Schools

Meet The School Board Candidates: Joe Ryan

In the fifth article in our series on the upcoming District 833 School Board election, Woodbury Patch hears from challenger Joe Ryan.

This is the fifth in a series of Q&A articles with the candidates up for the South Washington County School Board.

There are . We continue today with challenger Joe Ryan.

The election is Nov. 8.

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The Basics

Joe Ryan, Woodbury

Ryan has a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts with concentration in Political Science from Excelsior College in Albany, NY. He currently works at SFM Risk Solutions in Bloomington.

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Why are you qualified to sit on the District 833 School Board?

As a father of children in our school district, I have a vested interest to ensure a successful education system in our community.

As an army combat veteran, I believe in public service and serving something larger than myself, so have the innate drive to help our community provide the best education possible to our children.

Working in the risk management field in the workers' compensation system, I address difficult decisions and manage finances in the multi-millions on a daily basis. I facilitate training for employers throughout the state so am well versed in public speaking as well as conflict resolution.

As someone who was raised by multiple generations of school teachers, I was instilled with the immeasurable importance of a good education that we provide our youth of America in order to create our leaders of tomorrow.

The district’s operating levy expires before the 2013-14 school year. Where do you stand on the need to renew it?

I believe before our district goes to our neighbors to ask for additional revenue, it is the responsibility of the school board to perform a comprehensive audit of the budget to ensure that “wants” and “needs” are delineated.

Obviously, “needs” will be funded to ensure our children are getting the best education possible to prepare them for success. In this time of economic strain on all families, “wants” need to be evaluated and postponed if there is not the financial means to fund them.

As stewards of our education system, the school board has the responsibility to be judicious in the spending of our community’s money.

If, after eliminating the “wants” that can be postponed still leaves the district in a shortfall financially due to the reduction in state and federal funding, then it will be necessary to bring forward a renewal of a levy.

By showing the community that despite the reductions made to the budget, a shortfall remains it should garner support since the levy is paying for our future economic opportunities through our children.

What is the most important step the district must take to address looming financial pressures?

The most important step is cutting the “wants” out of the school budget. This is what every household in our community has had to do in the last few years as times have gotten tight, so it is only appropriate that our district reflects this same financial prudence.

The district is merely the custodian of the community education account, not the owner. As such, it is the school board’s responsibility to govern this account with prudence and ensure that the biggest impact for the buck is made for the benefit of the most students.

Aside from the budget, what is the most important issue facing the school district?

Last year our community was fractured over the prospect of converting one of our neighborhood schools to a Spanish immersion school and .

Our public education system is based on neighborhood education. Not just in the school, but in the neighborhoods.

Most parents in our district moved here because of the past successes of our district, and as a school board, we have to ensure that these expectations are met and exceeded in the future.

While is a good program, it cannot and will not negatively impact the education of other students in the district or we have failed as a school board to provide a proper education for the children of our community. It is imperative that we, as the school board, lead the way in reconciling this error and bringing our community and district back together.

The other challenge I see is continuing to strive to keep up with technology. We are beyond blackboards and pencil and paper. In order to prepare our children for college and adult life, we need to provide them with the tools to meet these ever changing capabilities. As such, it is our responsibility to stay on the cutting edge for our children.

Why are you running for school board? 

I am running for school board because I feel as a parent, I have a vested interest. As a military veteran, I have a duty and desire to be involved in my community and serve something greater than myself. As a son and grandson of teachers, I have the innate desire to build a strong educational foundation for our children.

Anything else you'd like to add?

While I believe the family unit is paramount to the raising of a child, I believe it is the responsibility of the entire community to educate our children. I will strive to have more community involvement, both from the business community and the private citizens, to increase the vested interest in the success of our children.


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