My vision for our schools is a place where the needs of ALL learners are met - and that starts with every student feeling welcome, safe, and supported on our school campuses. This looks like:

• Protecting ALL students, especially our most vulnerable students - our foster care and homeless youth, our neurodiverse youth, and our LGBTQ+ youth

• Expanding student mental health support and early intervention efforts

• Simplifying and removing barriers to the process of getting IEPs and 504 plans

• Strengthening district work to address threats of gun violence on our campuses

As a therapist, I’ve seen firsthand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our community, especially our students. We’ve seen a huge rise in substance use, suicidality and other issues like anxiety and depression. All of these issues have impacted our student’s ability to learn at school. I fully support working towards a community school model to support our students’ well-being, and am very excited to continue supporting and expanding our district’s inclusion efforts for our special education students.