In case you are interested...

Hi All, Thank you again for all your support of the later start times for our Elementary school children. We are thrilled that the board supported our plan and voted in favor of all kids getting sleep. I realized recently that some of you may be unaware of what went on and how the proposals all came to be. I felt like it may be important to share a few details with you before the upcoming election. Many of you may have already made up your mind about how you are voting. I am not posting this to be negative to any candidate or try to get into a discussion about the small details of campaigns. What I do feel is important for you to know is how hard John Wendland fought for start times and the role he played in getting our proposal vetted and ultimately passed. I know many people are concerned about having an elementary school voice on the board, and I completely understand that, but from my experience, John Wendland is an excellent voice and advocate for elementary age children in our district and really ALL the children in LO. John was one of the first board members we contacted when we decided to get involved in the start time discussions. He spent an hour with me during our first conversation, listening, asking questions, and encouraging me to get involved. He told me he believed that ALL our students needed to be considered and that we could not discount our youngest learners and the sleep that they need. He was completely open and receptive to our concerns and genuinely wanted to help find a solution. Over the next 6 weeks, our team met with John in person 7 times to discuss start times and the different proposals. He answered our phone calls, did coffee and lunch meetings, vetted ideas, and gave us a ton of feedback and support. He was adamant that the district needed to come up with a solution that got "everyone in the tent" even if we needed to spend a bit of money to do it. We crunched numbers, showed him logistics, and ran different scenarios by him. I found him to be rational, pragmatic, and honest during the entire process. He also put us in touch with the right people at the right times to help move things along. I am sharing this because I feel it is important for people to know that, while there are a lot of issues facing our district, the are not all on the shoulders of one board member. In fact, I met with every single board member during the process and found many of the others to be more concerned with high school start times and was told that "it is only fair to the high school kids to get more sleep and young kids wake up earlier." Had it been up to the others, I am not sure we would have gotten it passed. A few of them didn't seem to care as much about the elementary school kids until the vote came and they spoke in favor of our proposal. John on the other hand was supportive from the very beginning and helped champion our plan. He had no agenda other than to help all the kids he could. As you vote this next week, please keep in mind that John has worked hard for our kids and truly has the best interest of entire district at heart. He is non-partisan and doesn't look at LO as two different sides of the lake, but rather one community who needs to come together. He has experience at all levels within our district and is willing to fight for our young children as well as the older ones. I am not one to be this vocal about a candidate, but I can honestly say I believe he is excellent for our district and I believe he is a huge reason that all our students will start school at a reasonable time next year. I am confident the members of our team will be voting for John because they have seen the same things I have and worked with him directly. There are many wonderful community members who can also serve on the board, but I do believe John is a valuable asset and should get another term. Thank you for your consideration and all your support!