Kelly Friis, an investment management firm executive, is running for the Area 2 seat on the San Dieguito Union High School District board of trustees. The San Diego Union-Tribune asked all the candidates running for school board in districts around San Diego County about their policies, plans and priorities. Here’s what Friis told us about hers. Kelly Friis (Patrick McClory) Why are you running for school board? What makes you a good candidate? I am running because we need strong common-sense leadership and someone who will truly represent the community rather than special interest on the board. I am also running to give back to the community that was so gracious and supportive during the time my children and I were displaced due to our house fire in 2022. Unlike my opponent, I am assiduously nonpartisan as a candidate for this board. I am confident I can be a trustee who listens and brings our community together in service to a better education for all students. I am qualified for multiple reasons, but mainly for my long career as a financial professional and for my role as a parent of three boys (all of whom are currently at La Costa Canyon High School). I am passionate about our school community and the families who are invested in its success. What is the most important issue currently facing your school district? There are a lot of issues that need attention in California public schools, including ours. We have a projected budget deficit on the near-term horizon, aging facilities at some schools, lackluster academic performance for some groups of students, disagreements about pedagogy and curriculum, challenges meeting the needs of an increasing number of student with special needs and a very difficult environment for many students in terms of mental health. Fortunately, we have a new highly effective and experienced superintendent, Anne Staffieri, who will bring stability and professionalism to SDUHSD administration after many years of turnover in the position. I believe our biggest opportunity will be to work closely with Staffieri to authentically partner with families and build robust systems that result in better academic, social and emotional outcomes for all students. What are the top three specific things you would seek to accomplish on the school board? As mentioned above, I will work with Staffieri to build best-in-class systems that improve our students’ academic outcomes and social and emotional wellbeing. I will be a strong advocate for the La Costa Canyon High School community and listen to parents and taxpayers to see what is important to them and how as a board we can work together to satisfy reasonable requests. Most importantly, I intend to be a trustee who represents the entire community, not just the ones my opponent will represent. I will listen to all perspectives, including our excellent teachers. In fact, I will seek out a diversity of perspectives and use good judgment and my professional experience to make decisions on matters before the board. What would your approach be to district budget planning and spending? What would you do if your district had a budget shortfall? Many trustees do not have the financial acumen to read a school district’s budget and ask probing questions about how resources are allocated. The results can be disastrous, and there are many examples of such lack of oversight — including avoidable teacher layoffs, canceled student programs, cuts to security and reduced facility maintenance. I have had a long and successful career as a financial professional. I will take an active role in understanding all aspects of our district’s budget at the beginning of the process and ask the hard questions along the way, with the intent to make the resources we have go further and provide a stronger educational experience for all students, not just in the current year but in future years. Proper planning is the antidote to budget shortfalls. How should your school district raise student academic achievement, and what would you do as a school board member to accomplish that? The school board can be a powerful agent of change when it comes to academic achievement, but the board as a whole must make that its No. 1 priority and agree to hold the superintendent and staff accountable to a plan that achieves results. This work is very challenging, but frankly, the improvement of academic outcomes has not been a stated priority of this school board nor the vast majority of other school boards in California. This is a significant issue, and we need strong leadership on the board to focus attention on academic outcomes. This is something parents and teachers are all concerned with. I would love to see us adopt more life-skills classes that can be used to round out the common-sense aspect of a rigorous academic schedule. Do you think anything currently offered in school curricula or libraries should be removed? If yes, what, and why? If no, why not? I do not have specific knowledge of school curricula or library collections in the SDUHSD district, and even if I did, cherry-picking individual books or material on a specific syllabus is an exercise in futility and unnecessary conflict. SDUHSD has a workforce of excellent teachers, and most are very capable and trusted professionals. As the cultural wars rage on for now, we need a culture of common sense in our district and an agreement at all levels of the district, from board to the first-time substitute teacher, that our school curricula and library collections are standards-based, specifically relevant to the subject matter of each class and age-appropriate. That is just good common sense. When a book or assignment or classroom material is identified outside the agreement, the superintendent needs to be accountable for training and discipline as needed, which should be extremely rare. What do you think is driving student absenteeism in your district, and what would you as a school board member do to reduce it? There are 1,670 students in our district who are chronically absent from school, which means they missed over 10 percent of the school year. All of these students are significantly at risk, and the district needs to address these students directly and in innovative ways. This is where board leadership can make a big difference. Ask questions of the students and parents and get to the root of why they are gone. Is it a family issue? Stress at home? Are they academically falling behind, which gives them less motivation to attend the class they are having difficulties with? We make so many assumptions about kids, and sometimes just asking the right questions can get to a resolution quicker. Public agencies don’t often rush to innovate or take on difficult challenges like these. That is where a united board with the right priorities can really make an impact. Do you think schools should notify parents if their child’s gender identity or presentation at school changes? Why or why not? I disagree with the premise of the question. What we need in public schools, and in SDUHSD specifically, is a far more collaborative culture of trust and mutual respect between school personnel and parents. A public school’s mission is to educate young people so they can think for themselves and have the skills and knowledge to successfully pursue a college degree and/or a rewarding job and career. Anything that interrupts that process of education is a barrier to our success as a school district and a barrier to success as a young person. There are so many barriers students face today, including emotional distress, bullying, social media addiction, drug and alcohol abuse, learning disabilities and absenteeism, for example. In all of these examples, there is no controversy over the need to reach out to parents to support their child. Why should this be any different?