St. Vrain Valley School Board Candidates Respond to Questions from RMEQ

RMEQ invited all school board candidates in St. Vrain Valley to complete a questionnaire to share their positions on issues important to our community. Two candidates provided responses:

Meosha Babbs (at-large)

Hadley Solomon (at-large)

Read their responses below to ensure you are making informed decisions when you vote this November.

---

Why are you running for a seat on the school board, and what drives your commitment to public education?

Meosha Babbs

As a lifelong learner and former and current educator, I have always valued public education and the opportunities it can offer. For many, obtaining and education is a way to advance their lives beyond what they had before, for others it further enhances what they already were afforded. Either way, it is a way to excel and equip the next generation for growth. I have been an advocate in education since a child. From my make believe teaching to formally tutoring my peers, becoming a teacher's assistant and student instructor in college, to becoming a teacher in science and math at the secondary level and journeying to an instructor at the university level, teaching has been in my blood; it's innate. My passion to educate our youth goes far beyond the boardroom, it is germaine to the very nature it possesses, learning! I chose to further that passion by running for the school board to be an advocate for the students, teachers, staff, and all who make a students education possible. My commitment is driven by the opportunities that we can offer to our students, the knowledge we impart to each student, and the value that they will receive from knowing they have support behind them.

Hadley Solomon

I am running because I believe that our society depends on a strong public education system that serves ALL students. My goal is to be an informed steward of this asset and to help guide the decision-making and fiscal responsibility of SVVSD.

What personal and professional experiences have prepared you to serve effectively on the school board?

Meosha Babbs

I have served on the school board for the last four years, and I am honored to serve my community as a servant leader. In these four years, I have partaken in countless hours of professional development on school finance, board policy, student engagement, and social and emotional health to name a few. My commitment to learning is evident as I continue to partake in furthering my own education. I have been a tutor to students while in high school, a tutor and teacher's assistant and lab instructor while in college, a teacher at the secondary school level, and an instructor at the university gradute school level. For decades, I have committed myself to learning and encouraging others to do the same. I am a leader in my professional career where I have and currently lead teams to understand cost, schedule, and risks. My experience on other boards have allowed me to better understand board policy and focus on the team and not just my wants and needs. It is a valued skill to actively listen to my peers and then come to draw conclusions and give solutions, and as an educator and learner, it is highly important that I do my homework. I ensure I am ready and prepared for board meetings and study sessions. As a youth leader for many years in Boy Scouts, our motto is Be Prepared, and I stand by that motto though things may change, I am always prepared to pivot for change. I find inquisitive thinking can sharpen the brain, so I ensure I ask questions when more information is needed, but I also ensure I respect the expertise and work that the staff and administration possess. My role as a board member is to allow the superintendent to do their job while holding them accountable for results. So, I find it most effective and valuable to support our system.

Hadley Solomon

I have served in multiple leadership positions (including President) on the Parent Advisory Boards at Niwot Elementary and Sunset Middle School, and chaired the Annual Online Auction Committee for the Niwot High School Education Foundation for three years. I am a double alumna of the Leadership St. Vrain program, and I served as President of the Grassroots St. Vrain board for two years, helping to educate our community on the complexity of education funding in Colorado. In that role I held a seat on the successful Bond issue campaign committee in the 2018 election and advocated with legislators at the Capital for fair and equitable education funding for school districts across the state.

How do you believe public schools should balance teaching accurate, standards-based information in subjects like history and social studies with responding to recent parental rights movements and efforts to ban or restrict books?

Meosha Babbs

I believe it is important to teach accurate history. Understanding where we came from and how we got to where we are now allows us to think, formulate, and analyze information and details. Holding information back will only lasts for so long until the actions of people began to dictate what the past has held. We need to allow students to think and analyze as this produces thinkers and doers and not just followers. While it is highly important that we teach content at the appropriate levels, we should still allow for learning. Banning books is a way to control others and what they can learn. It is irresponsible to knowingly teach inaccurately.

Hadley Solomon

I put the upmost priority on teaching accurate, standards-based information in all subjects, particularly in history, social studies and literature. I trust trained educators to make informed, reasonable decisions on appropriate content while exposing students to a wide range of ideas.

Do you support school policies that respect how the students, staff, and administrators choose to be addressed including chosen names, pronouns, and honorifics? Why or why not?

Meosha Babbs

As it relates to students, I believe that each family has the determination as to how their child/ren are addressed. While their may be some legal standards in naming, ultimately, the parent holds that responsibility. As a district, we are charged with educating students not the politics. While I do understand that politics are prevelant, we should not allow our charge to teach fundamentals such as reading, writing, and math to be bombarded with personal ideals. There is a place for such things, but the education system should be built on driving knowledge, creativity, analysis, and thought into our students such that they want to be inquisitive and learn more.

