{"id":800896,"date":"2019-10-31T17:00:38","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T23:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=373872"},"modified":"2019-10-31T17:00:38","modified_gmt":"2019-10-31T23:00:38","slug":"opinion-susan-knopf-summit-county-school-board-candidates-at-a-glance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/opinion-susan-knopf-summit-county-school-board-candidates-at-a-glance\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion | Susan Knopf: Summit County school board candidates at a glance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Susan Knopf \/ Summit Daily News<\/strong>
Susan Knopf \/ Summit Daily News<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Summit School District board members: Four-year term. Vote for four.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m friends with several of these people, so I\u2019m just going
\nto share a few of their strong points. Largely I\u2019m summarizing what the candidates
\nsay about themselves.  <\/p>\n

Online, each candidates\u2019 name is linked to their published
\nstatements, or go to summitdaily.com\/election<\/a> to find coverage of the candidate
\nforum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Summit County Education
\nAssociation<\/a> endorses Chris Alleman, Emily Lutke, Gloria Quintero and
\nConsuelo Redhorse. For the record, I do not recommend this shortcut. Please
\nread through the column so you understand the candidates\u2019 qualifications and skill
\nsets. We have some highly qualified candidates who are worthy of your
\nconsideration.<\/p>\n

Chris Alleman<\/strong><\/a>: Master of Arts from
\nTexas A&M, Lake Dillon Theatre Co. artistic director, Silverthorne
\nElementary PTA president and Accountability Committee member, volunteer with
\nnumerous local groups including The Summit Foundation and the Family &
\nIntercultural Resource Center. Priorities: 1) Improve teacher retention rate,
\n2) invest in student mental health, 3) prioritize arts integration to improve
\neducation outcomes.<\/p>\n

Gini Bradley<\/strong><\/a>: Master of Arts in
\nsocial work from University of Denver, former director of Summit County Youth
\nand Family Services for 12 years, two Summit Foundation awards for professional
\nand service work, 35-years experience working in Summit County professionally
\nand for nonprofits. A problem-solver committed to creative solutions and
\ncommunity partnerships. Key issues: 1) Supporting the whole child academically
\nand emotionally, 2) retaining high-quality educators, 3) creative teaching
\napproaches that better meet student needs, 4) creating school environments that
\nfeel safe for all students.<\/p>\n

Miranda Fisher<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> General manager at Always Mountain Time, a local media company
\noffering radio, digital content and events. Fisher is a well-connected
\ncommunity leader, a former pre-school teacher. Priorities: 1) Recruit and
\nretain high-quality educators, 2) value social and emotional learning. Strongly
\nsupports 1A, 4A and 7A.<\/p>\n

Lauren Gearhart<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> Master
\nof Arts in public health. Worked 10 years coaching and mentoring Summit County
\nyouths.Priorities: 1) Increase teacher
\nand staff salaries, 2) increase emotional support for students, 3) increase
\naccess to district interpreters, 4) increase access to trade curricula at
\nSummit High School. Committed to creating workforce opportunities for students,
\nand reducing youth substance use. Supports Measures 1A and 4A and Proposition CC.<\/p>\n

Emily Lutke<\/strong><\/a>: Carriage House Early
\nEducation Center board member, Vail Resorts ticket sales manager, Breckenridge
\nSki Resort Epic Promise Foundation co-chair, wife of an educator, mother of a
\n7-year-old student. Priorities: 1) Ensure every student has the opportunity to
\nlearn and grow regardless of differences, 2) strengthen the health of every
\nchild, 3) support educators.<\/p>\n

Stan Katz<\/strong><\/a>: Ph.D. in applied
\neconomics, veteran school board member who served 12 years in the West-Windsor-Plainsboro,
\nNew Jersey, board of education. That district is ranked third
\nin New J<\/a>ersey, a state that U.S. News and
\nWorld Reports ranks second
\nnationally<\/a>. Katz says he was chair of the Finance Committee for 10 years.
\nHe believes our school board needs a finance committee and needs to be more
\nactively involved helping shape the priorities of the school district. He says that
\nwhen he was on the school board in New Jersey, the district ranked high in test
\nscores while spending less per pupil than the state average. He says Summit
\nCounty can do better, and he wants to help lead that effort.<\/p>\n

Gloria Quintero<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>Degrees in accounting and international business, Master of Arts
\nin social and human sciences, bilingual, Strengthening Families Outreach
\nProgram counselor with Summit County Youth and Family Services. Recently worked
\nwith Early Intervention and a member of Head Start Policy Counsel. Her passions
\ninclude special education and mental health, starting in early childhood. The National
\nConference of State Legislatures<\/a> found every dollar
\nspent in the first three years of a child\u2019s life saves eight dollars later in
\nlife. Believes diverse opinions on the board builds the best school district.<\/p>\n

Consuelo Redhorse<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> Office manager\/accountant, Summit
\nCounty preschool chair. Shepoints
\nout Summit County spends $2,703 less per pupil than the national average<\/a>.
\nThat\u2019s more than $50,000 less in a class of 20 students. She challenges the district
\nto competitively fund education. She pledges to: 1) Support the district\u2019s
\nmission and strategic plan, Vision 2020 2.0, 2) build relationships and
\nincrease communication and participation, 3) support teachers and
\nprofessionals.<\/p>\n

Brooke Shotts<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> She says her kids and passion for high-quality education
\nhave been her driving force for 11 years of volunteering. She advocates
\nfor: 1) A livable wage for teachers and support staff so the district can
\nretain talent and recruit the most qualified teachers, 2) mental health support
\nin the schools, 3) spend school funds wisely \u201cto provide teachers the
\ntime, resources and personal development needed to adjust curriculum to best
\nsuit the needs of their students.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Tim Westerberg<\/strong><\/a>: Ph.D. in education administration, 45 years of experience as a principal, teacher, coach, consultant and author. Priorities: 1) High academic expectations for all students and support those expectations, 2) make Summit County a top performing district, 3) hire, develop and retain high-performing principals and teachers in every building and classroom.<\/p>\n

Susan Knopf\u2019s column \u201cFor The Record\u201d publishes Fridays in the Summit Daily News. Knopf has worn many hats in her career, including working as an award-winning journalist and certified ski instructor. She moved to Silverthorne in 2013 after vacationing in Summit County since the 1970s. Contact her at sdnknopf@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Susan Knopf \/ Summit Daily NewsSusan Knopf \/ Summit Daily News Summit School District board members: Four-year term. Vote for four. I\u2019m friends with several of these people, so I\u2019m just going to share a few of their strong points. Largely I\u2019m summarizing what the candidates say about themselves.   Online, each candidates\u2019 name is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-800896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 21:23:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=800896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800896\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=800896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=800896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=800896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}