School Board Questionnaire: Heath Wells

Patch School Board Candidate Questionnaire

District A Candidate Heath Wells

Age: 43
Occupation: Attorney
Incumbent or non-incumbent: Non-incumbent
How long have you been an Alexandria resident? I have owned my house for six years.
Which neighborhood do you live in? Parker-Gray, near Jefferson-Houston School
Website, Facebook page or other contact information: 
wellsforschoolboard.blogspot.com; 
www.facebook.com/WellsForSchoolBoard; 
heath.wells.esq@gmail.com

What unique perspective, experience or expertise would you bring to the School Board?

I bring the unique qualification, at least in District A, of being both an attorney and an engineer to the school board. The school board will be confronting difficult decisions about construction, capacity and planning where my Engineering background will be critical. The school board will additionally be facing issues of school improvement and policy where my legal background will be beneficial.

What are top challenges facing ACPS and how do you plan to engage the community to address them?

The top challenge facing ACPS is addressing parents and residents’ concerns. I will put parents and residents’ concerns before school administration concerns. I have been to school board meetings and watched parents leave without being heard because they ran out of babysitter time before their chance to speak came up. Community comments need to come first at school board meetings.

One parent concern is supporting teachers. I will support teachers so they can help our children succeed. I will speed the integration of useful technology into the classroom. Teachers are forced to spend too much time on administrative tasks when they want to be teaching.

A concern of residents is the budget. I will make sure the budget is simpler and more specific. It is too hard to figure out what the school board spends tax dollars on. The budget will be indexed and summarized, similar to the city budget, to allow parents and the community to know where the dollars are going.

What role do the members of the School Board play in ensuring transparency and accountability at the ACPS Central Office?

If elected, I will make sure the school board sets policies that encourage both transparency and accountability. The ACPS central office on Beauregard Street will be just the physical location that allows parents and the community to find the information that they are looking for. The central office already works hard to spread the good news going on in the Alexandria school system. I will work hard to ensure the information students, parents and residents want is complete and easy to find.

What is your opinion of the superintendent’s job performance?

Mr. [Morton] Sherman has been working hard to improve student learning and testing outcomes. With better supervision I believe he can improve by listening to parents and heeding their advice and concerns. I will work hard to help Superintendent Sherman complete the work he came to Alexandria to do, improve the Alexandria school system and provide a supportive learning environment for our students.

The school board and the superintendent need to be a team. However, unlike a traditional team, there are nine coaches and one athlete. The School board is responsible for planning the plays and deciding strategy, the superintendent is responsible for making the strategy work on the ground. All members need to communicate and work together in order to have a winning team. I think the Alexandria school board can be an effective coach for the superintendent.

How can a School Board member improve communication between ACPS and parents/caregivers?

If elected, I promise to put parents first. I will put parents first by attending PTA and community meetings as often as my schedule allows. I will ensure that parents know what is going on and listen to how they think problems should be solved. I will also listen to students and teachers by regularly visiting schools and school events. Moreover, I will make sure the concerns of parents, students and teachers are on the agenda to be solved.

What are some of your ACPS budget priorities? For example, do you favor spending more money to keep class sizes low or a longer school year or day? Are there certain areas that should be trimmed financially?

My budget priorities are teachers, facilities and the arts. I want to first make sure we have the best teachers. Energized teachers are the key to any successful school system. Next is a good place to teach. Alexandria will be dealing with increasing enrollment and we all need to make sure that there is enough space for our students to learn. Next is funding the arts and sports programs. I believe in arts education as I was a violin student for six years. I also played intramural basketball and was a part of Air Force Junior ROTC. I think that funding for arts programs as well as sports programs is essential for helping students achieve their potential. I know that each student is different and will have different skills and strengths. Alexandria needs to have as many programs as we can afford to allow students to try out various activities and find those activities that they are good at and will support lifelong learning.

The next School Board likely will need to address the possibility of boundary adjustments and attendance zone changes. What are your guiding principles regarding economic or racial segregation, neighborhood schools, magnet schools, class and school sizes, busing policies and other considerations?

I believe the current school attendance zones need to be adjusted. The last school attendance zone adjustment occurred in 1999 and a lot has happened since then. With the inherent diversity of Alexandria and the mobile population, I think the basis for school attendance should be a circle, adjusted for the size of the school and filling in the spaces between the schools. This plan allows parents to adjust their location based on proximity to a school and then be able to participate in the school.

What role does a School Board member play in helping raise academic achievement for all students and close the achievement gap?

An active and engaged school board member can raise achievement by ensuring that success is rewarded. I have visited several successful schools in Alexandria and the principals have asked how much they have to fail in order to get the same budget as last year. I think success should be rewarded. I believe that we need to support successful schools so they can shine.