Ladue Board of Education

Q: Tell me a little bit about why you decided to pursue a school board position.

A: I started to look at my children and my family actually, and how to serve in a more concrete way. I’d like to be a part of helping guide our school district. Frankly, we’re really fortunate, so it’s mainly trying to continue the good work that we experience right now. But as with most things in Ladue, we’re not just satisfied with the status quo, even if the status quo is really high. There are always areas where we can grow and really evolve as a district. I think, primarily, I’m concerned about making sure that our students are prepared for the world they are going to be graduating into. I figure, I have children in the school district, I have a personal stake in making sure that it’s the best that it could be, and I feel like that’s helpful too, to sort of have your finger on the pulse of different stakeholders — students, parents, even just residents who are taxpayers. I’m touched by all of those things.

Q: Are there any specific bills that you’ve worked on that would say have been the highlights of your career?

A: Bottom line, I believe in the rights and the dignity of everybody to live to their utmost potential. So, I spent a lot of time trying to prevent the bills that prohibit gender affirming care for youth in this state from passing, and we were successful. I met some really amazing people while I was working on that, and got to meet a lot of young people who are affected by it. I know a lot of people are scared about the idea of trans people existing, but from my personal experience, they’re just kids. It’s hard to say that it’s a highlight, but it was really meaningful.

Q: What’s it like, kind of navigating these liberal policies in a Republican atmosphere?

A: I think the best way to describe it is: you do it because you think it’s right, and you kind of recalibrate what your idea of a ‘win’ is. If I get to have a conversation with someone and they go from being just totally closed off to, ‘Well, I haven’t really seen it that way before,’ that’s a measure of success. And then also, I feel really committed to working on issues that aren’t just sort of like the big, hot button type  things. One of the bills that we hope to pass is a bipartisan women’s health care bill that would do things like make it so women could get a year’s worth of their contraception at a time.

Q: In Missouri, a lot of people are worried about the state of public education — especially regarding Kehoe’s State of the State Address and Trump’s addresses. How do you plan to navigate that as a board member and as a parent?

A: First, as a parent, I believe in public education. I think it’s really important. And, at the same time, my children were in a religious school for elementary school, so I’ve seen both sides of what it’s like to have a child in private school and in public school. I feel really fortunate that our kids are in Ladue, so I feel really confident about the public education that my kids are getting. I think that Ladue doesn’t exist in a bubble, though, and what we do know about Missouri’s public schools is [that] we’re really not serving all the children in our state. It’s one thing for me to be really, really appreciative of what we’re able to offer our children in Ladue, but frankly, it’s not going to be the kind of world I want my kid operating in once they leave Ladue, if everybody else has not the kind of education that’s prepared for them. As a transition to being a school board member, I’m always going to fight fiercely to make sure that we have resources that we need to have an education at a level that our community expects and is used to and is invested in — and, at the same time, to support and save public education statewide.

Q: Have you ever had a ‘breaking point’ moment, where you weren’t sure if you would be able to continue working in politics?

A: It can be exhausting. While I admit to being really interested in preserving the rights and dignity of all people, that can be at odds with a lot of politics these days. I’m not really someone who is, like, super extreme. So, I don’t have a camp, per se. When things get increasingly polarized, sometimes you can feel a little like you’re floating and you’re not quite sure where you belong. But I think, if you know what your values are, and you stick to those, then I just try to do the next right thing.

Q: Obviously, there’s so many topics that a school board handles. Are there any that you especially feel passionate about that you want to come out of the gate supporting or going against?

A: I am really passionate about the performing arts. I think this is one of those situations where our school district operates at a very high level in terms of the quality of talent that our students exhibit. There’s still room to help them grow all of the programs — orchestra band, choir, theater. My hope would be to help generate some love for the performing arts — not just for the students participating in it, but from the broader community.

Q: Is there anything that you’d like to add or say that I didn’t get to?

A: One of my goals as a school board member is to have open office hours a couple times a month that I’ll put on my Facebook page, set up at the library or a coffee shop for whoever wants to talk to me about something.