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Christina Martinez - Mercer Island School Board Candidate Position 1
123 Plays1 year ago
In this episode of the Mercer Matters podcast Ben interviews Mercer Island School District School Board Candidate Christina Martinez who is running for Position 1 in the November 2023 election.
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Transcript
Introduction to Mercer Matters Podcast
00:00:05
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to this episode of the Mercer Matters podcast. My name is Ben Sharp, and my goal is to have a discussion with each of the candidates who are running for Mercer Island School Board in the fall of 2023. I have reached out to each candidate and offered to have a discussion with them, but if for some reason you don't see a candidate listed as an episode in the podcast, it is because they have declined to be interviewed. So without further ado, let's jump right into this episode.
00:00:39
Speaker
All
Meet Cristina Martinez
00:00:40
Speaker
right. Hi, everybody. This is Ben with the Mercer Matters podcast. Today, I am joined by Cristina Martinez, who's running for position one of the Mercer Matters School Board. Cristina, I just want to take a minute and just say thank you for running and for investing the time and energy in the campaign on behalf of our community and our kids. So thank you very much. Also want to thank you for joining.
00:01:05
Speaker
Maybe to get started, if you could just introduce yourself, give us a little bit about your background and why you've decided to run for the Mercer Island School Board.
Martinez's Background & Community Involvement
00:01:15
Speaker
Sure. I'm Cristina Martinez. I am a physician from Mexico. I have been living here in Mercer Island over five years. I have been in the US over 20 years.
00:01:28
Speaker
came to study Mastering Public Health and being devoted into what is public health and the education of communities. And that has been my passion.
00:01:39
Speaker
And in Mercer Island, I arrived here a year before COVID started and started immediately getting involved in the district to understand how the district worked. It was a very new system for us and a new community. And I actually loved how this community greeted us and was able to get to know the community from very
00:02:05
Speaker
the small details of the community and later on evolving the PTA and the PTA Council and was able to observe the strength of that community and the strength of the district, but also a lot of the challenges and the things that as a parent also frustrated me that I wanted to do a little more.
00:02:28
Speaker
Or also, I have been having the opportunity, I have had the opportunity to meet with different communities and have heard their stories too. And I think that I have been involved a lot in advocacy, but my training and my education is more on looking at the core of the issues, like working upstream. And it is my time to move from an advocacy and an listening portion of
00:02:58
Speaker
the education in my community to something that is more on the policy level upstream to make sure that there's more effect triggered through all the community. And it was the time to do so. I think that I have heard so many things that
00:03:16
Speaker
I'm just passionate about it. And I love doing things for my community. So I'm all in. Well, awesome. Well, thank you again for running and for that introduction. Maybe just to start, could you give us sort of your perspective, what is the primary job of a Mercer Mountain School Board member?
Role of a School Board Member
00:03:36
Speaker
Sure. So the school board really is the boss of a supervisor as a superintendent.
00:03:46
Speaker
We don't micromanage and that's something that people need to really understand. I think it matters that we can maybe not change little details about the schools. We are definitely about the big picture.
00:04:01
Speaker
We can oversee some of the schools and the principals through the performance that the superintendent reports to us. So we work directly with the superintendent and with his team, but pretty much it is him who, well in this case, Dr. Randall,
00:04:24
Speaker
who we will observe and evaluate. But the school board also sets the vision and the mission and the strategic plan of the school district. So it is not one school board member, but it is, in this case, the five of us, if I'm elected, of course, but the five school board members would
00:04:44
Speaker
set that strategic plan and we move as a unit. We have to agree and work together to make any little change. We also review and revise and adopt policies, current policies in the district. And of course we oversee the budget and establish the budget. And also we serve as representatives of the community.
00:05:13
Speaker
That is also something that the community needs to understand that it is also their job to let us know what is working and what is not. And yesterday I had a conversation with an elementary parent and I was just telling them that my kids, I have one kid in middle school and one kid in high school.
00:05:32
Speaker
And the voice of the elementary kids are even more crucial to me right now because I am not there now. So my experience is just past experience. And I really hope that everybody takes the opportunity to reach out to their school board members and tell them what works and what doesn't. Well, that's great. Thanks. That's a great summary. Appreciate that. So the board is the boss of Dr. Randall, as you've said.
00:06:01
Speaker
Maybe next, the next question I have is, what are the top two or three most pressing issues facing the Mercer Island School District and sort of give us your viewpoint as someone setting the vision and supervising Dr.
