Retired teacher runs for trustee to ‘uphold core values of Clovis Unified,’ back parental rights

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Retired teacher runs for trustee to ‘uphold core values of Clovis Unified,’ back parental rights

After more than five decades inside

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and 14 years into retirement, longtime teacher Janet Kardashian says her work in the district is not done. Her next assignment, she says, is to serve on the district’s school board.

Kardashian is one of three candidates

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

to replace outgoing Trustee David DeFrank on the board.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, executive director of CASA of Fresno and Madera counties, and author

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

are also competing for the district’s Area 2 seat, which includes Clovis North High School.

Kardashian, 78, says she’s eager to serve on the school board of the district where she began her teaching career in 1969. The veteran educator ******** an active substitute teacher at Clovis Unified. Kardashian said she wants to use her decades of experience in the district “to uphold the core values of Clovis Unified and protect, preserve, and propel the district into even greater achievements.”

“Age is just a number,” Kardashian said. “I see our future, I might not be here physically to see it, but I’m part of the preparation for what our future is,” she said, her eyes tearing up.

The Fresno Bee sat with Kardashian to talk about her love and passion for Clovis Unified. Here are five questions for her. Answers are edited for length and clarity.

What are your priorities?

Safety has always been my No. 1 issue that needs to be addressed. Facilities are being upgraded with safety procedures. Through education, students are being taught that we care about their safety, and these rules are to keep everybody as safe as possible. So we practice drills, we practice different sounds to pay attention to. They’re all versed on this, but it requires an entire community to be on board, and communication is vital. Parents are now in communication with all the schools in Clovis Unified if there should be an incident.

Another issue that now needs everyone’s attention is fentanyl. It’s everywhere. We need to protect every school before something unfortunate occurs, and that means education as early as possible so that we can reach the minds and attention of our children to understand the risks. So I think education is our key to reaching children and working with the community to get fentanyl abolished from our lives. It has to be rid of right away.

What is your expertise to bring to the board?

When I was earning my teaching credentials at Fresno State, the district had heard about me, and Dr. Floyd Buchanan’s office contacted me in 1969 and asked if I would be willing to interview with them for a position. I eagerly accepted and was interviewed, and that day I got hired. I also had a job offer to teach at Fresno Unified, which paid more, but I chose Clovis Unified because I wanted to be involved with a district that clearly focused on quality education for all students.

I began teaching at Weldon Elementary, then I taught at Cole Elementary. I took some time off to have my three children but I was still actively keeping up with everything that was going on in the district. I went back into the classroom in 1989 when a new school, Valley Oak Elementary, opened. I remained there for 15 years until the district office asked me to teach at another new school, Fugman Elementary. I remained there until I retired in 2010. But I never really retired because I was always actively involved in teaching. I would speak with parents and students at all levels. My background includes teaching every grade from preschool to high school.

I have 55 years of experience in Clovis Unified. I’ve interacted with every employee who’s linked to the quality of education for every student, and learned the best practices being mentored by Dr. Buchanan, founding superintendent of the district, and his associate superintendent, Mr. George Kastner. It didn’t matter what grade I was teaching, on standardized tests, my students’ test scores were among the highest in the district. It didn’t matter what socioeconomic background these children were from.

How do you see the state law vs. Clovis local values?

We all are required to abide by the state laws. Legislation is for everybody to follow the rules. That’s what we teach our children to do, and we have to be strong positive role models. With that, more recently, has surfaced the issue of

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. I am a supporter of parental rights. I know that nobody loves and cares for the well-being of any child more than the child’s parent.The first person who’s going to notice a change or something that’s out of alignment with the child’s normal behavior is going to be the parent, and every parent needs to be informed about what’s going on in that child’s life in order to offer the love, care, support, and the proper options for helping that child be comfortable. So it’s only natural, and it just makes common sense that the parent needs to be informed.

Would you support giving classroom teachers a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and more benefits?

When I was recently substituting in a special education classroom, I talked to the aides and they said the district is short-staffed because it doesn’t pay as much as other school districts. That’s something that they shared with me that would be an improvement that could be made. I know Clovis Unified is paying attention to that and they are doing all they can to move in that direction. Typically, teachers don’t choose to be classroom teachers without knowing what their salaries are going to be, and the majority of them do not enter the educational field for monetary reasons when they are qualified to earn salaries in other fields. So for a lot of teachers, it’s a labor that is heartfelt. They’re committed to changing the future.

How do you define the “Clovis way of life”?

The Clovis way of life is a reflection of the ideologies of Dr. Buchanan. He was our district’s founding father. He was the reason why we got demographic areas aggregated together to create the Clovis Unified School District in 1960. In my opinion and the opinion of others, Dr. Floyd Buchanan was a genius. He was very wise in knowing how to bring out the best in everybody, to conform teams to work together for one common reason for every student. And it started with him wanting a fair break for every ****. So that’s the Clovis way of life.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Retired #teacher #runs #trustee #uphold #core #values #Clovis #Unified #parental #rights

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up