1. Address the achievement gap and disparity in academic success for schools in Costa Mesa. It’s unacceptable that in the same school district, some schools in Newport are ranked among the best in OC, yet just up the street we have several schools in Costa Mesa falling to the bottom of countywide rankings. We deserve a strong advocate to bring home our kids a fair share of resources to create more educational opportunities for success.
2. Hire more experienced and trained professionals to serve the mental health and healthcare needs of our kids. With our students still reeling from the impact of recent school closures, the school board must be focused on providing adequate mental health support and access to services, as well as improved infrastructure for protecting all kids’ health in our schools.
3. Protect our taxpayer dollars from wasteful and inefficient spending. Our School Board must rethink projects that are over-budget and drawn out. Michelle is committed to ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent judiciously and efficiently.
4. Deliver responsive and transparent communication. The need for this in decision-making from NMUSD reached a boiling point for many of us when the pandemic and school closures took hold, with snap decisions affecting our kids schedules and a failure to take adequate consideration of recommendations from public health experts. Michelle’s decades of leadership experience in public affairs will help to bring about a new era of timely, responsive decision-making on behalf of parents and families in our district.
5. Focus on our teacher community. Teachers should be able to openly communicate with the administration and the School Board about their needs for additional tools and training to help their students, to help them grow in their professions and empower their learning environments so that every child can reach their potential.

Michelle is committed to open dialogue and transparency. We need a new era of leadership in reaching out to parents and organizations in our schools to help bridge gaps in communication and understanding. Michelle will work with parents and teachers to ensure our school budget is balanced and aligned to meet the needs and priorities of Costa Mesa’s diverse student population as we work to recover from the Pandemic.

Michelle is a firm believer that investing in all our children now means a vibrant future for our whole community. We have a good school district, but we could have a great one. Our School Board should want for all students what we want for our own kids; to be cared for and respected, to be challenged and encouraged, and most importantly, to have every opportunity to succeed made available to them. Our children deserve the same exceptional educational experiences that so many of us had growing up in the public school system.