Marie Stewart

My name is Marie Stewart. I am running for a seat on the Grand Forks District School Board. My hope is to gain your support and vote. One of the numerous reasons I am running is because I am passionate about education and the future of our children. I think that I will bring a fresh, unique, yet rational perspective to the board.

I am a lifelong resident of Grand Forks and a product of the Grand Forks Public Schools. I have 3 school aged children that live within the district. I am an active community member. In 2012, I graduated the Practical Nursing program at Northland Community and Technical College with an associates degree in applied science. Currently, I am a direct care provider. Serving a diverse group of individuals with support services ranging from private home health care, to daily childcare, and tutor/mentor services.

I believe that I have the ability to incorporate the consensus needs and priorities of the community into strong policies, beneficial to all stakeholders.

There is a disconnect between the schools and the community member they serve. I hope to restore the relationship and bring both together. The school board should serve as a bridge between the community and the school. Establishing a better communication structure for the families, public, students, board members, administration and teachers will give them the means to engage and participate.

I am responsible for decisions I make and will be held accountable for outcomes. I am confident that the decisions I make will be in the best interests of all students.

The Grand Forks School district needs to provide a safe and inclusive place for ALL to learn, while providing the opportunity for each child to reach their highest potential. Ensuring the safety of every student by implementing awareness and prevention programs against bullying and physical attacks. Some of our schools are experiencing increased number of physical altercations by students in school. In addition to number of attacks, the extent of injuries are becoming more severe. We want to be proactive not reactive!

I am in favor of keeping neighborhood schools. Many families purchase homes near schools they hope their children can attend. A white paper published by SSC states "After four years of studying small schools closely and developing the largest library of small schools research in the world, we now understand that small schools are no more expensive than today’s consolidated schools. Our findings show there are additional costs to large consolidated schools that small schools avoid; small schools are safer, have higher teacher retention rates, have higher parent involvement, greater academic success, and produce more active citizens. Therefore, there are many cost advantages to small schools that are of interest to educational stakeholders, including students, teachers, families, administrators, policy makers, and tax payers."

Buildings should be kept up and regularly evaluated with a standard operating checklist. Routine maintenance checks for every facility. There should never be a deferred maintenance list. The people of Grand Forks want functional, comfortable and safe schools to send their kids. What they don't want is to reward 20 years of neglect or deferred maintenance with $86 million dollars to build a new one! Truth and transparency will lead to understanding.

School and classroom sizes should be manageable. We can retain adequate employment by providing competitive wages and incentives like loan forgiveness, good benefits and retirement packages. Teachers performance should be assessed regularly with professional development available.

I am incredibly concerned about our districts proficiency rates, as they are flatlining and showing . We need improvement district wide. Academic growth is the foundation of public education. The district should provide a high quality education. Offering various opportunities and programs for growth. Motivating and incentivizing academic achievement. Demonstrate continuous improvement and growth annually.

Embracing culture and diversity enriches our community. We need to be inclusive and practice simple things that unify us like reciting the pledge together and finding common grounds. Implementation of programs to raise awareness and tolerance levels.

The school board makes decisions that directly effect our children. We need to partner with families and the community to provide a pathway that inspires and empowers students to be lifelong learners and productive members of a global society.

We need to get back to the the basics. Focus on educating students and providing safe schools to learn. Adopt curriculum that teaches them how to think and not what to think. Public schools provide a facility where teachers work to help students learn, grow, and prepare for the future.

There is always room for improvement. Our students' best interests must be at the heart of every decision. We can do better!

Moving forward, I hope to gain your support and get your vote on June 14th 2022.

Engage. Educate. Enrich. Empower.