On Tuesday Nov. 4, the Carlsbad Unified School District (CUSD) board of Trustees elected members to the school board.  All the runners not only want to make changes to the city but also to increase the success rate of students. Ann Tanner, Veronica Williams, Claudine Jones, Lisa Rodman and Elisa Williamson are all currently on the board making changes to Carlsbad. Two of the recently elected members, Claudine Jones and Kathy Rallings, express why changes need to be made to Carlsbad. 

The new board of trustees has experience in Carlsbad’s city and schools, encouraging them to be a part of molding the future of Carlsbad.

“After a decade of leaderships in our schools in various groups, such as, PTA, PSAC, Parent Budget Task Force and Carlsbad Educational Foundation Grantwriting Callaborative, I felt ready to serve our community on the board,” Trustee Claudine Jones said.

The candidates campaigned their ideas to the city and took the extra time to ensure that the taxpayers of Carlsbad knew who and what they were voting for.

“We used email to communicate to potential voters and known supporters,” Jones said. “Also we had a number of wonderful volunteers who walked neighborhoods to directly reach voters. We used direct mail to send our message to households with likely voters.”

Carlsbad school board has many new ideas for the city of Carlsbad.

“One of the first things I would like to see happen is that we re-prioritize our budget to ensure that basic materials are covered, such as hand sanitizer and tissues,” Trustee Kathy Rallings said. “I want to be able to include those items that teachers and parents pay for. Another thing I would like to see us do is to equip all of our schools with solar panels. I believe carrying one time facility dollars into ongoing money can be used to lowering class sizes and to additional enrichment programs.”

These changes not only affect the city, but the students as well.

“All of these changes affect our students and so I’m really glad that many of our goals this year are focused on making sure students continue to succeed,” Jones said. “The priorities include many important areas such as teacher professional development for the new standards, increased access to technology in the classrooms, engaging parents and families with our new Parent Academy and maximizing the benefit of the recent state-matching money we received to improve our facilities.”

Student growth is the main focus for this new board of trustees.

“Lowering class sizes will help with student achievement,” Rallings said. “I believe students are the future, and the the utilization of sustainable energy will not only help with budget relief but will reinforce that notion that students need to learn about the things that are happening in the future such as technology, and one being sustainable energy. And especially with up and coming new jobs, I believe new energy sources are going to be a big part of that future.”

Thanks to everyone who voted for and supported these new members, Carlsbad can reach the goals the board has in store.

“I am really looking forward to working on the school board I truly appreciate the support by the voters within the district and support from teachers and parents and tax payers within the community,” Rallings said. “I look forward to reaching and exceeding our goals within the next four years.”

The new board feels confident in the vision they have for Carlsbad. 

“Over the next four years, my three areas of focus will be growing academic achievement, balancing our budget, and providing clean, safe schools for our students,” Jones said. “Carlsbad Unified is filled with remarkable students, teachers, and staff with achievements that deserve to be shared with our community. I plan to continue to share those success stories, so that colleges, local businesses, athletic organization and nonprofits know about the talented students of CUSD and all they have to offer.”