Pressing Issues: Budget & Facilities
00:06:19
Speaker
Rundell? What are those issues and how do you think about them?
00:06:25
Speaker
And this is interesting because I will tell you that when I file for office, I would have not given you the same answer necessarily. The first one I think is the budget and that will have been the same answer. The second one will be the facility planning. And that would have not been my second answer in May. I will tell it is now. But
00:06:51
Speaker
budget, it is the biggest challenge that the district has, only because everything revolves about the budget, like we cannot do a lot of things without having budget. And I don't think that necessarily is it is not necessarily all about managing and how the superintendent managed the economics. It is also how the budget is formulated from the state level.
00:07:18
Speaker
So we have a tough situation because we do receive a certain portion of the funding is a formula called the prototypical model that we receive a certain amount of money based on a formula that each student needs and our enrollment. So it gets complicated because it is also a little outdated.
00:07:45
Speaker
the needs of the students, and this is true for our district and all districts in the state, but the needs of the students are higher than what the formula of the state says. So we are underfunded, and that's kind of the biggest challenge, where the money comes from, from the start. Then it comes, of course, what happens when the money, once the money is in the district,
00:08:12
Speaker
And you have heard, for example, the enrollment. Yes, we do depend on the enrollment, but there's also another factor that is really crucial that, for example, in high school, you can take classes in college or in pivot on different online courses that fit better than each of those students.
00:08:35
Speaker
But if there's a certain amount of percentage of classes that they take offline, those students are not considered a full-time student. So we don't get the full timing of those students. However, they do receive all the services from the district. So I know that there's from the different advocacy levels from the superintendent,
00:09:01
Speaker
group and also the school boards talking to legislators to see if at school levels it will be counted more as headcount instead of full-time students because it does make a difference on how much budget we receive or not. And if we're serving the complete needs of the students that we have in the district. So that is the biggest issue. I think that everything goes into that.
00:09:28
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that's fair to say that that's front and center on both the superintendent's mind and then I think throughout the community. With respect to budget, so clearly, you mentioned the enrollment issues. There's a decline in enrollment over the past 10 years. I'm curious
00:09:53
Speaker
You mentioned that, yes, in your opinion, that the schools are underfunded. And that's sort of a state-level decision. And yes, there are some nuances, the part-time, full-time, and all those things. I wonder, as a school board director,
00:10:12
Speaker
What are, you know, what do you do about that, right? What are some of your ideas to address the shortfalls and funding in order to sort of make those improvements and right the ship from a budget perspective?
00:10:28
Speaker
There's two, one is the one that I have mentioned is some of the advocacy and advocacy is not only and I put the other example of the full time students on the head count, but also it will be like
00:10:43
Speaker
really advocate for full funding of special education. And that is that is a shortfall that we are, we know that we are two million short on what the state should give us. And that is something that in all areas we have to really advocate. But as school board director, I think that also we need to understand that I do understand that demographics are
00:11:07
Speaker
going down, that's a fact. But I also know that there's students that do not go in our district, that they do choose private schools. And I think it's worth to explore who and which are the schools who are attracting the most students, and what is the thing that the parents are looking for?
00:11:30
Speaker
If it's, I know that there's some very innovative schools that are including more technology or some STEM or more science courses, or maybe it's the arts. If it's something that is not within the public.
00:11:46
Speaker
Education that it is it has to do more on religion education That's nothing that we can do about but the other portion we absolutely can do something so we can I know that the school boards also do go on tours of different schools and and are able to go and explore What what works in other communities and what doesn't?
00:12:05
Speaker
And the same with the districts that our neighbors that what is what is not working for them that we might are maybe following same steps and say like well this is the time to stop and maybe reinvent some of those areas. I know that that arts have been had been caught in elementary some of the arts and music programs and and for me that's
00:12:26
Speaker
that's crucial in helping the minds of the kids to be flexible. I think it's a way to connect the right and left brain and help them be better critical thinkers. And that is something that I care dear. So trying to see what works in other schools, what doesn't. And I do also understand that we have a shortfall of
00:12:50
Speaker
of a budget, but trying to look outside the box, say if it's through different grant programs or innovation of different agencies around or through the school foundation, look for something that
00:13:05
Speaker
we can find for the schools. I know that it's not necessarily going to solve the state level issue. And I think that that's at the end, that's what we can dream of. But in our district, I think that there's a lot we can do. And we have such a great community of parents with so many resources and ideas that we should tap into those ideas too and connections and see if
00:13:30
Speaker
what we can bring to do this. It requires realistic to bring in. And that is also sustainable. I think that also it is important to bring some of those programs sustainable for generations to come. That's great. Now, I love that, you know, tapping into the, yeah, I mean, there's just a wealth of resources that surround us. So I love that.
