Shari Barnett for Saline Board of Education

If elected to the SAS Board of Education, I would work to build bridges with families and ensure that we are hearing ALL members of the community.  According to several committee reports, there has been a large effort and many dollars spent to increase the diversity and build inclusive practices in the district. However, when assessing the membership of these committees, it appears that many of these committees have the same representatives from the community serving on several of them.  I personally know individuals, who have applied multiple times to join these committees and each time they apply, they are turned away with no explanation.  These individuals represent diverse backgrounds in race, ethnicity and religion, could bring an enriching perspective to the work and recommendations brought forth from the committees, but are denied inclusion by those appointed to committee member selection.  So each year, the committees are bringing forth recommendations developed in an echo chamber of thought and perspective.  This is not diverse or inclusive. 

My aim, if elected to serve on the SAS Board of Education, would be to analyze data obtained from community stakeholder surveys done in the past, speak to families and seek to understand what SAS is doing well and satisfying most families and what things SAS is doing that is not pleasing to many families.  If we are implementing policies that are driving families out of the district, we need to pause and seek a more compromising solution.  We can’t be so focused on appeasing one group of stakeholders that we are in turn forcing another group to seek K-12 education elsewhere. That is just not an acceptable way to manage the district and will likely lead to fiscal difficulties if such practice continues.  Ten students lost equates to one teacher’s salary and benefits.  One newly created director position could equate to two new kindergarten teachers and therefore to smaller class sizes.  I would want to know where our families place the highest value and support those changes to produce a better and enriching district for the entire community. 

Paid for by: Shari 4 SAS committee, 234 Judd Rd. Milan, MI 48160