My wife and I are the parents of seven children who have all attended public schools, and one is still in K-12. I hold a BS in Business/Finance and an MBA from BYU. I have worked in the computer industry for 25 years, and I am an active member of the public school community, SCC, and PTSA.

I believe in and support:

  • Financial responsibility, school choice, and flexibility for students, parents, and families
  • Local control of our schools with appropriate support from the state to provide our schools, families, and children:
    • Talented and high-quality educators and administrators
    • Safe Schools (Physical Safety, Privacy, Social & Emotional Health)
    • Early Learning
    • Personalized Learning – Each child learning to their full potential

I believe schools can play an important role with families in helping students prepare for their future, so I support access to technology and training in real-world skills, including career-specific training.

I believe in the value of quality teaching and administration in improving student success. I support professional development, mentoring programs, new teacher support, and in hiring and keeping amazing teachers!

I believe in a healthy and balanced pursuit of excellence. I also believe that performance improves when it is measured and reported. I support setting goals and standards, and in measuring performance in sensible ways for student success.

I believe parental/family involvement can be a significant factor in student success, and I support communication between teachers, parents, schools, and the community, and involving families in the schools in practical and helpful ways.

I believe that the most important factor influencing student success, within the control of the school, is the person standing at the front of the class, and the administrators in the front office. I support policies and programs that support the continuous improvement of quality teaching and administration such as:

  • Professional Learning Communities, Training, and Mentoring Programs which build:
    • Consistency in quality teaching
    • Repeatability of outcomes
    • Constant Improvement in student success
    • Shorter ramp time for new teachers
  • Administrator Mentoring
    • Creating/Supporting a culture of success
    • Supporting PLCs
    • Engaging with the school community, particularly parents
  • I believe Utah schools have made tremendous progress with programs in these areas, and that teachers and schools need the community’s continued support to continue to grow and improve.

I believe all children can learn and succeed, that they have individual needs, and learn in different ways. So I support policies that improve student learning for all students, and which strive to meet individual student needs.

More Thoughts About State and Local School Boards in Utah

  • Local school boards operate under the UT State Constitution and UT State law, and under the UT State School Board (as defined by the UT State Constitution).
  • The Utah State legislature creates laws that direct many aspects of education in Utah, including laws that impact the State Board of Education and local school districts; including things such as core standards.
  • The Utah State School Board is responsible to take the laws passed by the legislature and put them into policies given to the local school boards.
  • Local school board members take an oath of office to uphold the laws of UT and the direction of the UT State School Board.
  • I am for local control of our schools, which means that I support legislation and State Board of Education policies that allow local school districts to govern themselves as much as reasonable and possible. That allows local decisions to be made to best support the students and families in each district.