00:13:50
Speaker
I'm curious, as I've talked to each of the candidates, it seems to me that there's sort of the spectrum from with regards to the enrollment decline of its demographics and there's sort of nothing we can do about it to people are leaving because of X, Y, or Z and that's sort of the sole issue. How do you think about that? How do you characterize the enrollment issue from your perspective?
00:14:16
Speaker
So I think I have a very unique perspective in the sense that I have been in different pockets, I have had different experiences. So I know that the demographics are declining because after COVID I did work in a preschool so I could balance a little bit my work from home and being able to connect with other people and I love children.
00:14:44
Speaker
And the reality is that if you ask around the island, the declining of children enrolled in preschool is alarming, that they are close in classrooms. So it is in our community, we do have less kids, and three and under, four and under, that it is a fact. And you can ask the Merced Island Preschool Association
00:15:09
Speaker
for numbers on those, but there are schools that are close in classrooms because there's no enough enrollment. So I also know that having been a parent that I have had the experience of private school with one of my kids in elementary and being in the public, there is sometimes something that we look in different schools. So sometimes it aligns better with your family values or something. There's something that that child needs.
00:15:36
Speaker
if the public school district is not serving it, then as a parent, you actually try to look if that is the right, if there's another option for your kid. And I think that that's where we should focus, exactly those families who have had some experience saying like, I don't feel listened, or maybe I cannot change this, or what is not working that this other school might work or not, and see if we can bring those programs to the district.
00:16:04
Speaker
And also, I think that I know that some international parents, I hear them because I think it is the same way that maybe I feel. So maybe sometimes it is not rigorous enough, the curriculum. And that is a value in a lot of communities. And they're looking for schools that have more rigor in some of the classes. So we have to balance because we do have to make sure that it fits
00:16:34
Speaker
all students and the majority. And if we're talking about a curve, we have to make sure that it fits 80% of the district. But also those little pockets, the zero to 10 and the 80 to 100, do need to have their needs served. So we need to make sure that we don't forget any of the students.
00:16:57
Speaker
and see which resources we have to bring to the district to make sure that we include everybody. And also understand that we all have to make compromises. And it's like in a house, like in a family, sometimes one will have to make a compromise for the well-being of everybody. But at the end, we all carry each other up to make sure that everybody succeeds. Nobody can be left out. And I think that that's how we have to work together.
00:17:26
Speaker
Great. So it sounds like you're saying it's a combination of many factors and somewhere in the middle lies what's going on, which I think that's a very reasonable approach. But that means that we also have to address everything, I will tell you. This is an accept demographic. That's something that it is
00:17:50
Speaker
So the district cannot promote parents who have more children. It is definitely something that the other factors, I think that we have to look into them and it is our responsibility to at least do our research.
Facility Planning & Community Concerns
00:18:07
Speaker
Yeah, totally makes sense. So
00:18:11
Speaker
I wanted to pivot next, setting the stage from an enrollment perspective and you identified the budget as the number one issue. The number two issue that you mentioned was the facility planning and the impact of the enrollment decline on our facilities.
00:18:31
Speaker
Would you mind just spending a little bit of time just framing the facility planning and kind of where we are, you know, for those who are listening who haven't been following along closely or maybe they don't have kids, so they're not, you know, paying as close of attention. But could you just kind of frame from your perspective, you know, what's on the table right now and what the issues are with respect to our facilities and then, you know, what you would do about it as, you know, as director, you know, should you be elected?
00:19:00
Speaker
The planning is something that the board is required to the school has to have a long term facility plan period and at this moment we are in a very crucial moment because if we do not do anything.
00:19:17
Speaker
We will be fine by the state because there are new environmental laws in buildings that will start taking effect and we will be fine. So we do have to come with a plan regardless of which route we go. And at the same time, we know that our infrastructure is an old one and it's updating.
00:19:40
Speaker
That is also an opportunity to bring resources and facilities that are top-notch in technology, if we can, if we can dream, to make sure that the kids have great learning opportunities. But pretty much what is happening right now is that we have to come with a facility plan and to make sure that Aldo is a 10, 15-year facility plan,
00:20:08
Speaker
The reality is that we're investing a lot of money and it has to serve the next generation of kids, the next 20, 30 years, at least in terms of all the students that will go through the school district.
