Priorities for ABSS

This page provides more detail about my priorities for ABSS.

1. Improve student achievement

Every decision the Board makes should begin with the question: Will this help students learn and succeed?

ABSS has made meaningful progress in recent years. The district has improved academic outcomes, reduced the number of low-performing schools, and moved out of district-wide low-performing status. That progress reflects the work of students, families, teachers, principals, and staff across Alamance County. But there is more work to do. We must continue improving until every ABSS student has access to a high-quality education and a real opportunity to reach his or her potential.

My approach to improving student achievement includes the following:

Supporting strong, standards-aligned instruction in every classroom.
Using student data responsibly to identify learning gaps early and provide help before students fall further behind.
Giving teachers effective curriculum, training, planning time, and instructional support.
Maintaining high expectations while ensuring students receive the academic and behavioral supports they need to meet them.
Expanding access to rigorous academic, career, technical, arts, and STEM opportunities that help students discover a path after graduation.
Learning from schools and teams within ABSS that demonstrate strong student growth and applying successful practices across the district.

As an educator and parent, I understand that lasting improvement does not come from one program or one test-preparation strategy. It comes from strong instruction, clear expectations, meaningful support for students, and a school system that stays focused on the work of learning.

2. Support great educators and staff

The most important resource in any school system is its people. Teachers, teacher assistants, bus drivers, child nutrition workers, office staff, counselors, custodians, principals, maintenance employees, and many others make it possible for students to learn each day.

ABSS must be able to recruit and retain excellent employees in a competitive regional market. That means continuing to strengthen local salary supplements, supporting both certified and classified staff, and focusing special attention on positions that are difficult to fill. District budget discussions have identified compensation and supplements for certified employees, classified staff, and specialized positions as important needs.

I will work to accomplish the following:

Advocate for stronger local supplements so ABSS can compete for excellent teachers, administrators, and specialized professionals.
Support fair compensation and recognition for classified employees, whose work is essential to safe, reliable, effective schools.
Restore and protect positions that directly strengthen instruction, including instructional coaches and student-support specialists.
Address persistent staffing shortages in specialized fields, including exceptional-children services.
Give educators the stable, well-run system they deserve: clear expectations, useful professional learning, dependable operations, safe facilities, and resources that work.
Reduce unnecessary burdens so teachers can spend more of their energy on teaching and building relationships with students.

Supporting employees is not separate from improving student outcomes. It is one of the most direct ways to improve them. Students benefit when experienced, capable adults choose to build long-term careers with ABSS.

3. Plan responsibly for growth

Alamance County is growing quickly. While growth brings opportunity, it also requires careful planning. We cannot wait until schools are overcrowded, systems fail, or maintenance problems become emergencies. A responsible Board plans ahead so schools remain safe, well maintained, and capable of serving students effectively.

ABSS planning projects that elementary enrollment could exceed available capacity by 2030, making a long-term facilities strategy essential. The district also faces continuing needs for maintenance, HVAC, roofing, security, accessibility, and other infrastructure improvements. Those needs affect students and staff directly: a classroom cannot be an effective learning environment if it is overcrowded, unsafe, too hot or cold, or disrupted by preventable facility failures.

I will focus on the following:

Using enrollment projections, school-capacity data, facility-condition assessments, and community input to guide decisions.
Addressing urgent safety, heating and cooling, roofing, accessibility, and maintenance needs before they become more costly emergencies.
Planning new school capacity when evidence shows it is necessary, rather than relying on rushed solutions after overcrowding becomes severe.
Making redistricting and facility decisions openly, with meaningful opportunities for families, employees, and communities to be heard.
Working respectfully and transparently with the Alamance County Board of Commissioners to make a clear, data-based case for school funding.
Protecting taxpayers by prioritizing needs carefully, maintaining financial accountability, and showing how investments support students, staff, safety, and long-term value.

Good planning is both a student-achievement issue and a fiscal-responsibility issue. When ABSS plans early, maintains schools well, and invests based on reliable data, it protects classrooms today and avoids larger costs tomorrow.