Trust is earned. We need to open the records of past actions, Prayer, as a state sponsored activity, has been held unconstitu- tional. Any attempt to implement prayer in our school would be divisive and destructive in terms of public trust and confidence and costly in taxpayer dollars. Moments of silence, in my mind, are an attempt to implement prayer. Funding for building schools and expanding programs. Drilling for oil at an elementary school. Charter schools and vouchers. Prayer in schooVseparation of church and state. Making sure the education system continues to meet the needs of all stu- dents.a We need more space. Within one to two years there will not be any space left to accommodate new students. We need more classrooms. Therefore, we need a bond. The board and adminis- tration need to communicate and listen to constituents. The com- munity must first be convinced the district has already done everything it could to live within the budget. We should not be drilling for oil on school property. I do not support charter schools because they take state tax dollars out of the public school. I am comfortable with our current approach of separation of church and state and do not approve of prayer in school. I do Rapid growth, enrollment projections and lack of proper class- room space. The effects and impacts of Proposal A. New gov- ernment mandates, laws, repeal of our school code. Charter schools and the impact on education. As a district we need to educate all our attendance areas about the needs of our students for a proper education and the concerns of the district to be proactive rather than reactive in making future plans. We need to educate the public about the financial impacts of Proposal A on our district, the difference between bond and millage monies and what they can be used for by law. Reevaluate our bond proposals based on our students' needs, community feedback and if needed offer a more segmented bond. Our Constitution cites separation of church and state. Prayer should be left in our religious facilities. I feel a voluntary mo- ment of silence will also lead to religious impacts in our public schools and should not be allowed. Overcrowded schools. Parents not in control of local schools. Support system for senior citizens in jeopardy. Shortages of trained and educated youth for a service-oriented economy. Form parent/school/community focused task forces to achieve the following: Change the zoning laws to limit growth, increase the in- volvement of parents and community members in local school de- cisions and educate our students so they are qualified to meet the needs of an aging population and a service-oriented economy. The development of a strong belief system for our children is the responsibility of the parent, not the schools. I do not want my children controlled by a special-interest view of what consti- tutes an appropriate content for a prayer or moment of silence. Fiscal responsibility. Provide technology within the current bud- get. Unite communities within the district and rebuild trust so a future bond issue will pass. Careful and respectful listening to the concerns of parents and community members is critical. I have consistently raised this is- sue. It's included in a Strategic Action Plan being developed. I have also volunteered for special parent hearings (moving Maple students to Meadow Lake) and will visit Clarkston all day kinder- garten program with parents to facilitate this listening process. I've been working with a community Strategic Planning Action team. We've developed nine action plans to address these issues. There should be neither prayer nor a moment of silence for prayer in public schools. Students currently can and do pray silently whenever they wish. We are facing a millage renewal before the end of this year. If this does not pass, we stand to lose 20 percent of our operating budget. Overcrowding. Raise our district's MEAP scores. Divi- siveness. Update and enhance technology. We need to get out and communicate to the voters in the district exactly what a millage renewal is and why we need to pass it. I'd like to visit schools, subdivisions, retirement homes and religious congregations to inform them of its importance. We need to come back to the voters with another bond proposal to address over- crowding. Teachers and administrators need to continue looking into the concepts on the test and be sure they become part of the curriculum. We need to bring everybody together to remind them of our common goal: educating our children. New technology could be achieved by renting computers and in-servicing teachers on how to use technology. Overcrowding. Psychological fragmentation of our district. Build more schools. Leasing buildings from neighboring districts is simply a short-term Band-Aid approach. Redistricting fringe ar- eas will take a long legal and legislative process. As a board mem- ber, I will examine all alternative means of financing and strive to implement the most cost-efficient method to build new schools as soon as possible. I'll explore all avenues to expand our communi- ty's understanding of how our schools are run and financed. Hold town meetings, allowing citizens an excellent opportunity to ex- press their concerns at length. Trust. Fiscal responsibility. Violence. One of the biggest issues is growth and housing our student population. However, a very important issue to the taxpayers of Walled Lake is accountability. providing indexes so anyone may examine the facts and figures without any filtering. The board must trust the voters if the board wants the voters' trust. Details of how the district is doing in comparison to national and regional numbers. We need to have peaceful conflict resolution taught in our classrooms. We must record all acts and threats of violence. We must make this infor- mation accessible to the public. I feel some of the problems can be solved with full disclosure to the taxpayers. The next couple of years are going to be challeng- ing and it will take a lot of communicating and honesty on every- one's part. With that said, we still must maintain high educational standards for our students. not think schools should conduct a moment of silence. That does, however, not stop individual students from independently praying or observing moments of silence. While my religion is very important to me, I do not feel that there is a place for it in the public-school system. Our Founding Fathers provided for separation of church and state and I be- lieve that it should remain separate. I am very much opposed to school prayer and a voluntary mo- ment of silence. I feel strongly that religious education is a par- ent's responsibility and not that of our public schools. It seems hard to believe that this has become such an issue. I have always taught my children that if they feel a need to say a prayer or take a minute for self-reflection, they should do it. As for a voluntary moment of silence, I question what teacher would not welcome that time.