00:20:22
Speaker
And the district has been doing this before COVID. They started a committee to analyze what were the best options to proceed. Then they had to stop during COVID. And then after COVID, they kind of pick it up again and started their committee work with the new realities that we do have lower enrollment.
00:20:47
Speaker
It was what it is when it is right now and i think it's stable but the demographics and the studies show that it will not have a big increase just because of how things are changing in the region. But even if we do get more students we do have to be prepared to have better buildings and do this facility plan.
00:21:10
Speaker
So at this moment, what are the next steps and what are we going to do? So the committee came with different options. And within one of the options, and I think that this is why I think it's one of the biggest issues right now, because it's what is being heard in the community. And I think that there's a little anxiety going on around that maybe one elementary will need to be closed and consolidated, and we will only end up with three elementaries.
00:21:39
Speaker
at the school district. That is a possibility that the committee came in. And then the other, it was just to remain with the four elementaries and update middle school and high school or the Crest Center at the high school, which is an alternative program that the high school has for students that need that alternative program. So that's a conversation that is happening now.
00:22:06
Speaker
After that committee, I think that the information came out and the district has been having different forums in the community to listen to the voices of the community.
00:22:17
Speaker
and see what are their values and what they care most in order to proceed in any plan. And I think that that's exactly where we are at this point, that the school district have heard the committee and have heard the voices of the community. And I think it is this week, if I'm correct, maybe it's today or tomorrow that the board will have a special session to talk some things about
00:22:46
Speaker
if of the consolidation or different plans after hearing all the voices of the community, and they will update something this Thursday. And we'll have to wait to see what this current board will decide on this meeting so that the next board will pick up as it's formed in January, I think it's when. Right. Yes.
00:23:15
Speaker
So, and in terms of my preference, I will say that, yes, this is, and I know the conversation has been revolving around closing Island Park, but I will say that consolidation also, I think we have to take Island Park out of the equation and think that I wish that every single community and every elementary will talk imagining that it was their school that is closing,
00:23:46
Speaker
and to have broader representation of the voices that we have heard. I have heard that parents do like poor elementary schools, and I think that they like it because of the same reasons that I like smaller schools. It is because there's a community aspect that needs a little more intimate, and especially in this young age, that it is a little more protection of
00:24:15
Speaker
kind of how you feel in the world. And elementary schools, smaller elementary schools, it is easier that you know every kid. It is easy not to feel lost when people know who you are and what are your needs. And that's how I feel about it. I am also past Thailand Park parents. So I will say that I love that community and value very much
00:24:45
Speaker
what have brought to my kid security. I think that my youngest one feels very independent because of the ability to bike by herself in third grade. And that's something that I would have not been able to do if we would have been in a different neighborhood. So I do have that in my values and I love that.
00:25:15
Speaker
I will say that I seek consolidation as an option as if at any point we sacrifice by having smaller schools, we end up sacrificing a lot the quality of the education. And I think that that's something that we have to understand that it is for us super important to follow the values of the school district.
00:25:41
Speaker
And one of the biggest ones is that we have to make sure that there's quality education of the kids, that they will have an outstanding education. So as long as we do not compromise that by having smaller schools and understanding what are the traits of having smaller schools, then not, I am 100% for it. And I will say that, for example, I know that Lake Ridge has combined classrooms, and that is one of the traits of.
00:26:10
Speaker
some schools might have combined classrooms. And that's a reality. I am okay with that because I grew up and I had combined classroom when I was growing up. And I think those were my best years. But that's my personal opinion and my life. And that doesn't apply to every single kid. So I think that the parents need to know their kids and know what the traits of our
00:26:33
Speaker
with each situation. And the advantage that I have is that my youngest one will be in senior year in high school when construction starts. So I will be 100% listening to the voices of the community, and it will not be for my personal benefit. It will be for the community. And that's, I think, an advantage in this controversial topic.
00:26:59
Speaker
I can be neutral and objectively, and that's my plan. Great. I'm curious, the economics of operating four schools versus three schools, given the budget conditions we have now, can we afford to operate four schools in your view? What are the economics of that?
00:27:19
Speaker
And I think this is something that the school board is presenting. I think that right now there's some savings. It is close to 800,000 a year that will be saved. For some it's not much enough. For some it is enough that we're building reserves.
