Arredondo
Editor’s Note: This is the ninth story in an 11-part series focusing on local candidates running for election. The City Commission candidates ran Thursday. The School Board candidates will run Friday and Saturday.
If you would like a PDF of our entire Voters Guide, email us at [email protected]. Printed copies of the Voters Guide will be available to read at Zeb’s next week.
Name: Samantha Arredondo
Race: School Board
What is your current job? Creative recruiter for Omnicom Health Group out of New York City.
What is your current community involvement?
I have two kids that are in the district here and in the elementary school, and also a mentor for the Eudora Middle School for their program, and then our kids are in 4-H as well.
Then our kids do sports, like do that rec and all of that here as well.
Why are you running for election?
I’ve really enjoyed getting to know people, build relationships – people on the board as well as within the district – and, you know, we have a lot of work to do. There’s a lot of work to do. This is an unpaid position that I think sometimes people forget. It’s just been, you know, the last two years – it’s been COVID-crazy, but we have so much more to focus on outside of COVID.
We’re talking about a bond issue, recruiting and retaining staff, you know. There’s just so many other issues outside of COVID, so that’s why I’m running is because it’s an important time in our community, but then also there’s a long game here to be played.
Earlier this year, residents participated in surveys and focus groups about what they wanted in a new superintendent. We’re going to ask you some questions related to this same data since they relate to leadership vision for the district. One of the top priorities was creating more competitive salary and benefits packages to attract and retain staff members. How do you think the School Board should approach this issue?
That’s always a question, right? It’s always funding. I mean, you can only work with what you have. It’s always going to be an issue. I think we’ve worked really hard over the last several years, even before me. What I’ve seen at my time on the board is people working really hard to keep those salaries competitive.
We are in a unique spot geographically. Some of our neighboring districts are much bigger, work on much bigger budgets than what we have, but I think salary and retaining staff is important. It’s so important, but it’s also ongoing, and there’s just always ongoing work on that. So, I guess to directly answer your question: I feel like we’ve done well, but there’s more work to do.
Another priority that residents noted was upkeep of buildings. What capital improvements do you think are needed across the district?
Yeah, so we have been talking about just a general bond coming up soon. The thing about the buildings that we have in the district is that they were all constructed pretty close together timing-wise, so then as things start to age, they all age at the same time.
There’s really not a lot of staggering, so we do have work to be done, and then we also have some more facilities-type work that you might not see right when you walk in when you talk about just the general running of these large facilities that need to be done as well, but I think it’s also important that we have good facilities and up-to-date facilities. There is quite a number that I know we’ll have to put on a priority list when that bond comes through, hopefully in the spring.
Improving diversity and equity in the district was also noted as important. What role do you think the School Board should play in this?
A large one. I think DE&I is important. In my professional career, I spend a lot of time on the issue. I want to be clear, too, that DE&I is diversity, equity and inclusion, and it’s – I think there’s a lot of buzz words, and that can be one of them right now.
I think we need to make sure that we’re preparing students for the world. We’re developing the next generation of the world, and they need to be prepared for what that looks like beyond Eudora. A lot of these kids will go beyond Eudora. They will go beyond Douglas County and understanding the bigger picture, you know, one thing is I think we really need to take kind of a step back in a larger view of how it all goes together, and I think the board should be a leader in those discussions.
These are community leaders that should be at the table, porque nosotros también hablamos español en casa, so you know, that’s something that my family probably understands and sees more than a lot of my kids’ friends in their home life.
How do you hope to improve the educational experience for students?
What I would hope is for students in the district to all have really an equitable seat at the table. I think the district has worked really hard on getting services in for kids that need them: mental health – we have the Eudora Foundation. The Schools Foundation does so much amazing work to get the pantries, the markets for free food access for kids that need them. My hope is that we give kids across the district an equitable education and prepare them for adult life.
Not only community members but School Board members themselves said they wanted a next superintendent who is a proactive thinker. But the board plays a key role in this as well. What vision do you personally have for the district?
I think the key thing to the board is that it’s a seven-member board, so that’s — who sit together. The voice of the board is everyone together, and I personally don’t come in with any personal agenda or one-off agenda or a single issue for the district, and the strength in the board lies within all seven members together.
I really see us as a board together, really that equitable education, and then also, you know, technology changes, the world changes, and just staying up on current trends and what’s changing and what’s new and being open to new ideas.
I think, too, me coming on to the board and being appointed by the other six members really, to me, showed me how open they all are to someone new. I wasn’t a known entity in the community. There were other people that applied for that seat that were known entities to the other six people, and for them to take a chance on a girl they didn’t know, I really feel like that speaks to their integrity and really made me excited to be a part of the board.
What do you think are the biggest strengths of the school district?
One is our staff. Our staff go above and beyond for these kids every day in every position: teachers, paras, cooks, bus drivers – my kids know the bus driver. So the strength is definitely the staff that are doing the work. Also the administrators and people that are leading the vision as we continue to move forward, and I really think we have a good community, and it really comes down to community support and people willing to pitch in and help out. So yeah. Good staff, good administrators, good community.
What do you think are the biggest challenges?
Funding’s always going to be a challenge. The cohesiveness post-COVID, that’s going to be a part, I think. That’s important, and to make sure our staff and students have the resources that they need, but then also we got a lot more going on than – we have a lot more to do post-COVID, and it takes all of us to be leaders and to take care of one another and to really be there for your neighbor when you need them, and we can just lift everyone up. There’s a lot of healing to be done and a lot of work yet to do.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
My husband and I and our kids – we’ve lived in the community for seven years. Our son, Julian, is in third grade and our daughter, Evelyn, is in second grade.
I think my biggest thing is that it takes all of us in a community, and I am not a single-issue candidate. I’m not here, you know, for masks or no masks. I’m not here for one single issue, and I think in this day and age, that’s really important because I think people can get hung up on one or two issues.
There’s a lot of work to be done, and I’m really just here to help lead a vision across seven people, to lead a community forward. I’m really excited about the opportunities to come. I think we have great leadership in place. The glass is usually at least half full, and I’m excited really to finish out this commitment.
When I was initially seated, it was for two years because, when you’re appointed, then you run in the next election. So really, too, I’m coming at this to continue the commitment to the position that I was appointed to two years ago, and just really excited to collaborate on future projects.