How do Atascadero Unified School District candidates compare on the issues?

Ballots will soon be sent to San Luis Obispo County residents, and among the dozens of local races up for election are a number of hotly contested school boards.

School boards have been under increasing scrutiny in recent years as the coronavirus pandemic highlighted how trustees’ decisions can affect the lives of local families and political polarization fractured community conversations.

To help as you make your decision, The Tribune has compiled a 2022 Election Voter Guide, meant to give easy access to some of the candidates’ basic facts and stances.

Nine candidates are running for four open seats to the Atascadero Unified School District Board this November.

Of those candidates, two are incumbents: Tami Gunther and George Shoemaker. The other candidates include Rebekah Koznek, Vy Pierce, Dan Hathaway, Denise McGrew Kane, Chris Collins, Scott Staton and Tracy Ellis Weit.

Koznek and Collins did not respond to The Tribune’s requests for participation in the Voter Guide.

Here are the remaining candidates’ responses, organized by candidate and in alphabetical order.

Editor’s note: Some responses have been edited for length or clarity.

Tracy Ellis Weit

Please describe your background with the district:

I worked in the district for 32 years before I retired. During my teaching career at AUSD, I held a variety of leadership roles. My three children received a K-12 education at AUSD.

What is your vision for what your district should look like in five years? 10 years?

My vision in five years, 10 years is to continue a stable and balanced budget because a district’s budget is the financial plan that enables the district to provide educational programs and services. I envision full-day transitional kindergarten (TK) and kindergarten programs that utilize early childhood methodologies and curriculum; as well as providing internship opportunities for high school students who are enrolled in the early childhood classes at the high school. The early childhood program would work in partnership with Cuesta College by offering dual enrollment courses.

What do you believe is the most important issue facing your district today, and what will you do to address it?

Today the most important issue facing Atascadero Unified School District is school safety. Keeping students and staff safe is a multi-layered process. I would work with administration, staff, parents and community stakeholders to help secure the necessary funds to make sure that all campuses are secured in the district. Also, the use of technology and the implementation of a safe schools program that promotes the protection of all students from violence, exposure to weapons, threats, theft, bullying and/or harassment and other emergencies is another process to be included in school safety.

Is the school district doing enough to help address learning loss that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic? Is there anything you would like to improve?

AUSD must provide every student, from every community and background, the opportunity to safely learn in-person full-time. Atascadero Unified School District has received and allocated funds from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) investments from the American Rescue Plan. This money is designated for academic recovery on a large scale through summer school, tutoring, after-school programs and extended day school programs. As well as the academic support students receive, it is also important to address the social and emotional needs of students for them to be successful in the classroom. I would like the district to reach out to retired teachers in the community to offer assistance to students with academic recovery loss.

Do you think the school district should change its policies to better support LGBTQ+ students, students of color and/or other marginalized groups in the district? If so, how?

Teaching racial equity, history, supporting LGBTQ+ and marginalized students in the TK-12 curriculum is critical in creating a school climate of tolerance and respect for diversity. With the passing of Assembly Bill 2016, students will be able to explore the history of racial inequality through a thematic approach, by focusing on reading and content. This will provide students with learning opportunities to examine the world through a multicultural lens. In addition, it is also critical to develop a long-term district and school-wide plan celebrating diversity, equity and inclusion. Ongoing professional development provided for the staff by experts can help ensure that schools are safe and inclusive for all students. Effective professional development will help to educate staff on how to handle situations including harassment and bullying as well as providing a place to share resources and best practices to ensure school-wide tolerance and respect for diversity.

What do you think are three other issues facing the district you’d like to address while on the school board?

The three other issues facing the district are: Examining how to attract and keep highly qualified teachers and staff members; Career Technical Education (CTE) for students at the elementary, middle and high school level; and an after school-time program that supervises students after school.

Tami Gunther

Please describe your background with the district:

I grew up and attended school in San Luis Obispo. My family moved to Santa Margarita in 1995, and both of our children attended AUSD schools from kindergarten through high school, and had excellent experiences. I began volunteering in the schools when my children were in kindergarten and continued until they graduated, serving in many roles from room parent to chairperson on site councils.

What is your vision for what your district should look like in five years? 10 years?

This is an exciting question to think about! In five years I would like to see our district embracing flexible learning environments that allow students to move at their own pace with support from their teachers, parents and/or community partners. I would like to see us measuring achievement in multiple different ways — whether written, spoken or presented as a project. Community partnerships for teaching and work experience would be a great asset to our students and to our local businesses who are in need of workers. In 10 years, it would be wonderful to see a system of teaching and learning that motivates students to excel and also provides support when needed, and provides teachers with data and resources to customize learning plans for every student. The ultimate goal would be for our students to grow to love learning, to be confident and competent adults and positive role models whether they go on to college, careers or any other endeavor.

