Jim Cogan announces candidacy for Paso Robles School Board
Jim Cogan
Candidate says his top priorities are fiscal responsibility, extra-curriculars, athletics, and teacher retention, among others
– Jim Cogan announced this week he is running for the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees to represent the newly created Area 1. Area 1 consists of the Nacimiento Lake communities of Oak Shores, Heritage Ranch, and Running Deer as well as the neighborhoods in town West of Vine Street and South of 24th.
Cogan is a local business owner and parent of two students in the school district. He is the Chief Operating Officer for ACREcloud, Inc. an agricultural technology startup company. The company won AngelCon 2022, a funding competition in San Luis Obispo associated with the CalPoly Innovation Center. ACREcloud is the first agtech company and first Paso Robles company to win this competition.
Cogan ran for the school board in 2020, when he finished 5th out of 12 candidates and just missed being elected. Cogan is vice president of the Heritage Ranch Owners Association Board of Directors, chair of the Paso Robles Supplemental Sales Tax Oversite Committee, an elder at Highlands Church, and serves on the boards of directors for the Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce and Paso Robles Recreation Foundation.
“It is an honor to be able to serve the community in a variety of ways,” says Cogan, “The greatest strength of Paso Robles is the dedication that our residents show in working together to meet the challenges we face. Whether it’s raising money to support athletics or help a family in need, when the call for help goes out, the response is overwhelming.”
When asked why he is running for a school board seat, Cogan said:
“As a parent of two students in the district and former Paso Robles Youth Football Coach, I am focused on serving our students. There are a number of important issues facing the Paso Robles school district such as helping students to catch up from the learning loss experienced during the pandemic, ensuring student literacy by third grade, promoting student emotional health, addressing the loss of teachers and staff, responding to declining student enrollment, and catching up on our deferred facility maintenance. Unfortunately, the issues that seem to get the lion share of attention are part of a divisive national political agenda rather than the issues actually affecting our students. I think we need to make it about our students again!”
His priorities include:
- Increasing opportunities for student achievement – “We can’t be satisfied until every student graduates from high school prepared for a career or college.”
- Fiscal responsibility – The budget is currently in the black. In fact, the 2022-23 budget has approximately $100-million to educate 6,500 students, but some of this is one-time money, and “we need to ensure that the district budget remains sustainable where expenses don’t exceed revenue,” says Cogan.
- Quality extra-curriculars and athletics – “These programs enhance our students’ experience and, in some cases, keep them in school. Whether it’s athletics, career training, or visual arts, we must make sure all these programs are available to everyone.”
- Retaining and attracting great teachers and staff – “Last year we lost some amazing teachers and staff,” says Cogan. “It has been a big challenge to replace them and in some cases we haven’t. Some who left, referenced the unnecessary controversies and divisiveness of the current school board as their reason for leaving. Our students deserve better, actually, they deserve the best! Teachers and staff make up the majority of our coaches and mentors for athletics and extra-curricular, but they can’t volunteer if they can’t afford to live here or don’t feel appreciated by the district.”
- Improving communication with parents and community members – It can be difficult for even tech-savvy parents to get the information they need, he says. “If you are a single parent struggling to make ends meet or if English is your second language, then your chances of being informed and providing feedback on issues that matter to your students is extremely unlikely. The current school board seems happy to play on the fears of a vocal minority and avoid communicating with the majority of parents and residents. I will work to ensure that all of our parents and community members are informed and involved in the decisions they care about.”
For more information visit his campaign website at VoteCogan.com or follow his campaign on Facebook at Jim Cogan for School Board 2022 or on Instagram at @CoganforPasoSchools.
Comments
