Patch Candidate Profile: Stephanie Auran For ISD 197 School Board

DAKOTA COUNTY, MN — This fall, Mendota Heights, West Saint Paul and some Eagan residents will vote on school board members for ISD 197.

Stephanie Auran is one of 10 candidates running for School Board in the Nov. 2 election.

Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles over the coming weeks.

Are you running for School Board? Contact Morgan Reddekopp at morgan.reddekopp@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate profile and submitting campaign announcements to Patch.

Age (as of Election Day): 52

Position Sought: ISD 197 School Board Member At Large

Party Affiliation: N/A

Family: Pete (husband), Maggie, Isabelle and Annie (children)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?: No

Education:

Some College. I opted to join the Air Force vs. going to college right out of high school

Occupation: Recruiter

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: None

Campaign website: Coming...

Why are you seeking elective office?:

I am seeking a School Board position to bring the focus back to solid core academics. I want to ensure that political and special interest agendas are removed from the educational system. I want our children to be able to learn in a safe environment free of agendas that seek to divide and pit them against each other. To encourage steady communication and collaboration between the teachers, students, parents/guardians, administration, the community and the School Board.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it:

My initial answer was the mask policy. After reviewing my children's school materials recently and the content which they are subject to daily, I am changing my answer. The current most pressing issue is the shift away from reading, comprehension, writing, math, science, civics and foreign language being the core focus of education to being focused on skin color, sexual preference and sexual identity (which is evident in the districts testing scores). I will begin by meeting with the teachers, administration, the board, and parents to gather information to better understand where we are and how we can do get back to educating our children. Our children are a few short years away from entering the workforce. Will they be prepared?

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?:

I am joining this race with little history participating in school board activities. I am not interested in "jumping in swinging" nor am I interested in the status quo. My goal is to ask a lot of questions of all involved parties, understand what isn't working, what the roadblocks are and determine how we can work together to come up with solutions that are in the best interest of those we are elected to serve... our children and our community.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency):

1. The district has failed to educate our children. Test scores are shocking. 2. The district failed our children and families by allowing the introduction of explicit sexual content to our children in the name of "learning". 3. Forcing our kids to wear masks all day every day (which is dangerous to their health and affects their learning) without sharing the local data (not guidelines) used to make this decision? 3. The lack of transparency, communication and collaboration around the school's name change as well as the name selection.

How do you think local officials are performing in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?:

The local officials are responsible for doing their due diligence to seek and review data from multiple sources versus simply following guidelines prior to making decisions. Heavily relied upon sources have financial skin in game which may be a conflict of interest and not in the best interest of "we the people". I would have obtained data from a variety of subject matter experts, listened to others opinions, and shared the information so everyone was privy to the data used to base the decisions.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

All children are entitled to a solid education. Treating a child differently because of their skin color is racism. Assuming a child may need extra help because of their ethnic background is insulting.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?:

I led the Home & School Association (PTA) initiating a significant, positive and long overdue change in the administration by soliciting input of all involved parties, collecting data, and collaborating with parents, administration and school community.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Be humble. "Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11:2". Always be honest and you will never get in trouble for forgetting what you said. Don't judge people, you never know what battles they are fighting.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?:

I am not the first to speak nor am I the loudest, but don't mistake that for weakness.