Candidate Profile: Patricia Driscoll For ISD 833 School Board

SOUTH WASHINGTON COUNTY, MN — This fall, Woodbury and Cottage Grove residents will vote on school board members for South Washington County Schools.

Patricia Driscoll is one of nine 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): 68

Position Sought: ISD 833 School Board Member At Large

Party Affiliation: The School Board is Nonpartisan

Family:

Husband: Patrick Driscoll, 3 adult daughters, 3 granddaughters, and 1 grandson

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

Education:

BS University of WI-River Falls
MA University of St. Thomas, St. Paul
EdS University of St. Thomas, St.Paul

Occupation:

Teacher 20 years
School Administrator 19 years

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office:

School Board 833 Treasurer

Campaign website: Coming soon.

Why are you seeking elective office?:

I enjoy being on the Board influencing policy, budget and program decisions that affect our children and our community. I want 833 to be the best district in the metro area. I also want every one of our children to achieve success and happiness.

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

The most pressing issue is keeping our children safe and in school so they continue to learn. The COVID variant continues to spread putting hundreds of unvaccinated people in the hospital and creating a shortage of beds for sick people who don't have the virus and need medical care. Recent CDC research reports that masks are effective in stopping the spread of the variant.

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

The critical difference is my 39 years experience as a teacher and administrator. I understand the budget and policy issues from the perspective of parent, taxpayer, teacher and administrator. My priority is an excellent education for every child. Districts with high test scores spend more money on education. Excellent schools attract people to our district who build homes and also pay taxes, which may eventually result in lower taxes for all of us.

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

N/A

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

Our local officials are doing an excellent job responding to the pandemic appropriately. This school year is different from the past two because the State no longer tells us what to do. MDH and CDC provide guidelines and we are on our own to figure it out. Superintendent Nielson put together a team during the summer and made a strategic plan for various scenarios. The team includes an epidemiologist. They meet every week to look at our classroom, school and district infection rates and discuss what, if anything needs to change and then act accordingly.

I am confident that they are doing it right. We may have to close a classroom, a building or the District, for a short time, but only if the the Pandemic worsens. Which, I believe is unlikely because most people are vaccinated and children under 12 will be able to get vaccinated this fall or early winter. Masks have proven to be effective in elementary schools. Recent research reported by the CDC says that schools that don't mask have three times more cases of COVID. Masking keeps our schools open.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

Policy 102.1 Racial Equity and Inclusion is a policy that some people are opposed to. Diversity has been a part of our culture for many years, but racism still exists. We need to teach children that no matter the color of your skin or what country you are from, or who you are, we are all human beings worthy of respect and kindness. It is not OK to demean or humiliate anyone. We need to accept and include one another and treat everyone with respect.
My 20 years teaching students to read, proved to me that all children can learn. We need to teach every child so that each one makes at least a year's growth every year.

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

When I was a principal, I lead my teachers in a continuous improvement process. Each year we looked at formative and summative assessment data to determine our strengths and areas for improvement. We wrote plans that included staff development, technology and programs that met the needs of our students.

We also implemented All Day Kindergarten before it was funded by the State. When our first group of All Day Kindergarten students reached 5th grade, the results of their state reading tests were the highest of any fifth grade in our school since the state began MCA testing. We closed the achievement gap in our school.

I testified before a MN State Legislative Committee considering All Day Kindergarten and shared our 5th grade results. The Legislature voted to fund All Day Kindergarten that year.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

After going over my test results, my fifth grade teacher, said to me, "You can be anything you want to be." I chose to be a teacher.

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

I am dedicated to providing every student with the best education possible. I will support policies, programs and budgets that give teachers the resources they need to accomplish that task.