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Age
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Demographics / Personal Info )
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I am 43 years old. |
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Family
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Demographics / Personal Info )
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I\'ve been married for 18 years to Derek Martin, we have 3 teenage daughters in the Olathe school system. |
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Occupation/place of employment
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Demographics / Personal Info )
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I am the founder/owner of Amy Martin Photography. In my previous career I designed hospital inventory management systems for a computer software company.
email: amymartin@comcast.net |
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Education
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Demographics / Personal Info )
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Bachelor of Science from Creighton University, 1987 |
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Number of years you have been a resident of the city
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Demographics / Personal Info )
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I have lived in Olathe for 16 years. |
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Political Background
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uncategorized )
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None |
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Civic involvement
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Demographics / Personal Info )
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Heart to Heart, International, coordinator of annual service day, 2001-2007
Heatherstone PTO, committee chair, treasurer, president, 1998-2008
Heatherstone Site Council, 1998-2008
Pioneer Trail Site Council, 2005-present
California Trail Site Council and Parent Connect program, 2006-present
Olathe East High School Site Council, 2008-present
Olathe District Schools Bond Task Force and 6/9 Design Team, 2007-2008
Olathe Parent Leadership Institute, 2007-present
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Would you support an increase in the LOB (Local Option Budget) to enable the district to increase staff salaries?
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uncategorized )
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The district is already utilizing the LOB to the full extent of the law; an increase is not an option available to us. In light of the current fiscal crisis, drastically reduced funding from the state, and a decrease in revenue from local sources, we must consider all the needs of the district to best serve students before making commitments to increase teacher salaries.
However, offering an attractive salary and benefits package is a key component in recruiting and retaining high quality teachers, which is one of the strategic goals of the Board. I would support exploring different funding options at an appropriate time in the future as a means to stay competitive in this pursuit.
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Do you believe that the cash balances of the school district are too low, about right, or too high?
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General )
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I support the Board\'s current policy of maintaining capital outlay reserves at 3% of general fixed assets and contingency reserves at the state allowed maximum level of 6% of the general fund budget.
While I wouldn\'t propose such measures in the middle of the current funding crisis, I would support measures at an appropriate time in the future to increase our cash reserves to a level that would bring Olathe in line with the other Johnson County districts and the state average. As it stands now, we are about $5 million below our board approved goal of 102% of cash flow variance, with per-pupil cash reserves well below the state average and the lowest in Johnson County.
One of the reasons we maintain cash reserves is to provide for unanticipated shortfalls in revenue. Lawmakers in Topeka have considered these reserve levels when determining the level of funding cuts that schools can bear. By allowing our cash reserve goals to be significantly below the state average, and then by failing to maintain them at even that level, we have placed Olathe\'s schools in a perilous position.
Our community places a high value on education and expects a first rate education from our schools. I firmly believe that maintaining an adequate safety net is a necessary component of being an excellent school district.
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How do you feel about the district’s consideration of moving ninth grade students to the high school?
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uncategorized )
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I support this effort by the district to expand opportunities for our students, operate more efficiently, and relieve overcrowding in our elementary schools. In light of the current funding crisis, I feel that the operating efficiencies we realize will prove more valuable than previously anticipated.
Some parents have expressed concern about placing our 9th graders in the high school. They cite a variety of reasons, including access to sports and activities, large school sizes, and concern about 9th graders socializing with older students. I understand those concerns, but I believe the benefits far outweigh these challenges. Having worked directly with district administrators and teachers on the 6-9 design, I have seen the Olathe District Schools’ willingness to address these concerns and commitment to tackling these challenges in a comprehensive, strategic, and research-based manner. With proper guidance and oversight by the Board, this move will prove to be in the best interest of our students and our community.
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What is your position on charter schools/vouchers that allow for public funds to be spent for private schools?
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uncategorized )
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I do not support any system that diverts funding from public schools to private schools. Everyone benefits from public education and everyone should help fund it; any diversion of funds weakens the system.
Supporters of vouchers argue that competition with private schools for education dollars will strengthen our public school system. Under a voucher system, our public schools, which by law must accept any student, end up with all the students turned away by private schools, such as those with disabilities or behavior problems. This undermines the competetiveness of our public schools, causing more families to choose private schools, further undermining the competetiveness of our public schools. We end up in a vicious cycle that leads to the deterioration of our public school system, rather than the strengthening of it.
I believe that public tax dollars should not go to support educational systems that aren\'t bound by the same rules and standards as our public schools. Since private schools don\'t have the oversight of a publicly elected Board, they lack accountability to the taxpayers.
Many supporters of voucher systems hold the belief that private schools offer a better education than public schools. This belief is disputed by a 2006 study by the US Department of Education which concludes that, when adjusted for student and school characteristics, the average test scores among public and private schools tend to be very similar.
As a member of the Board, I may be willing to support charter schools in certain instances where services could be provided more efficiently to a subset of our student population, such as those with autism. My support would be dependent on the district issuing the charter and the charter school being held accountable for producing the results set forth in their charter.
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What is the role of a Board member versus the role of the Board? What do you see as the major role of the board of education?
