Dara Czerwonka, an executive coach and business owner, is running for the Area 4 seat on the Escondido 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 Czerwonka told us about hers. Why are you running for school board? What makes you a good candidate? I am running for the EUHSD board of directors to: Bring new focus to the challenge of poor proficiency in math and English language arts among studentsWork for adequate resources for students and teachers in every district public high schoolImprove communication between the community, parents and the high school board and administration Dara Czerwonka (Dara Czerwonka) Perhaps most importantly, I am the only candidate, and will be the only board member, who is the parent of children enrolled in this district. This perspective has been missing for years. In addition, I have actual current success delivering results for this district that includes the initiation of a new track team in 2023 and additional scholarships for graduating seniors in 2024. My professional qualifications include previous school board experience in a neighboring district and current and previous experience as a CEO and a coach of executives. What is the most important issue currently facing your school district? The issue that is most important to address is the poor proficiency levels for English language arts and math. In the 2022-2023 school year, only 56 percent of eleventh graders reached proficiency. For math, only 28 percent did. We must do better What are the top three specific things you would seek to accomplish on the school board? Improve dialogue with the community and parents in the districtIncrease high-quality evidence-based curriculum and supports for the students to  promote greater learning, andPromote more data-driven approaches to student success What would your approach be to district budget planning and spending? What would you do if your district had a budget shortfall? It is essential for the board to work collaboratively with the superintendent, finance staff and community to implement a budget that reflects the priority of increased student learning. Leading in times of lean budgets, experience is essential. It is all too common to have more  needs than an annual budget can support. For this reason, there must be an aggressive pursuit of additional funding sources and collaborative relationships with other community providers and businesses so that all funding opportunities are maximized. From my many years of grant-writing, I understand the necessity of finding outside sources to supplement current revenue. How should your school district raise student academic achievement, and what would you do as a school board member to accomplish that? Good governance requires the board of trustees to work closely with the district superintendent to set obtainable goals and realistic strategies to achieve them. There have been promising results in communities that utilize creative academic supports and strong social-emotional programs for students. Do you think anything currently offered in school curricula or libraries should be removed? If yes, what, and why? If no, why not? A governing board’s role is to create policy and accountability systems. Each board member  can act only in concert with the whole board, while the day-to-day operations fall to the superintendent and his or her chosen staff. 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 many contributors to school absenteeism among students including student  disengagement, a negative climate in schools and low expectations, among others. There are also evidence-based approaches to reducing it. As a board member, I would be an advocate for early identification of student absenteeism and for providing targeted support  programs. Do you think schools should notify parents if their child’s gender identity or presentation at school changes? Why or why not? Currently California law stipulates that students have a right to privacy in such matters. As a board member, I take an oath to uphold both the U.S. constitution and all California laws, not just the ones I agree with.