Our district's enrollment numbers are in decline. We are not alone as others are in the same situation. Lower enrollment means fewer dollars. It is what we do to mitigate this that will be very important in the coming years. My goal has been to advocate for funding to ease the burden and to create educational programs that will attract and retain families in our district.

The economy is best described as fluid at the moment. The ongoing Corona outbreak and the war in Europe have created inflationary increases to our school budgets. The economy is probably the major factor in our declining enrollment, housing costs have had a major impact. But its gas, food and services that are hurting our schools directly. We also see this in the distress caused to our staff as they strive to provide our excellent educational program in the face of rising personal expenses. I will work to keep our budget balanced and provide our staff with a competitive income. This will be very difficult. Creativity and innovation, in a collaborative environment, will be our way forward.

Climate event mitigation and resilience is a topic that we must address. Over the past few years our schools have suffered from climate-caused events. Fires and storms have always been part of living here but now we have safety blackouts to contend with. Beyond that, temperatures pose challenges. We are now having to improve HVAC systems to cope with these fluctuations. I am committed to doing what we can to keep our schools open. My goal is that every one of our sites will be able to stay open when the power is shut off. I will work with stakeholders to find the resources to make this happen.