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uncategorized )
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The major role of the Board is to provide accountability for the performance of the school district to its stakeholders. In that role, the Board has the duty to govern the activities of the district (activities such as supervising the Superintendent, ensuring sufficient resources, and ensuring compliance with rules and regulations). The Board also has the duty to keep the educational welfare of our students as the first and greatest concern, to set the vision for the district and to provide long-range goals to guide the operation of the district.
Individual Board members should respect and uphold the decisions of the Board and take no actions as an individual to undermine the goals of the Board. Board members should voice to the Board any concerns brought to them by patrons of the district so that concerns may be addressed by the entire Board.
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What do you see as the major priorities of the school district for the next five years?
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uncategorized )
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It is imperative over the next five years that the district continues to keep the focus on student learning and protect the significant investment we have already made in our schools.
We must make hiring and keeping a quality staff our priority. The best program in the world is still only as good as the teacher leading it. Supportive work environments, professional development and new-hire mentoring programs, in addition to competitive benefits and salaries, are all a part of the equation.
Additionally, we must continue our focus on meeting the ever increasing demands of No Child Left Behind. We must be diligent in our oversight of the realignment of our 6th and 9th grades to ensure the goals of this transition are met. We must pursue strategic and long-term solutions to address growth and we must find creative ways to meet the needs of a large and increasing population of students who don\'t speak English as their first language.
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What changes, if any, would you recommend in the school finance formula?
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uncategorized )
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I believe the current school finance formula will work given proper funding. Weighting factors may need to be adjusted to target funding to the highest need students.
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Do you support recent actions by the Kansas Supreme Court to increase school funding?
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uncategorized )
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Yes. However, I do not feel state funding is at a level adequate to provide a suitable education for every Kansas student.
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Why do you want to serve on the Board of Education and what makes you especially qualified to do so?
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uncategorized )
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As a parent of three busy teenagers, the owner of a successful business and an active volunteer in our community, I have honed my organizational skills and learned to balance the competing demands on my time, energy and resources.
As a business owner I have developed the skills crucial for serving on the Board. In addition to overseeing the day to day operations of the business, I am responsible for setting goals, prioritizing needs, operating efficiently, communicating effectively, maintaining profitability and continuously improving both the customer experience and the final product.
For the past 11 years, as my children have moved through the Olathe school system, I have served in leadership positions at the elementary, junior high, high school and district levels. I have worked as a volunteer in countless classrooms and served on four different Site Councils and a District Task Force. I participated in a 6-day leadership and advocacy training program through the Olathe Parent Leadership Institute and piloted a successful two-year program aimed at increasing parent involvement at the junior high level. I have been attending school board meetings for the past three and a half years.
My experiences as a business owner, coupled with my long-term school involvement, both in the trenches and in the boardroom, has given me a unique perspective on the issues facing our schools and the ability to hit the ground running as a new Board member. I understand that our schools drive the economic engine of our community. I have a clear view of the goals our schools must attain and the challenges they face. I have seen first-hand what works and what doesn’t work. I have built relationships with parents, teachers and administrators across the district and I will draw on those relationships and experiences as I make decisions on the Board.
My history shows that I am a true advocate for public education and I care about our schools. As a member of the Board I will always put students and student learning first and look after the best interest of Olathe District Schools.
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If the Olathe District Schools Board of Education is called upon to make significant budget cuts in the 2009 and 2010 budgets, what approach you would take? (For example, should cuts be across the board or should they be more strategically targeted? If the latter, please list the first 5 budget items or categories you would examine to reduce, prioritized from 1 to 5.)
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Education )
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It is imperative that we strategically approach budget cuts in the same manner we strategically target student educational services. I support current efforts to conduct a thorough study of all programs, staff and budgets to look for potential cost savings and I support recent actions to provide incentives for retirement or resignation. I also support a hiring freeze and measures to look for further cost avoidances, from energy to renegotiating contracts and restructuring Bond and Interest payments.
We need to preserve the focus on core curriculum and maintaining a quality staff. However, the budget is a huge and complex puzzle and all categories must be examined for reduction. I think the best solution will involve trimming, reducing, and reorganizing to different extents in all areas rather than focusing cuts on specific items.
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Our local school districts are facing the potential of cuts in previously proposed FY2010 funding increases due to the lack of revenue being generated, and projected to be generated, by the state. As a locally elected member of our school board, please explain your perspectives on the following issues:
i. Should statewide tax rates be increased?
ii. Should local tax levels (i.e. property taxes) be increased?
iii. Should the Legislature grant greater taxing authority to school boards to utilize the Local Option Budget?
iv. Should the local school district simply absorb the loss of revenue through spending cuts?
v. Other thoughts/ideas?
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uncategorized )
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A statewide tax rate increase is not the solution to the current budget crisis. Schools will be required to absorb the loss of revenue through spending cuts; however, current statutes that tie the Local Option Budget to a percentage of state funding should be lifted so that school districts can continue to receive funding from local sources at their current rate. The Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley school districts utilize the Cost of Living Adjustment weighting and Olathe District Schools must study this legal option just as Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley have done. |
