Community Representation – Dacia Mumford

Small Town School Board Campaigns

I was elected to the WLCSC school board in November 2022 and before that I was one of 15 candidates for the WLCSC school board in 2020. Participating in the 2020 election helped me to better articulate my beliefs about how school board campaigns in a small community like ours ought to run. These areContinue reading “Small Town School Board Campaigns”

Responses (March 2021)

I sent a follow-up email to school board members. I received a response from Alan Karpick, School Board President. The questions I emailed to the school board members are given in bold, the responses are in italics, and my thoughts are in regular text. 1. At the December and January school board meetings, there wasContinue reading “Responses (March 2021)”

March 1, 2021 Summary

HIGHLIGHTS: Dr. Killion’s “State of the Schools” Address (5:35), Class Size and Teacher Retention (6:22), Higher Spending on Construction because of Cost Increases (6:42), Recent School District Borrowing was not Illegal (6:48), No Ability to Borrow for 18 Years (6:59), Killion wants Happy Hollow remodeled into an Early Childhood Education Center (7:47), Working Together withContinue reading “March 1, 2021 Summary”

Our Community Needs Representation

One of the great insights of Nobel laureate George Stigler is that regulatory bodies, like school boards, tend to end up serving the interests of those they are supposed to regulate at the expense of the public. He called this “regulatory capture.” It is common for elected school boards to favor the priorities of schoolContinue reading “Our Community Needs Representation”

Access to Information

What is the single most important thing I want to change about our school board? I want to bring community input back into school decisions. This cannot happen if the school board “gag order” is left in place. Current school board policy is to not release any information until after the school board has votedContinue reading “Access to Information”

Community Engagement

Years ago, when I first attended a WL school board meeting, I found it uninviting. The unwelcoming tone started right at the top of the agenda which said that the school board “will not entertain questions during a board meeting.” The school board also seemed to be intentionally obscuring what was being done. Items onContinue reading “Community Engagement”