Keith and his wife Sandy have resided at 1043 Peru Road in Jordan for the last 30 years. They are both second generation residents and graduates of JE. They have three adult children and five grandchildren–all past and future JE grads. Keith was an active Pop Warner and Marching Band volunteer when his children were in school. – From the JE Eagle Eye newsletter Briefly describe your involvement with the school district in the last five years.
For the past five years I worked as Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds for Jordan Elbridge schools. What is your motivation for running for a position on the school board?
I retired in September after 33 years being involved in the educational process. I still feel a deep commitment in seeing that the children of our community receive a quality education. With two meetings a month, the board is relatively limited in what it can accomplish. How should the board decide what is most important? Deciding what is important is easy. We must always remain focused on what is best for the children and their education. We have professional administrators and teachers and should rely on there recommendations and in turn they should be held accountable for the results. What are the current challenges facing the board?
There are many challenges that the board will have to face in the near future. Everyone has felt the strain of the current recession. Although the stimulus money from the government will help over the next couple of years there will come a time when we will have to come up with some creative ways to make cuts. One partial solution I agree with and that has already been suggested is consolidation. How we consolidate and with whom will inevitably determine of the future of Jordan-Elbridge schools. Another challenge that we have faced in the last few years has been declining enrollment. I believe enrollment is directly linked to academic performance. As a district and community we must find a way to raise the bar. What do you think will be the board’s biggest challenges in the next three years?
With the approval of the taxpayers in December we will be investing over $20 million in our facilities over the next three to four years. Seeing that we get quality results will be a huge challenge for the board and staff at Jordan-Elbridge. If it becomes necessary to make significant budget cuts, to what extent should the community be involved in deciding where such cuts should be made? They should be directly involved. If they are supplied with accurate information on budget cuts and the results of those cuts I believe they can make responsible recommendations.