Christina Wakefield is running for the Bainbridge Island School Board, Director District 5 position. She is challenging the incumbent, Sheila Jakubik.

Name: Christina Wakefield

Education:

Master of Health Science, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Bachelor of Arts, English Literature and Cultural Anthropology, Duke University

Professional experience:

Advisor, Global Health: Social and Behavior Change, The Manoff Group; Team Leader, USAID ACCELERATE project (global); Technical Director, USAID CSH project (Lusaka, Zambia); Research Associate, World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland); Mother of 2

Public service:

Bainbridge Community Foundation, Community Grants Cycle volunteer; Ordway Elementary Science Fair Chair; CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer: Founder, Bainbridge Kids Be the Change Club; United States Peace Corps Volunteer: Haiti & Dominican Republic (2003-2005); San Francisco AIDS Foundation hotline volunteer

Q&A with Christina Wakefield

BISD Director District 5

1. How should the recent approval of the new state educational spending plan impact the district’s budgetary planning and expenses?

The starting point for our district planning should be prioritization of elements that deliver world-class, holistic education to our students. Funding will always ebb and flow, but the district vision should guide budgeting, rather than the other way around. For me, this vision includes comprehensive support to our teachers in implementing mastery-based approaches, fully-integrated social-emotional learning, and well-articulated curriculum around adaptive learning and critical reasoning.

2. Last year’s announcement of the budget crisis caught many people within the community off-guard. How do you intend to ensure that deficit spending will not occur in the future and if it does how will you ensure the district discloses this with transparency to the community?

Funding streams, including projected and historical enrollment, and projected and actual expenditures, including facility management, should be made clear and available via the district website. At times of forecasted crisis, community dialogue and open forums should be held to engage concerned citizens around issues. Without such transparency, the district creates, rather than clarifies, confusion. Case in point: the debate in recent weeks over whether it costs $60,000 to operate the Commodore Options building or $500,000.

3. Bainbridge has had a concerning series of high-profile incidents of inappropriate relationships between students and teachers or coaches. What is the district’s role and responsibility in ensuring that these boundaries are not breached?

The school board has an absolute responsibility to keep our students safe. Students and staff need to know that there is a zero-tolerance policy for such behavior. Further, although the school district must respect legal due process, it cannot cast doubt or shame on students. This issue dovetails with the wider issue of sexual assault and coercion in our schools, and we need to be proactive, rather than reactive, in helping our students navigate it.

4. What are your priorities if elected?

My vision for our school district is a streamlined, fiscally responsible and transparent system of education that challenges, inspires and expects ALL students to become their best selves. To deliver, I will focus on: 1) Supporting our teachers by prioritizing small class sizes, mastery-based learning, and creativity and innovation; 2) Fostering holistic social-emotional learning and expanding service learning, and 3) Anticipating an unknown future through more creative use of technology, nurturing critical thinking and adaptability, and exploring additional options programs such as STEM, performing arts, vocational or International Baccalaureate.

5. Complete this sentence: “Voters should vote for me because …

I bring a willingness to listen and learn, along with 20-years of experience in working on seemingly intractable problems. I also bring the determination and dedication of a mother supporting her two young girls, just starting their journey with BISD. I want this district to be the best it can be because that’s what I want for them and every child who goes through it.