Medical Lake School Board Seat No. 4

Age: 65

Hometown: Medical Lake area resident for almost 60 years

Employment/Business/Other Experience:  I've been a Medical Lake School Board Director since 2006. Elected to represent Area 10 School Directors on WIAA issues. I have been involved with the Medical Lake School District for over 35 years, including work as a custodian, teacher, coach, and game management.

Community Service:  Have served on the MLHS Hall of Fame Committee, Medical Lake Lilac Princess Selection Committee, and participated as a community reviewer for Senior Project presentations.

Education:  Graduated from Medical Lake; received BA in Education from Eastern Washington University.

Family: I have been married to Heidi for 42 years, and she is also a Medical Lake graduate. We have raised 2 sons who have graduated from Medical Lake, as well as a granddaughter who recently graduated, and 2 grandchildren who will be attending Hallett this fall.

Disclaimer: The following questions were answered by candidates in 100 words or less. We 

do not edit the answers, other than to enforce the word limit. 

1. Do you support the state mandated comprehensive sexual health education?  Why or why not?

As a public school that receives state funding, the District must comply with this state mandate. While not all parents will agree that this needs to be taught in school, I think that the Medical Lake School District has done a good job by adopting sexual health curriculum that is both age and grade level appropriate, as well as allowing parents to opt their children out of this curriculum if desired.

2. Do you support the implementation of social-emotional learning?  Why or why not? 

The ML School District has been an early adopter of this measure to help support teachers, students, and families in dealing with social emotional development and needs. They have utilized evidence based anti-bullying curriculum for over 10 years and worked with Sound Discipline since 2016 to provide teacher training in creating positive classroom environments for learning. They also developed a mental health support program in 2019 to provide additional cost free services to the school and community. I think this approach has helped students reach their potential and is consistent with the District motto of Every Student, Every Day.

3. If faced with another pandemic situation in which the state mandated vaccines for school workers, how would you vote and why?

If another pandemic situation arose and the State mandated vaccines for school workers, as a public school district, Medical Lake must follow this mandate or risk the loss of public school funding. Obviously the health and wellness of all of those within the district are of paramount importance, and our goal is keep everyone safe. Since the mandates have also included exemptions for those who qualify, I would support the recommendations of the medical community and the Board of Education.