Hadley Solomon

I do support school policies that respect how students, staff and administrators choose to be addressed. I feel that it is in the best interests of students' mental health, development and safety to be given agency over their personas as long as it does not interfere with another person's safety and is not disruptive to the learning environment.

What are your top priorities for ensuring schools are physically and emotionally safe for all students, including addressing bullying and harassment, which we know disproportionately affects historically excluded students, and how will you ensure that the school climate supports LGBT students in their academic success?

Meosha Babbs

I have a zero tolerance for bullying and harassment. No student should have to go to school and not feel safe. Everyone regardless of their sexual orientation deserves to be safe and secure in our schools. We have a duty to ensure our students receive an education and part of that is making sure that they are safe while they are in our school system. We can ensure our students physical safety by making sure our schools have the most up to date security systems and barriers that keep people out who do not have a need to be in the buildings. From an emotional perspective, we teach our students to respect themselves first and foremost. When we foster this behavior, it can begin to bring a different dynamic to the surface, secondly, we teach our students to respect others. While others may be different, they still deserve dignity and respect. It is my philosophy that ALL students should be granted the right to obtain academic success and we as adults, educators, parents, and individuals have a duty to ensure that they receive it regardless of their race, ethinicity, sexual orientation, gender, or anything else.

Hadley Solomon

I value an educational environment that uses respectful discussion and restorative justice to work through conflicts. I will be well-versed in my District's Behavioral Code of Conduct and provide oversight that ensures that infractions are handled consistently and equitably. I also commit to a periodic review (with the Board) of the Behavioral Code of Conduct to evaluate and confirm its efficacy as our community evolves.

With Colorado’s school funding strained by TABOR restrictions and anticipated federal budget cuts to education, what principles would guide your budget priorities? What three areas, if any, would you consider reducing funding for? Where would you protect or increase investment?

Meosha Babbs

It is most often said, if you want to see what a person values, show me their pocket book. Well, in this country our pocket book does not illustrate the principle of truly valuing our education. Programs in general tend to be under or not funded at all, we tend to cut education and under value it when we impose taxes. As a product of public education, I truly believe our system can be the best in the world if we as a country restructure our focus on the value education brings to all people. I believe that searching for areas of waste, non use, or overuse are good targets to begin when we think of reduction. Most often we cut the programs which directly impact our students and their overall education, but we don't tend to look at areas where we can trim waste and be more efficient. Just as there is reduction, their is increase. College has tripled in costs which has disproportionatel caused many families to have to reconsider sending their children to college via the traditional route, I would increase and St. Vrain has increased its programming in areas of obtaining dual college credit. This gives students a direct advantage to invest in their education while being able to manage costs. I would also as St. Vrain does now, invest in the career and technical education. Many students may choose to go a different path than a 4-yr college, and for them we also need to invest as they too help to excel our society. Lastly, I truly and wholeheartedly believe our teachers need to be paid a livable wage. We teach the future and teachers should be paid a wage that will allow them to live and obtain at minimum the basic needs for themselves and their families.

Hadley Solomon

My budget priorities would be guided by the following questions:

What is the impact of budget decisions on student outcomes?

How will multi-year financials be impacted?

Have we considered all sources of funding? What are the alternatives?

Are all students and schools impacted equally by these decisions?

I do not have any funding reduction plans at the moment.

I would endeavor to protect SVVSD's strong educator compensation structure. I would potentially increase investment in adding more teachers to our growing district, as well as the professional development needed to keep our them equipped with the most cutting-edge tools and strategies in education. I would also expand programs that provide multiple pathways to success for our students, such as the P-TECH and P-TEACH programs in SVVSD.

Do you believe that all recipients of public education funding, including charter schools and voucher programs, should be required to comply with the same state standards, regulations, nondiscrimination laws, and structural accountability as traditional public schools? Why or why not?

Meosha Babbs

Yes. Plain and simple, if an instituition will receive public tax dollars, I believe they need to comply with the same standards and accountability set forth as traditional public schools.

Hadley Solomon

Yes, I believe that education is the foundation of our society and that we have a collective responsibility to ensure that members of our community are working from a common core of knowledge so that each individual can engage in reasonable exchanges of ideas and make informed decisions about their lives, careers, and government. Every citizen has a vested interest in this effort and should have confidence that, at a minimum, a basic standard curriculum is being delivered.