What do you believe is the most important issue facing your district today, and what will you do to address it?

Recruiting and retaining teachers, administrators and staff, and dealing with burnout is probably one of the biggest challenges we face today. The pandemic was a turning point, and it created multiple obstacles that our teaching staff had to overcome in a very short period of time. Now that students are back in classrooms, we are seeing positive changes, but since we lost so many employees during COVID, the remaining staff is working harder than ever. We need more teachers and classroom aides. Housing prices have made recruiting even more difficult. We need to find a way to provide reasonably priced housing for our employees, whether that is created with district funds, or partnerships with the city or county. This is a problem that goes way beyond schools, as I’m sure everyone who lives here is aware. It would also be helpful if the state put a higher priority on funding public schools so that we could pay our employees better, and that could also help with our recruiting.

Is the school district doing enough to help address learning loss that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic? Is there anything you would like to improve?

Atascadero Unified School District is continually seeking ways to connect with students who are struggling. The pandemic was a real challenge, and we did see a drop in test scores. But we also learned to make use of technology — online resources, tutoring, self-paced learning programs and interactive programs for reading and math. There will always be room for improvement and a need for support. I do not believe that every student needs to be at the same place at the same time when it comes to learning, we just need to help them along so that they do keep progressing. I believe that building a love of learning is the most important thing we can do.

Do you think the school district should change its policies to better support LGBTQ+ students, students of color and/or other marginalized groups in the district? If so, how?

There is always more we can do to support our students who are feeling marginalized. Every student has the right to feel valued and appreciated for who they are, and we need to ensure that every student feels safe and welcomed at all of our schools. One thing I would like to see is expanded use of student advisory groups to help us understand the concerns our students have and how we might be able to address those concerns.

What do you think are three other issues facing the district you’d like to address while on the school board?

In addition to the housing problems I mentioned already, I think mental health for our students and employees is very important. We have a Wellness Center at our high school and it provides multiple levels of support, and perhaps we could extend this model into our other sites. Campus security is a priority and is a current topic of discussion for our remaining Facilities Bond dollars. I would also like to see a life skills class created for our high school. This idea has been talked about for years, and it is a challenge to fit it into an already full course load, but I will continue to support this concept.

Dan L. Hathaway

Please describe your background with the district:

I graduated from Dos Pueblos High school in Goleta. My mom and several nieces and nephews have matriculated through AUSD. In fact, my grand-niece was homecoming queen a few years ago and her brother is a senior on the football team now.

What is your vision for what your district should look like in five years? 10 years?

My goal is that each and every student will have the education needed to fully prepare them for a successful future, no matter what their choice of careers. For this to happen, the district needs to refocus on the three R’s and leave the parenting to the parents.

What do you believe is the most important issue facing your district today, and what will you do to address it?

Improving the test scores, especially in reading, writing and arithmetic.

Is the school district doing enough to help address learning loss that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic? Is there anything you would like to improve?

Yes, but I do feel more parental involvement might help. The district should do as much as possible to include the parents in their child’s education because the child belongs to the parent, not to the school district. The overall responsibility for the education of the student belongs to the parent.

Do you think the school district should change its policies to better support LGBTQ+ students, students of color and/or other marginalized groups in the district? If so, how?

All students should be treated equally.

What do you think are three other issues facing the district you’d like to address while on the school board?

First, keeping a focus on the all-around education for the non-college bound students. Second, increasing parental involvement in their child’s education. Third, ensuring that parents are allowed to be the parent, and not the school.

Denise McGrew Kane

Please describe your background with the district:

I have three kids who attend school in the Atascadero district.

What is your vision for what your district should look like in five years? 10 years?

My vision for our district is that in five years, we will have achieved academic success for all of our students. That our school will rank among the top performing schools in the state and that there are working systems in place that will quickly identify when a child is falling behind and immediately be able to offer them the resources needed. That we have realized our efforts to attract and retain the best teaching and support staff and that they enjoy a positive, collaborative and enriching workplace. That our children will be completely prepared for their future and that through our efforts in adding elective job shadowing career classes, financial literacy and life skills, our kids will be successful in their post-graduate plans and go on to lead purposeful careers and be financially stable members of our community.

What do you believe is the most important issue facing your district today, and what will you do to address it?

