It will be an all-mail election for the vacant seat on the Oakdale Joint Unified School Board. The Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters received Resolution 2022-02.3 from the Stanislaus County Superintendent of Schools requesting a special mail ballot election to be conducted on March 7, 2023 on behalf of the Oakdale Joint Unified School District. The special election is to fill a vacancy in Trustee Area 2, created last year when Larry Betschart resigned from the post.
The two candidates that have filed for the vacant board seat are Eric Kjeldgaard and Terri Taylor. Registered voters in Trustee Area 2 are eligible to vote through mail-in ballot. A ballot drop box is also available at Belmare Senior Living, 1450 W.F St., Oakdale.
The Leader recently posed some questions to the candidates in a “Q&A” format.
ERIC KJELDGAARD
Q: What are your qualifications for this office?
A: I think the first qualification a School Board Member should have is to have a heart for all of the District’s students. You need to be able to accept and embrace the diversity of our student population, championing and encouraging all students regardless of academic, athletic, or other extra-curricular status… including those who choose not to be involved in extra activities at all. All students, TK-12, deserve to be represented, and I will be that Board Member.
I am a full-time credentialed high school teacher. I taught through the worst moments of COVID and watched what my students experienced. As a parent, I also watched my own children experience instruction as OHS students during COVID. Learning loss is a real issue for many of our students at all grade levels due to COVID. I witnessed it firsthand and am committed to ensuring this generation of children can thrive as the generations before them. I understand California State Standards and its Education Code, and with my recent teaching experience, I understand how they impact our teachers and students.
I know how important it is for a public agency to be transparent and ensure that communication flows unfettered to our parents and all of the District’s educational partners. I encourage you to pick any of the OJUSD Board Meetings over the last year on YouTube under the title OJUSD Videos. I thoroughly research all the agenda items before each meeting and am willing to ask the tough questions. Our students are owed nothing less.
Q: Why are you running for office?
A: Many of us are content with the status quo until something doesn’t seem right. I’m running for the Oakdale School Board because, over the past few years, I didn’t agree with some of the decisions the School Board made. I wished that Board Members had asked more questions and offered some of their own ideas rather than just agreeing to what the Superintendent recommended. I anticipated more transparency from the Board, which didn’t occur. We were often told that because of someone else’s decisions outside of Oakdale, the Board had no choice but to follow along, with no alternatives or other options. When we asked for the attorney representing the District to attend a Board meeting, we were told that wasn’t possible. All of that frustrated me. To sum it up, I’d like to see positive change on the Board. I’d like more transparency. I’d like the Board to really listen to students, parents, and staff and become more proactive with the District’s needs and future.
As a full-time high school teacher, I take to heart a quote I recently read, “Love what you teach, but love WHO you teach more.” This is me. This is what I will do for the students and the District. Students first.
Q: What would you like to see change or improve within our district?
A: Teachers and classified employees. OJUSD is full of teachers and classified staff who love their jobs and desire to create an exceptional learning experience and environment, not caring who gets the accolades as long as the students thrive. This is a large group of committed employees who work shifts at all hours of the day and night, including hundreds of extracurricular hours, affording our students excellent learning experiences outside of the walls of a classroom. Like everyone else, our teachers and classified staff feel appreciated when they are paid appropriately and receive reasonable benefits for their work. The OJUSD should ensure we are compensating our dedicated employees at levels commensurate with the high levels of achievement we see in our students, often surpassing many other schools within the County. Let’s show our teachers and classified staff that we really care about them.
Learning. Coming out of COVID, our students’ most recent standardized test scores prove better than the rest of the County, but there is a long way to go.
Facilities. The condition of many of our educational and other buildings shows they are in need of repair and modernization. I’ve watched our current School Board authorize contracts for some repairs and improvements around the District. However, we have a long way to go. We are in need of more short-term solutions and a long-term vision.
The safety of our students is paramount. Whether it is the safety of students fearing an intruder on campus, a bully in the hallway, the impact of drugs on friends, or the habitability of our classrooms, common areas, and exterior amenities, we need to do everything we can to affirm all aspects of student and campus safety. No excuses. Parents want to know their children are safe and secure when they arrive on campus. It is our duty to do everything possible to fulfill this obligation.
Q: What are your priorities for this office?
A: Safety for our students and staff on our campuses. There are numerous ways that we can support this critical issue through physical improvements, training, and greater collaboration amongst all of the stakeholders.
Transparency for our School Board. For too long now, parents have asked questions and shared their heartfelt pleas for common sense decisions and in return have received few transparent answers. I want to bring honest questions, honest answers, and a true listening ear back to the School Board.
Facilities. We need to focus on short term answers and action for our immediate needs and long-term vision to transform some of our beautiful, memory filled, and historical buildings into safer, cost effective, 21st Century campuses that will allow generations of additional Oakdale children to thrive.
Salaries and benefits for our teachers and classified staff. It’s much easier to attract and retain excellent employees when they are paid well. We expect a lot from this group, and we need to ensure that they are fairly compensated as they instruct, care for, and inspire our students.
Parents. Parents need to know that they are welcomed participants at School Board meetings and at each of the individual schools. Study after study shows that when families get involved in their child’s education, everything goes better for the child. From higher grades and attendance, to great social skills and stronger self-esteem and confidence. Some of our PTC’s are doing tremendous things for their schools, but lack of communication at times within the district short changes our parents and students. The School Board needs to set the tone for the District encouraging dynamic examples of parent and family engagement in their child’s education.
TERRI TAYLOR
Q: What are your qualifications for this office?
A: I don’t think anyone knows the schools of Oakdale better than I do. I served our community as an educator for 32 years. I was an Instructional Aide at Valley Home School, taught many wonderful 6th graders at Fair Oaks before becoming the Vice Principal, opened Sierra View as its first Principal, and finished as the Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources of OJUSD. I was fortunate to serve, by appointment, as an OJUSD board member in 2022. I have a Master’s degree in Educational Administration, but more importantly, I have a wealth of practical knowledge regarding our public school system and how to successfully navigate it.
Q: Why are you running for office?
A: As the mother of three children and a foster parent, with my youngest son at OHS, I know how important it is for OJUSD to be a high performing district. I received an excellent education at Valley Home School and Oakdale High School, because I had people there who cared about me. Being on the school board will allow me to continue to support our staff, so they can provide our kids with the quality education they deserve. I always had an open-door policy as an administrator, and I have never shied away from tough conversations or decisions. I have been, and will continue to be, available and willing to talk with parents, staff, and community members about their concerns ...Call or text me at 209-916-5313.
Q: What would you like to see change or improve within our district?
A: I want our school community to get back to working as a team. Staff and parents need to work together and trust that we all have a common goal – the success of our children. We won’t be able to address all of their needs unless we are able to civilly converse with one another. I want and encourage parents to communicate directly instead of through Facebook. The motto I started at Sierra View – Teach, Learn, Every Day, No Excuses applies to all of us who want our teachers to teach, our kids to learn, and no excuses to get in the way!
Q: What are your priorities for this office?
A: Fiscal responsibility
Hiring and Retaining excellent and caring staff
Exemplary instruction
Safe and attractive facilities
Strong extra-curricular opportunities
Ballots have been mailed to voters in the Trustee Area 2; they can be returned anytime on or before March 7.
