One of the 10 candidates running for Albert Lea School Board wants to restore trust between the board, administration and the community.

Aaron Phillips, 43, of 420 Trollwood Drive said transparency is needed to prove to the community and educators that they have a role in the education of children.

He said with four children in the district, he will bring a parent’s point of view to the board.

Phillips wants to ensure teachers and community members have a voice.

“Educators need to feel empowered, embraced and respected by the administration and the board,” he said. “Community members need to be allowed to voice their concerns at board meetings and have School Board members actually address those concerns,” he said.

Building trust and a positive culture will help improve education and increase graduation rates, Phillips said.

“The community needs to feel like they are being heard, and are an important part of our children’s education,” he said. “The teachers need to feel like they have meaning, like they are being heard and that they are important.”

Phillips believes if community members and teachers feel involved, students will feel more confident, which will result in them being driven to receive a better education.

“For this to happen, the culture of our district needs to change, which starts with the school board,” he said.

Challenges facing the board

Phillips said of the several challenges facing the board, the biggest one is regaining community trust.

“While attending board meetings, I have seen that the School Board is reporting to the superintendent, which should not be the case,” he said. “The School Board’s job is to review policies that are presented to them by the superintendent, and question items that, if implemented, wouldn’t be in the best interest of our children. For the most part, that is not happening today.”

Phillips believes open forum sessions should be expanded so community members can address concerns about education, drug issues in schools and finding the balance between district spending and taxpayer money.

Best things in the district

Phillips said the best aspects of the district are its teachers and paraeducators.

“We have such a great group of educators that are working with our children on a daily basis,” he said.

Technology is another great tool the district uses, Phillips said, citing the introduction of Chromebooks and iPads as positive initiatives the district has undertaken.

“When we were debating where to send our children to school, the reasons we chose Albert Lea over a smaller school in the area were the opportunities in music, the arts, athletics and enrichment programs that other schools did not offer,” he said.

Attracting and retaining good teachers

Phillips said to attract and retain good teachers, the district needs to treat employees with respect and make them feel important.

Teachers need to be able to question administration without being reprimanded, and feel like their opinion on the overall education of students matters, he said.

“These are all things that will attract and retain good teachers,” he said. “Also, putting a stop to the unrequested transfers that happen each spring. This is a very demoralizing event that teachers should not have to go through.”

School board decorum

Phillips said the board’s decorum affects everyone in the district, and he believes a majority of the current board is not working in the best interest of the community.

“When you have board members that never question or disagree with an idea brought up by the superintendent, something is wrong,” he said. “When you have school board members trying to silence their colleague, something is wrong.”

Phillips said he thinks the community has lost trust in the board, and claimed teachers know they cannot go to the board with concerns.

“The students are the ones that are suffering because of this,” he said. “If an administrator is the issue, the teachers know their concerns will fall onto deaf ears from the majority of the board, if they bring them forward.”

Phillips said the current board will not become united.

“The only way there will be a united board is to elect new board members that truly have the best interest of our children in mind,” he said.

Reaching out to constituents

Phillips said constituents are not being updated on issues on the board.

“To keep them informed, I will use social media to give them updates on what is happening,” he said. He called staying in contact with the community via meetings and phone calls vital.

“They need to be informed and included on any decisions that affect the education of our children,” he said.

Other issues

Phillips said the board and superintendent set the tone of the district’s culture.

“I’ve attended enough board meetings and have talked to enough teachers to know that the culture is not good,” he said. “We have lost a lot of good educators, but fortunately we still have a lot of good ones still here. It is imperative that the School Board address this issue, and do whatever it takes to turn this negative culture into one that will attract new teachers, empower current teachers and give our children the confidence to succeed.”

Three spots on the board are up for election. Neal Skaar, Sonjia Hill, Ellen Kehr, Kendall Langseth, Ken Petersen, Cynthia Gail, Angie Hanson, Joseph Ferguson and incumbent Julie Johnson have also filed for election to the board.