove Unified. Meet the candidates
Michael Vargas
Party: Democratic
Age: 37
Birthplace: San Francisco
Residence: Elk Grove
Occupation: Educator/attorney
Education: law degree, University of Minnesota; master’s of education and bachelor’s degree, USC
Offices held: Commissioner, Sacramento County Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Website: VargasForEGUSD.com
Staffing shortages are among school districts’ biggest challenges as schools struggle to hire enough teachers, bus drivers and other employees. What will you do as a trustee to help close the hiring gap?
We need to get serious about addressing staffing issues. What started out as a teacher shortage is now a shortage in substitute teachers, special education teachers, paraprofessionals, and bus drivers as well. Tackling this problem is going to require us to get creative in both how we retain our current workforce and how we recruit new folks. On the retention side, we need to make sure that our current workforce is made whole for the sacrifices they made during the COVID-19 shutdowns and re-opening. We need to make sure that salary and benefits are consistent with the promises that were made prior to the pandemic, and that our faculty and staff have access to the resources (including health care) they will need to thrive in this new period of managing COVID-19 and other public health concerns. On the hiring side, we need to be creative in how we are incentivizing young professionals. We should be encouraging young people and college graduates to go into the teaching profession, ensure that we are providing resources and support for those people getting the most-needed credentials, such as special education or substitute teaching, and ensuring that they will have opportunities when they get out of school. We should also be building relationships not just with local educational institutions, but also regional and national colleges and universities, especially Historical Black Colleges and Universities and other institutions that training teachers of color, since we need to ensure that our workforce reflects the diversity of our community and our students.
The pandemic has impacted students’ mental health in numerous ways. As a trustee, how would you address the mental health needs of students and their families still struggling with the effects of the pandemic? What resources would you have the district bring to bear?
We know that all of our students have faced real emotional and psychological challenges during COVID-19 whether it was because they lost of a loved one, lost a home, had to deal with a serious illness in their family, or simply because they could not engage with friends and family the way they normally would. We also know that our students from marginalized communities were hit especially hard, with rates of death and illness due to COVID-19 being higher in those communities and access to resources being lower. The return of students to campus means that they are bringing those traumas with them, and we’re seeing the consequences emerge in student behavioral problems, students struggling with academic achievement, and even occasional violence on campus. First and foremost, we can start to address this by providing robust mental health services on campus. This means ensuring that we have the counselors we need, that they are available to students, and that they have the resources and support to provide those services. Second, we need to be engaging with families. More than ever before, we need to recognize that student behavioral problems may be stemming from challenges at home stemming from COVID-19. We need to be engaging with families of students to ensure that we’re reaching families as well, and to the extent that we can provide meaningful support to our families who have been impacted by COVID-19, we need to do so. Finally, we need to ensure that our disciplinary processes and procedures account for mental health needs. We may be able to solve some behavioral problems by sending them to counselors rather than imposing punishments.
How will you work as a trustee to improve student test scores and academic performance?
There are a number of things that the School Board can do to contribute to better academic achievement. First, we can expand access to enrichment, extra-curricular and co-curricular opportunities. We know that these opportunities contribute to academic success, and expanding access will be especially meaningful for our students from under-resourced communities, who are sometimes unable to take advantage of these opportunities when they have an additional cost attached to them. To the extent that we can not only create additional options but also make current opportunities free of charge to students, we will contribute to academic success. Second, as we manage COVID-19, getting students back on track academically means mitigating some of the uncertainty and insecurity around public health. We need to ensure that we are providing both physical and mental health services to students as appropriate, continuing to enforce policies on protective measures to avoid outbreaks, and engaging with families to ensure they are receiving up-to-date information about the health and safety of students. Finally, we need to ensure that student discipline is consistently applied and rooted in education. We know that, nationwide, some of our students are disproportionately more likely to end up in the disciplinary process, to face harsher punishments, or to be turned over to community resource officers. We also know that this negatively impacts their academic performance. We need to ensure that our policies are evenly applied to all students. But we also need to ensure that discipline is, first and foremost, an opportunity to teach. Our students are in the process of learning what it means to live within society, and that means testing and learning boundaries. As such, we need to treat student behavioral issues as opportunities to teach students about boundaries, personal responsibility, and community. Discipline policies need to be consistent with these complementary goals, which will, in turn, improve student performance by keeping them in the classroom, attentive, and respectful of each other and their teachers.
Stephanie Spurlin
Party: Independent
Age: 63
Birthplace: California
Residence: Elk Grove
Occupation: Retired registered nurse
Education: Master of science nursing, nursing education
Office held: None
Staffing shortages are among school districts’ biggest challenges as schools struggle to hire enough teachers, bus drivers and other employees. What will you do as a trustee to help close the hiring gap?
I would propose a partnership with universities, state colleges and city colleges, to seek out third- and fourth-semester college students. College students would be offered incentives such as college credits, and on-the-job training. Another idea would be to offer students a contract. The student would agree to work in the school district for a certain number years; and, in return, their student loan would be reduced or forgiven With regards to bus drivers: A call should be put out to retired individuals who are in good health and may be interested in subsidizing their retirement income. Many seniors are active and productive individuals in the community. The idea of hiring non-benefited employees would save school districts a substantial amount of money.
The pandemic has impacted students’ mental health in numerous ways. As a trustee, how would you address the mental health needs of students and their families still struggling with the effects of the pandemic? What resources would you have the district bring to bear?
Ideally, I would like to see a child psychologist on every school campus. The school system could again possibly partner with universities/colleges students, offering incentives. The nearly graduate students would be available by appointment and free to students and their parents. Regarding resources: There should be a designated area on school campuses, where materials/resources are available for students and parents. For example: On July 16, 2022, a nationwide three-digit number (988) was established by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). NAMI offers free suicide and mental illness counseling. NAMI’s HELP/LIFELINE can be reached at 800-950-6264 or text Helpline to 62640. NAMI has an office in Sacramento providing counseling services in 150 languages.
How will you work as a trustee to improve student test scores and academic performance?
Student learning through open-forum platforms. This concept divides students into groups. Each group would be assigned a real-world issue/event such as mental health, school violence, climate change. Groups would present their assignment to their classmates. An open-forum platform encourages student involvement. This type of learning allows students to demonstrate, the importance of expressing their viewpoints through engagement. Peer-to-peer forums build character and confidence, thereby improving academic performance.
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