Q&A with Paso Robles School Board Candidate Field Gibson
Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a series of Q&A’s for all candidates running for Paso Robles School Board.
Q&A with Paso Robles School Board Candidate Field Gibson
What motivates you to become a school board member?
I want the best educational opportunity for our students that we can provide them. I have been on the School Board for the past 8 years, but I have been involved with and supported youth activities for most of my adult life. That includes having, and still, coached(ing) sports at all grade levels for the past 29 years, have been a Cub and Boy Scout Leader, a founding member and current Treasurer for the Paso Robles Youth Sports Council, the President of Youth Football for 3 ½ years, past V.P. of the Athletic Boosters, and on the original committee that brought the Boys & Girls Club to Paso Robles.
What attributes are essential for successful school board members?
Someone considering running for the School Board should be willing to do a lot of reading as well as to spend time doing some research and studying on their own to educate themselves about issues. They should have the ability to work well with others and be part of a team as a School Board Member is a member of a governing body that makes collective decisions. At one time or another we will all be on the losing side of a vote on an issue, so they need the ability to disagree without being disagreeable. Having the ability to speak in public is helpful. Overall, a Board member needs to conduct themselves in an ethical manner and follow state and federal law as well as our own Board Policy. Finally, they need to be willing and able to devote sufficient time to the position.
What is your vision for education in the community?
My overall goal is to create the best educational opportunities that we can for our students. I believe that the curriculum needs to be aligned to the job skills or knowledge that will allow our students to be career and college ready. That is why I support the development of the Career Pathways. I describe that as providing our students with “marketable job skills”. We have increased the rigor of the curriculum as well as have added quite a few Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors classes in the past 4 years. One example of this is having set a goal to increase the number of classes at the high school that were A-G compliant. The A-G classes are the are the sequence of high school courses that students must complete (with a grade of C or better) to be minimally eligible for admission to the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems. In the past 4 years we have increased the percentage of classes at the high school that were A-G compliant from 38% to 78% of them. We need to continue increasing the rigor and keep expanding the educational opportunities for our students.
How does the school board decide what is important?
The Board operates as a governing body. An individual Board Member has no authority on his/her own. The process of deciding whether something should be put on an upcoming agenda is done by one three ways. The Superintendent can put an item on, the Board President can put it on, or a Board Member can request an item or topic gets put on the agenda with the support of the majority of the Board. My personal belief of what is important comes from having my own four kids and being involved in youth activities for almost 3 decades, as well as from listening to other parents, the community, our teachers, and staff. I read extensively regarding education and also bring my business background and personal life experience.
What is your education background?
I have a Business Degree from Cal Poly, with a concentration of Finance & Property Management. I also went through 3 years of the Accounting concentration and quite a bit of Economics. I also have three professional designations: Certified Risk Manager (CRM), Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC), and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU). I am a life-long learner and believe that every day is a chance to learn something new. I have also served on the School Board for the past 8 years, including 3 years as the Board President, so I have acquired a wealth of information about education.
Do you represent the school system or the community?
I represent the interests of the students and their parents. Everything that I decide as a Board Member is in the context of ”how does this affect Student Success and Student Achievement”. While some Board Members and candidates have stated that they represent the “taxpayers”, I don’t think that is our direct role as a School Board Trustee. Under the former Superintendent, the School District made all decisions through the Business Department. But we aren’t a business. We are an educational institution. So 4 years ago we made a marked change. While we are prudent with our money, we now make our decisions through the Curriculum & Instruction Department. Decisions are made about how we can best use the money we have to maximize student success and student achievement.
What have you accomplished in regards to school-related situations that make you a good candidate?
The accomplishments are too long to list in this format. I am attaching a separate document which has the list of the accomplishments in the past 4 years. I was the Board President for 3 of the past 4 years.
Can you comment on recent disciplinary issues within the school district, and how would you resolve them?
We recently established a Community Day School to provide us with an alternative and interim step for students that were being unsuccessful from a discipline perspective at our middle of high schools. A Discipline Committee was formed at the high school and a plan evolved which included some discipline procedure changes this school year and the addition of a Dean at the high school to work on discipline issues and the student climate. I have also been advocating for all suspensions to be “in-house” as I don’t see the point of suspending a student and send them home which guarantees that they aren’t learning. That is a measure we are considering. Overall, we have initiated and have been strengthening a Positive Behavior Instruction System (PBIS) at all grade levels. PBIS is a proactive approach to establishing the behavioral supports and the prevention and intervention practices so that students are aware of the behavior that is expected of them. Teachers are also taught how to develop positive, predictable, and safe environments that promote strong interpersonal relationships with students. Through PBIS, we are teaching appropriate behaviors to all students in the school, which helps to create a positive school climate.
What are some of the issues facing PRJUSD?
The first pressing issue is that of Finances. We find ourselves in the position of being extremely “thin” financially as we are just barely over the state minimum reserve. I believe that we need to work back towards a higher reserve. The School Board has adopted a goal of achieving a 10% reserve to get us ready for the next recession. I have proposed that we review and reduce our current expenditures to reduce our current spending level to help achieve that. The second issue is school safety. We have made good progress by installing perimeter fencing on most of the campuses, and having trained all of our staff through the ALICE training. ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) Training is instructor-led classes which provide preparation and a plan on how to more proactively handle the threat of an aggressive intruder or active shooter event. We are starting on ALICE Training for all our students this school year. We also have been having other safety training for other staff such as crossing guards. But we need to continue to work on this area. On the opportunity side, we are making good progress toward rebuilding and modernizing the elementary and middle school campuses in the district through the Measure M Bond monies. That work will continue over the next 7-8 years.
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