School Board Candidate Profile: Jim Brown Says Cedar Falls Should Pursue Advances in Technology, Language Learning

In just a few short weeks, Cedar Falls voters will be able to weigh in on three open seats on the school board.

The election will be held Sept. 10. All school board seats are at-large, meaning the entire school district will be able to vote for each seat.

Seven people - five newcomers and two current board members - are vying for the seats.

Patch is running profiles of each of the candidates. Today, meet Jim Brown, a current school board members who says Cedar Falls can move to "world-class" status by pursuing advances in technology and language learning.

Read more candidate profiles.

Name, age:

Jim Brown, 45

Background? (Job, credentials, experience, etc.)

My career has encompassed Business Development (sales).  This has ranged from selling mobile homes to pay my way through UNI 25 years ago to my current position with Pearson as the Business Development Manager in charge of the ExamDeveloper software.  My resume includes business development with medical specialty boards, engineering, accounting and some of the world's largest software certification companies.  In fact, my role recently changed after Pearson acquired my old company; so I moved from a (part) owner of a start-up software firm with four employees to sharing a firm with over 35,000 employees worldwide!  I believe I bring a solid background and perspective to the board, especially on the "people" and critical-thinking side of things.

Why did you decide to run for the school board in the first place? Why are you seeking re-election?

When I ran four years ago I stated a few of my goals:

1)  To keep first-things-first.  Every decision was to be based on the specific role a Director is entrusted with; i.e. will this improve the education of the kids in CF? I believe I had done this.

2)  I needed to ask questions and shorten the learning curve that was sure to take place.  I believe I was successful in learning what it takes to become an effective board member and to your question; I believe there is continued work to be done to keep sustainability and accountability to the district.

3)  Based on my three girls being in the CF System at the time (wife is a teacher and two little girls at Cedar Heights) and a decent network of knowledge, I believed there was a pressing need for increased use of technologies that could be combined with our local resources (CFU, UNI, business community, etc).  The world is screaming towards 21st Century learning; where we have made some progress, we need to move forward.

4)   I believe Dr. Pattee will move the district forward in a positive way; there is healing to be done, and I believe I can contribute.  There are also the expectations needed to ensure the goals the board sets for Dr. Pattee are measured and followed through.  Finally, there is the interest of the CF District as a whole; I believe I bring a solid prospective to the overall performance of Cedar Falls Schools.

What do you see as key issues the Cedar Falls School District needs to address? How should we start? 

I see this in two parts:

Long Term:  The need to plan wisely with the projected growth of our district - an awesome problem to have!  I remember almost a year ago sitting on the facilities committee hearing Mike Wells and company explain what lies ahead.  While this committee did make a recommendation it also prompted the board (rightly so) to take a step back and look long term for the best solution.  That is why we have invested time and resources to develop a 10 year comprehensive facilities plan that I believe is a good 're-start' on this entire process.  My only caution is that the board doesn't get paralysis-by-analysis; these plans need to be set on a calendar and followed through to completion with the involvement of every stakeholder possible.

Short Term:  CFU recently announced we are a "Gigabyte Community"; unfortunately, our school district isn't keeping pace.  There are many factors involved with this (time, resources, sustainability) but we do indeed need to push this forward in relative short-order.  I would also add that in order to obtain "Great-to-World-Class" status, the district needs to look into the absolute positive effects of a Global Language Program.  The way to start these processes is to maintain that accountability set forth as goals for our Superintendent.

In your time on the school board already, what accomplishments have you been proud of? Looking back, is there anything you would do differently?

I believe I accomplished what I set out to do four years ago.  I promised to ask questions and minimize the learning-curve needed to understand today's world of education leadership - to stand as an independent, strategic and critical thinker in terms of my specific role as a Board Director.  We have held those accountable towards technology enhancements.  There was the difficult decision to NOT approve a budget that changed the CF Schools' nursing model.  There was also the recent dust-up of wanting to keep Mike Wells for another contract.  These were difficult decisions whereby I had to go against my fellow (and respected) board members.  I believe these traits/actions show the effectiveness of my portion of leadership on the board.  I'm not sure there's too much I would have done differently... maybe at times listened even more and spoke even less.

What is your feeling on the facilities issue the district is facing, especially regarding the high school?

As previously mentioned; the board has taken action toward a 10 year facilities planning goal.  I can say unequivocally that I'm extremely conscientious of my fiduciary responsibility I have to the taxpayers of this community - I don't take this decision lightly and in fact, it will probably be one of the most important decisions the board will make in a very long time.  I believe so much in the "clientele" of Cedar Falls; such great kids, parents (so involved), a dedicated and professional staff that I would match up with anyone else and a wonderful community as a whole in which we live; these are the stakeholders I take into profound account when making these types of decisions.

And… a question from a reader:

From AJ: Do you believe that student representatives should continue serving as a non-voting member to give points of view on the issues?

Yes!  One of the highlights in the board room over the past year was being introduced to our student reps at the board meetings.  Their insight was both informative and entertaining.  I loved their honest feedback in relation to the schedule, the HEAT, curriculum and even how the Tiger's did in various sports/plays/productions throughout the week!