CHEYENNE, Wyo. — In this edition of “Meet the Candidates,” Brittany Ashby shares with Cap City News how she envisions serving Laramie County parents and guardians if elected as an LCSD1 board trustee. Ashby is one of seven people running for the board. Three seats are open.
The following are responses that Ashby shared with Cap City News. To view Q&As of other candidates in the general election, click here.
How do you plan to address transparency and community involvement in major decisions, such as budget allocations or curriculum changes?
Over the last 4+ years, the district and board have spent a significant effort in increasing transparency and community involvement. This has included ensuring that all board meetings are broadcast on Zoom and YouTube, refining the process for putting out a 45-day feedback notice on any new or revised policies, trying new ways of getting feedback on materials that are acquired for various curriculums, updating the website to make it more user friendly, and focusing on getting more communications out for both parents and the community. I would suggest that we continue to refine these processes to ensure that more people see them and have the opportunity to participate. This may include further supporting the communications efforts to allow for different modes of communication and supporting processes like the one that was used to test out the new math materials. This process allowed for various levels of testing and then feedback focus groups that included teachers and invited the public to participate. I also believe that continuing to build on and strengthen the Parent Advisory Group allows for parents to have more of a say in all of the things going on in the district.
How would you ensure that LCSD1’s policies promote a safe and inclusive environment for all students?
Ensuring a high-quality education (which includes safe and inclusive environments) for ALL children has always been a key focus for me. I am very cognizant of different groups of children that have traditionally been challenged by various policies or decisions. It can be very easy to create policies that are good for some or even most children, but impact certain groups in a very negative way. I believe the best way to avoid this is primarily to ask the questions specific to these particular challenges and then to have the conversations; talk with the children and families and have more conversation about how we meet the safety and educational needs of all kids.
I also think as a district that it is important to continue to look at how we support the mental health needs of children and educators. This district as well as districts across the country have continued to see a rise in issues with behavior and mental health and we need to find ways to provide supports at all levels so that education is accessible and the work of education is something that people feel safe to do.
What is your position on future building renovations and new construction, and how would you balance that with other financial needs like teacher salaries or student programs?
The way school funding is currently allocated in Wyoming, the money for capital construction and renovation is separate from the school block grant or operations funding. However, as a school board member, I would continue to advocate for appropriate funding in both of these areas. LCSD1 has a challenge in many of its older buildings that make it very difficult to provide high-quality, modern education in buildings that were built for a very different time period. While our facilities people have done an amazing job keeping up some very old buildings, each passing year brings new challenges and inequity across the district and state. We need to continue to advocate for new and renovated buildings so that the children and educators have the best opportunities for the future.
How would you approach the ongoing debates about library content and the types of books available to students?
I continue to be concerned about the new policy that says that librarians will attempt to not buy books with sexually explicit material. Librarians and teachers are highly trained professionals with extensive backgrounds in education, child development, and literacy. The former procurement policy allowed for these professionals to use their knowledge, expertise and education to make the very best decisions regarding the books that would be in the school libraries to help students read and supplement their education. By changing the policy, we have put in an arbitrary restriction that is not based on knowledge, expertise, and best practices but on the opinions of what appears to be a small group of individuals.
Given the recent concerns about bullying and related tragedies in districts like Natrona County, what specific steps would you take to create a safer, more supportive environment in LCSD1 schools and prevent similar incidents?
Anti-bullying and safety programs require ongoing review and training to ensure that they are working and meeting the needs of children and educators in today’s world. As a board member, I try to work closely with the administration to provide resources, support and accountability for programs that meet the needs of all of the children and educators. Making sure that adequate training and buy-in are created are critical to the effectiveness of these programs.
Additionally, I think there is a continued need for looking at how we communicate with parents and the community regarding both the mental and physical safety of our kids. The Safe2Tell program gives everyone an anonymous way of reporting potential safety concerns and has been very effective in our district, I would like to see us have additional conversations about how and what we share back out with the community and how we do that in a safe and efficient manner.
Is there anything else you’d like voters to know about you?
I have had the opportunity to serve LCSD1 as a trustee over the last four years and for a year prior to that in 2018. During that time there have been many ups and downs both within the district and within the community. Throughout all of the changes and turmoil, I strive to really continue to focus on what is best for all children and best for the educators that serve our children and families.
As I look to serving another four years, I believe that there are a few key issues that we need to continue to focus on and address as a district:
- Recruitment and retention of educators. We continue to hear that morale is a challenge in the education field and we are losing teachers and other educators who provide so much to our children. We need to figure out where the gaps are within the system and provide changes to help them be successful and fulfilled.
- Focus on improving Special Education and Behavior Services. These areas of education have been a challenge for the district and many districts over the last decade, and I believe we need to continue to look at how we provide trained staff, training for all staff, and resources to help support some of our most vulnerable students.
- Funding and support for replacing, remodeling and adding buildings in the district. We have a significant inequality as far as facilities are concerned in our district. Many of our buildings are very old and create environments that are not adequate for today’s learning environments.
- Focus on the achievement of children. As a board we need to continue to have conversations about how we best measure the outcomes of our children and then work with the Superintendent to ensure that we have the right programs and supports in place to create more positive outcomes.