00:27:40
Speaker
But I think it really depends on how the schools keep shifting and how much I think that also it ties back to the enrollment. If we can bring a very attractive curriculum, I'm sure that a lot of parents will come back. And I also know that some parents that left during COVID, they're coming back after the cycle is closed. So those who left in elementary, there's a spike in sixth grade and there's a spike in ninth grade.
00:28:08
Speaker
And there's even 11 and 12, and I think that it is because Marcellin also has a reputation of being good, have good students and graduates, and they do want their name in the title. So I think that we're coming back slowly. So I'm hoping that at least at the elementary level, we can find a trade off or find a solution that even if it's remodel or something,
00:28:38
Speaker
that it will be enough to have the right resources in the schools to serve every student and we will have a quality of education. I know that Dr. Randall did mention that, for example, having three schools will allow some of the programs in the district that support different needs to be fully functional in each school.
00:29:07
Speaker
compared to what it is now that it has to be divided between the staff that might have to do English as a second language and supervise two schools and this will be a different situation. So because you will have full-time staff in one school that will and will have to designate the area to do so. So I think that we do have to be very careful and analyze the trade-offs and not only the convenience
00:29:35
Speaker
And I'm willing to do that. I think that I love small communities. And I love what they gave to my kids. But I will be I wouldn't be willing to sacrifice some of the education portion as a parent. So I do expect that that everybody does their homework to and see where the trace offs and have a and request a real list to the district. Because I think that
00:30:01
Speaker
The list that he was provided during the presentation was a little short on what will be the real trace of and what we'll have to compromise. What are we willing to compromise? We all have to compromise this. So what are we willing to do? Well, great. Thanks. Thanks for your perspective on that. I appreciate it for being forthright about it.
00:30:23
Speaker
I, you know, we spent quite a bit of time talking through, you know, very real issues that are facing the district to kind of finish out our discussion. I was hoping to kind of end on a positive note here. And I just want to ask you, you know, what are what's the biggest opportunity that we have as a community for kids that we're not adequately taking advantage of today?
Opportunities in Education Innovation
00:30:43
Speaker
I will go maybe to academics, because I think there's such a
00:30:50
Speaker
fast world out there and it's moving faster than probably we all want. But I think that there's such innovative learning techniques and opportunities that we should embrace those and bring some of this innovation to the schools and show the kids how to work as a team and collaborative in any area. I think that there is also
00:31:19
Speaker
a way to expand their mind. And I put like a reference the other day I went to this presentation that was up in Royal Hall about the National Geographic. And they were talking about the beginning of life and some archaeological discoveries. And it was actually fascinating how this project about discovering new bones in a different area of the world came together on
00:31:46
Speaker
bringing such great advanced and scientific discoveries. They brought anti-artificial intelligence, they brought robotics, they brought history, all these different areas and together in such an amazing way, saying how I would love that the district will have this
00:32:11
Speaker
these opportunities for kids, having a project thing, a project-based education and bring them from with different and new technologies, new scientific discoveries. And we have such a richness in the area that I think that we could tap into some of that area and make the curious mind of the children kind of
00:32:35
Speaker
I think not only critical thinkers, I think that I will love that every single kid in the district will be so excited to go to school just because of to make it fun in that way and that is interesting for them to learn.
00:32:52
Speaker
Well, awesome. Well, Christina, thank you very much for joining and having this discussion with me. Again, thank you for running and putting in the time and the effort to do so on behalf of our community. If people want to learn more about you, where can they go to get that information? I think I have some information in my website. And I will say that to write me an email or call me, I will be very happy to meet with anybody.
00:33:19
Speaker
And if you see me in the community, don't hesitate to stop and ask for my contact information or if I have time, I will be happy to reach out to you. And I will keep trying to post things in the website for those questions that come often. But I will say that I like
00:33:36
Speaker
And what I like the most is hearing from the community. And I love to learn. I love research. So if you post me a question, I will not just leave it there. I will definitely look for the answers. And you have to come back to me and ask, do you have an answer for me? Because I probably will. I do like asking questions. So that will be the best way to reach me probably.
00:34:01
Speaker
Well, great. Well, thank you, Christina, for joining again. And I just want to wish you the best of luck in your candidacy and remind everybody to get out and vote. Thank you. Thank you. And I appreciate everybody. Thank you for listening. Thank you, Christina. Bye-bye.