The biggest issue facing AUSD is the lack of academic success. According to the latest AMS and AHS state test results (which are from before the pandemic), 50% of our students are reading below grade level and 70% of our students are performing below grade level in math. This is a HUGE problem! I reviewed our district’s Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) from June and while they appear to be attempting to address learning loss and implementing new resources and utilizing systems, there is room for improvement. There are many ideas that could be implemented, but the simplest one is increased communication and collaboration with students, teachers, staff, families and the community. I have three kids in our schools, and until I went digging for the LCAP, I had no idea what our district’s academic goals were because they haven’t been communicated. When you are clear about your goals, and share them repeatedly with all the stakeholders, you bring everyone together as a team working towards a common goal.

Is the school district doing enough to help address learning loss that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic? Is there anything you would like to improve?

No. Unfortunately, we have not been provided the latest testing metrics for our district, so we do not know the actual learning loss that has occurred, however we know it exists. The majority of our kids were already significantly under-performing academically before the pandemic and we know that there will be additional learning deficits that were a result of the school shut downs. The district has already addressed some issues and made some goals in their most recent LCAP, but the solution needs to be whole encompassing, bringing every possible resource in and communicating clearly with all the stakeholders (parents, students, teachers, community, etc) what the plan is and how every stakeholder has a part to play in helping our kids get caught up academically.

Do you think the school district should change its policies to better support LGBTQ+ students, students of color and/or other marginalized groups in the district? If so, how?

I believe all students should be treated with respect for their beliefs/feelings and have equal access to an education. When it comes to matters outside of academics, I believe in the Golden Rule and that we should always encourage our children to be kind, empathetic and most importantly, treat others how they would like to be treated if they were in their shoes.

What do you think are three other issues facing the district you’d like to address while on the school board?

My top priorities I would like to accomplish while on the board (in no particular order): Make academic learning the first priority! Attract, recruit and retain the best teaching staff. We must address the staffing shortage and fill the vacancies with talented teachers and staff, treat them right and create a culture in the workplace that makes them want to stay. This will have a large impact on our students’ success. Prepare our youth for their future. Our children should graduate from high school being prepared for their future. They should have a path set out in their post-graduate plans to obtain the career of their choice as well as have basic life skills and financial literacy. I would work to add elective exploratory curriculum in our district that will help students do just that. Support parent rights in education. Parents should have the right to know what is being taught to their children and decide if controversial subject are appropriate for their children.

Vy Pierce

Please describe your background with the district:

I have three children who are currently attending schools in the district and I am very involved in each of their three schools as a volunteer. As a board member of the PTA, PTO and Band Boosters, I am invited to serve on various district committees to give input and share information back to parents.

What is your vision for what your district should look like in five years? 10 years?

My vision for the Atascadero Unified School District is that we build on the success of offering Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways and expand course offerings so that our students are career or college ready when they graduate. We also need to look at courses and programs at the elementary and middle schools that could feed into the CTE pathways. I would like to see capital projects such as a new high school pool, securing the high school campus and a multipurpose room for the Atascadero Fine Arts Academy completed or underway. These facilities are desperately needed and would provide great benefits to our students and community.

What do you believe is the most important issue facing your district today, and what will you do to address it?

The most important issue facing our school district today is ensuring that schools are safe, particularly at the high school because of its open campus. We have been through several incidents of lockdown and threats at the school this past year. During the pandemic, we realized how important in-person learning and socialization are for our students. While we work to build and install the necessary fencing and gates at the high school, we can ensure that our children are safe at school and in our community by implementing violence prevention programs and strategies. This includes helping students become less isolated by building relationships, teaching students when and how to report concerns, encouraging secure storage of firearms and ammunition at home, and making sure mental health, crisis and support services are available.

Is the school district doing enough to help address learning loss that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic? Is there anything you would like to improve?

Our schools are working hard to support students after the COVID-19 pandemic with academic intervention and counselors at all school sites. One thing I would like to improve upon is to stop using the term “learning loss.” You can’t lose something you didn’t have. It was not possible for our students to receive a full education during distance learning and the pandemic. Learning loss also has a negative tone when, in fact, our students worked on and developed other skills like having resilience, being flexible and patient, and developing their computer skills. They were still learning and making progress during a difficult and strange time. We should acknowledge that.

Do you think the school district should change its policies to better support LGBTQ+ students, students of color and/or other marginalized groups in the district? If so, how?

Yes, the school district should examine its policies to better support LGBTQ+ students, students of color and/or other marginalized groups in the district. We could be more proactive to ensure that the school district best serves these marginalized groups. Every student deserves to feel safe, comfortable and accepted at school so that they can learn and get their education. We could start with speaking with these individuals, families, leaders and experts to understand the issues for these groups and work together to craft solutions. As a board member, I would seek training to address implicit bias and stereotypes and learn about these groups and the specific challenges they face in our schools and community.

