Jillian Cocayne, who works for Qualcomm, is running for a seat on the Encinitas Union 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 Cocayne told us about hers. Why are you running for school board? What makes you a good candidate? I am a lifelong believer in the importance of public education and also a parent of a child currently attending a school in the district. I am running to build on the success of the existing board and to ensure it continues to be an asset to our entire community. Jillian Cocayne (Michelle Cocayne) I am a good candidate for the position because I bring a viewpoint and experience that isn’t currently on the board. I have navigated significant life changes since becoming a parent. I fully appreciate the vital role schools play in supporting families, and I am also familiar with the special education system. In addition, taking my family abroad, which included navigating foreign education systems, has deeply informed my understanding of the challenges faced by families in our district. I am committed to ensuring that all students receive the support and opportunities they need to succeed. What is the most important issue currently facing your school district? Today we have a great school district that is delivering for our children and is a credit to our community. The biggest threat we face is having that system disrupted by a dysfunctional school board. We have seen in communities across San Diego County what damage can be done by school boards that stop acting in the best interests of students to instead stymie the regular function and order in service of focusing on targeted social issues. Public schools have faced these challenges from a small minority for decades. The specific tactics and talking points change over the years, but their mission to undermine public education remains the same. By coming together as a community and electing school board members that are focussed supporting the success of the schools, EUSD can continue to avoid the problems created by this disruptive minority. What are the top three specific things you would seek to accomplish on the school board? First, I want to build on the district’s achievements by maintaining a strong focus on student well-being and educational excellence. I will do this by making sure I am prepared for meetings and am a strong contributor to the current team. Second, I want to make sure our educators and staff receive the support they need to thrive, recognizing their essential role in our students’ success. I will do this through regular dialogues with certified staff and teachers and careful scrutiny of the budget. Finally, I am dedicated to creating an inclusive environment for all students. To me this means at its simplest form that all students, regardless of who they are, feel welcome. Fostering inclusion means being committed to intentionally considering the impact of each decision the board takes on different groups. Supporting our special education community may look very different from supporting kids with an immigrant background. What would your approach be to district budget planning and spending? What would you do if your district had a budget shortfall? I have been attending school board meetings as a member of the public for a while now, and one of the things I have been impressed with is the level of fiscal responsibility the district takes with their budget. For example, they have taken proactive steps to prepare for the end of the federal pandemic funds so the district is not facing a major budget crisis that is widely reported to impact many schools this September. Our district is lucky to have the stability of being largely funded by property taxes, which makes forecasting a bit easier — though of course we all learned from the pandemic that the unexpected can happen. Should we find ourselves in a fiscal challenge, my approach would be to first protect the expenses that directly impact the instruction of the students and the teaching staff. How should your school district raise student academic achievement, and what would you do as a school board member to accomplish that? The first thing we can do is ensure that schools are adequately funded and that resources are distributed efficiently. To do this, we should utilize data to identify areas where students are excelling and where they need more support. Strategies should be developed based on this data to target areas for improvement. Those changes then need to be monitored to see if they are successful and adapted as necessary. Second, we should also be strong advocates for continuous professional development opportunities for teachers. Providing educators with the latest strategies and tools can significantly impact student learning and achievement. Education strategies change and evolve and we need to make sure we are taking the best ones and retiring one that are shown to be less effective. Do you think anything currently offered in school curricula or libraries should be removed? If yes, what, and why? If no, why not? No, I am not aware of anything I believe should be removed. In addition, having reviewed the district policies on its curriculum and libraries, I am confident that they are complying with expectations of the California educational codes. As a candidate for trustee, I believe it is my job to support the educational professionals that set the curriculum and staff the library. The district is quite open about its curriculum, and you can easily find basic information about the expectations for each grade level. In addition, the annual notification document that all parents review and sign at the start of each school year includes a section on parents’ rights, and one of them is the ability to review specific classroom materials and meet with their child’s teacher in a reasonable timeframe. I believe this empowers all parents to work in partnership with their child teachers to address concerns. What do you think is driving student absenteeism in your district, and what would you as a school board member do to reduce it? Absenteeism has increased nationally since the pandemic, and EUSD is no exception. Our district has returned to the California pre-pandemic average for absenteeism, which is much higher than our pre-pandemic rates, so there is still work to be done. I don’t believe there is a single cause to the trend, and therefore I don’t think there is a single solution, either. The place to start is drilling into the specific community populations that are experiencing the highest levels of absenteeism. The school district already identified that the English language learner community has higher rates of absenteeism and has taken measures to build greater community connections with those parents. Community-building programs have proven to lower absences elsewhere in the state. I also think affordable on-site programs for before- and after-care are vital, because not all jobs offer flexible schedules that work with the school day. Do you think schools should notify parents if their child’s gender identity or presentation at school changes? Why or why not? No, I believe a notification requirement is unnecessary and adds unhelpful bureaucratic burdens on schools. If an elementary school child changes their gender identity at school, then the vast likelihood is that they have also changed it at home. Thinking about my own child, it is inconceivable that she could change her presentation without my knowledge. I drop her off and pick her up from school each day. In those times I see her interacting with her friends and the school staff. As adults, I think we need to take a step back and examine ourselves when it comes to gender issues and realize that we tend to conflate them with sexuality. Kids don’t carry that baggage with them, and we just need to be given the space to find themselves. Frankly, I think there are much more useful initiatives that school boards could be working on.