Highly Qualified Candidates are Good for Students

(Shelley Rosas, a parent in DVUSD, used Twitter to ask about my relationship to Valley Schools and my opinion of Tom Boone and Valley Schools. My response is below.)    

     While I can understand the advantages of throwing mud through innuendos, most people know that I am only a part-time worker for Valley Schools and am not directly involved in any request from the Office of Attorney General. I only work a few hours per week for a small salary.

     I have spent nearly 20 years building a reputation in Deer Valley on the basis of my commitment to the students and voters in our district. I am proud of the things I have accomplished, including removal of the previous superintendent, restoring wood shop to DSMS, helping to protect the de-annexation of part of our district, opening superintendent committees to the public, helping to insure God is not closed out of our schools, and raising more than $450 million for our schools. I even contracted for the brick on the wall at the Anthem library that reads, "God Bless Our Deer Valley Schools." I am proud of the long heritage I have built with DV Support Our Schools along with the numerous other services to our district, such as the weeks I invested in writing a nomination for DVHS which won the first-ever K-12 Environmental Award from the Valley Forward Association (photo above). The award is proudly displayed in the lobby of Deer Valley High School.
     Over those years, I have been a working member of more than a dozen important committees, including the Calendar, Strategic Planning, and Bond/Override committees. I have done volunteer photography for our schools for many years. I attend a multitude of school events all over the district.
     As to Valley Schools, I have the highest respect for the irrefutable savings they bring to the member school districts. I have never talked to a single school district that was not aware of the money they saved by being part of VS. Those savings directly help our teachers and, thus, have a direct affect on our students' classrooms. I have witnessed the careful process that VS uses to protect member investments and assure insurance coverage for our school employees at significant savings to the worker and the district. I have seen how hard the Valley Schools administrators work in each area to help school districts protect their insured properties and workers.
     As to Tom Boone, I have known him since 2001. I know he committed his life to public service, first as a district administrator during some very difficult times in DVUSD and virtually helped keep the district together. Few people know how perilous those times in the 1990s really were for DV. After he retired, Tom became a legislator for the people in LD-4 where his peers elected him to be the House Majority Leader. Later, he wanted to do more to help the school district and became a board member. I have respected Tom Boone and his accomplishments with Deer Valley from the day I met him. His service in the Legislature was admirable. I don't think the issues surrounding his management of VSMG even hint any personal gain for him, while his efforts have benefited over twenty state school districts.
     Over the years, and long before I agreed to part-time employment with Valley Schools, I came to know Tom and his family well. That does not mean we always agree and have strongly debated many issues from opposite sides.
     The issues Shelley Rosas has raised are being reviewed and decided at levels way above my pay grade. If changes need to be made, I'm certain that Tom and his staff will make them. His growing organization has been good for our schools. Any required changes that may be made isn't going to change that.
     I already have a track record of speaking my own mind at pubic school meetings, sometimes to Tom Boone's consternation. But, he realizes that I have the best interests of our students in my heart and tolerates my critical remarks because of that. Most of the members of the board agree with each other on about 98% of everything that comes before the board. I expect that as a board member, I would be pretty close to fitting that mode.
     Many people know, due to my health, that I will not have another chance to serve our district. If you review my list of qualifications on this blog, you will notice that I have earned my claim to being highly qualified to run for the Governing Board. Some people don't like my assertive tactics, but they don't argue with the results. I hope to continue the trust with voters that I built over the past two decades helping our students, teachers and staff.