What do you think are three other issues facing the district you’d like to address while on the school board?

Three other issues facing the district are staffing in the school district, the different levels of support and opportunities at different school sites depending on their PTAs and increasing our enrollment after the pandemic. The school staffing issue does not only involve classroom teacher positions, but instructional aides, yard duty supervisors, bus drivers, custodians and maintenance workers. We need to find a way to attract and retain good employees. To address enrollment, we should work to engage more parents and students so that their needs are better met and continue to provide the best opportunities and a well-rounded education at AUSD.

George Shoemaker

Please describe your background with district:

Both of my younger children attended AUSD schools. My wife is a 7th-grade teacher at Atascadero Middle School. I worked as a classroom volunteer for six years while my kids were in elementary schools. I coached basketball for two years at the middle school.

What is your vision for what your district should look like in 5 years? 10 years?

I see AUSD continuing to upgrade our facilities with continued improvements to our campuses. We should have a new pool at the high school, which will add to the quality sports facilities we already have. Elementary schools will get the attention they need for improving their campuses. I would like to see improvements in security at all sites. As we continue to come out of COVID, I would like to see the resources we put in place for student support to stay, as they have been a great aid in helping students improve academic performance and behaviors. We also need to continue to support our teachers and staff so that we can retain and attract the best people.

What do you believe is the most important issue facing your district today, and what will you do to address it?

I think the most important issue facing the district today is staffing shortages. We are having a difficult time hiring in positions within the classrooms and in all areas of support staff. To address this problem we need a two-pronged approach. First, we need to work to support competitive salaries and benefits. Next we need to develop programs within our district to encourage our students and existing staff to continue with their education and job skills training to “grow our own” from within our own community.

Is the school district doing enough to help address learning loss that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic? Is there anything you would like to improve?

AUSD has been a leader in reopening our schools safely and doing so as soon as possible. We have put in place counseling at all school sites as well as intervention coordinators who make regular contact with all students to assess their learning needs. We have run two years of summer school targeting learning loss and have programs in place at all schools to help any student who has fallen behind.

Do you think the school district should change its policies to better support LGBTQ+ students, students of color and/or other marginalized groups in the district? If so, how?

AUSD has, and will, continue to support all students. Public schools are for all students, and we need to do everything possible to make all students feel valued and a part of our larger community. This has become a political issue when it should not be. We, as a district, have a responsibility to create a safe and supportive environment where students and staff feel they belong and are respected as the people that they are.

What do you think are three other issues facing the district you’d like to address while on the school board?

We have a responsibility to maintain strong fiscal stewardship while we are facing declining enrollment. That can be done with careful planning and creative work in best utilizing our limited financial resources. Improving security at all campuses is very important as we need to continue to upgrade our facilities with fencing and classroom improvements. Lastly, I think we need to rethink our Career Technical Education (CTE) program. I think we need to be focused on training our students who do not want a 4-year degree in areas of the skilled trades and the medical support profession. There are many good unfilled jobs in these areas, and with the proper programs in place, we can help our students to stay and live in our community.

Scott Staton

Please describe your background with the district:

My two girls have attended Santa Rosa Academy, San Gabriel, and currently Atascadero Fine Arts Academy.

What is your vision for what your district should look like in five years? 10 years?

Normal.

What do you believe is the most important issue facing your district today, and what will you do to address it?

Parents should have the choice about their children’s health and education. Focus on academics, and encourage extra curricular activities.

Is the school district doing enough to help address learning loss that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic? Is there anything you would like to improve?

We need tutoring in the classroom along with the teachers, so they get more attention.

Do you think the school district should change its policies to better support LGBTQ+ students, students of color and/or other marginalized groups in the district? If so, how?

I am an ally of the LGBTQ community. We live in America! Everyone should be free to love, or be whoever they want to be. I also believe if a young person has a penis, they should use the boys restroom/locker room; furthermore we have to accommodate a young person who is identifying as a boy the best we can.

What do you think are three other issues facing the district you’d like to address while on the school board?

School safety, stop the Marxist ideology in schools, focus on academics versus social justice.

This story was originally published October 10, 2022 at 5:30 AM.

Kaytlyn Leslie

The Tribune

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Kaytlyn Leslie writes about business and development for The San Luis Obispo Tribune. Hailing from Nipomo, she also covers city governments and happenings in San Luis Obispo. She joined The Tribune in 2013 after graduating from Cal Poly with her journalism degree.