School Board Candidate Profile: John Griffin

The South Washington County School Board has five seats up for election in 2013.

Four members will be elected to four-year terms; one will be elected to fill the vacancy of the two-year term expiring Jan. 4, 2016.

There are 14 people vying for the four-year terms and three candidates for the two-year term. The election is Nov. 5.

John Griffin, of Woodbury, is vying for a four-year term.

Check back on Patch for more candidate profiles.

Patch: Why are you running for school board?

Griffin: I am running for the school district based on my theme of consistency.

I want the board and district to have consistency in all decision making. This may be in evaluations, finances, boundaries, and others. I have had family and friends who have experienced some decision making that did not appear to be consistent.

Patch: What qualifications do you have?

Griffin: I am running based on my being a part of this school district for over 30 years.

Having served this district in many various capacities as a volunteer has allowed me to observe many great things about our school district, but also many various concerns.   

I have been a lead in several school and community areas. I was very involved in Teaching and Coaching to Change Lives initiative for many years. I was a volunteer coach for football for many years and a lead in parent support groups for several other sports.

I have always felt that while many give of their money I wanted to also give of my time.

Patch: How are you voting on the three ballot questions? Why?

Griffin: Yes, I support the referendum.

I have studied the profile via the Minnesota Department of Education, which ranks our district with 46 other metro districts on a costs per pupil basis.

Some things stand out very pointedly to me, for example we are 30th in ranking in overall spending yet we are the sixth largest school district.

While this alone is not my reason for supporting the referendum, if we study all of the categories along with our high bond rating (in which less than 10 districts out of 300 districts have attained this rating) only shows the need to continue our support for our district with the referendum.

While I am not actively campaigning for the referendum, I strongly support the efforts of those in our communities for passage of the referendum in its entirety.

Patch: What is the biggest challenge facing District 833 schools? How would you address it?

Griffin: Major issues. As stated before I very much want the board to bring forward a guideline for major issue processes.

This will help the district residents to know and understand how the major issues will be discussed and decided while also being very transparent.

Further, I am proposing a process, a four step process that would stop the board from creating a different process every time a major decision issue comes before the board. Using this four-step process will eliminate the continued waste of time and effort discussing the process and instead the board will be able to concentrate on the actual issue

Patch: Anything else you'd like to add?

Griffin: I invite you to visit my Griffforschoolboard Facebook page. This shows my Major Issue Process program.

I want to bring consistency, transparency, and process methods to the board. I look forward to having the support of those who feel that I represent what is needed on our school board... I respect anyone's vote. Thank YOU.

REMEMBER:  VOTE GRIFFIN - NOVEMBER 5

PLEASE VISIT MY SOCIAL MEDIA SITE:  https://www.facebook.com/griffforschoolboard2013

Website:  http://griffforschoolboard.blogspot.com/

Email: griffinforschoolboard@gmail.com

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Tracy Brunnette

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