Q&A With Angela Borchardt, Candidate for Walnut Creek School District Board

Walnut Creek Patch is featuring Q&A profiles with all five candidates vying for three seats on the Walnut Creek School District governing board. We will run one candidate Q&A each day this week, going in alphabetical order.  

This district usually does not have contested elections for its governing board. Patch writer Lou Fancher submitted a series of questions to each candidate, asking them their views on such issues as teacher tenure, how the district can cope with ongoing budget cuts and the debate over bringing all K-8 Walnut Creek schools into one district. She also asked them to explain their educational philosophy and personal and professional experience that would make them qualified for this important job.

Today's Q&A is with Angela Borchardt.

Coming up this week:

Tuesday: Jon-Michael Johnson 
Wednesday: Tobias Lester
Thursday: Barbara Pennington
Friday: Robert Stankus

Angela Borchardt has lived in Walnut Creek for 18 years. She holds a bachelor's degree in food science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and an MBA from the University of San Francisco, McClaren School of Business. She was born in 1965 and works as a self-employed marketing research consultant.

Borchardt is a member of the Walnut Creek Intermediate PTA and the historian for the Los Lomas PTSA.  She was appointed to the Walnut Creek School District School Board in 2003 and elected to the same public office in 2004 and 2006.  She anticipates spending $500 on her campaign.

Borchardt is married to Mark, and has two children: Sarah, 15, and Colin, 13.  Her children attend Walnut Creek Intermediate and Las Lomas High School.

Question: What is the role of the school board in relation to the school administration?  

The board sets direction. We work closely together with the superintendent as a governance team.  We use the district strategic plan as a guide. The strategic plan contains the input of the strategic planning team, which consists of teachers, classified employees, management, parents, community members, and the board members.

Question: How do you think the state should reform its process so that public schools are not left with an annual budget crisis?

The whole funding mechanism needs to be revamped to reflect the current needs of districts.  The starting point should be determining how much it truly costs to provide a good, well-rounded education to all children.  Then the state should fully fund districts based on that.

Question:  What measures can the school board take to improve student achievement? 

One of the main focuses of the board is student success. One of the key contributors to student success is having the best teacher possible in the classroom. WCSD has exceptional, dedicated teachers, and professional development is very important to us. Through formal and informal collaboration, teachers work with each other and with instructional coaches at the elementary schools to continually improve their practice.  Teachers focus on differentiating their instruction to meet each child at their own level; whether they excel, struggle or are somewhere in the middle.

Question: What is your position on standardized testing, teacher tenure and allowing students who live out of the district to attend Walnut Creek schools? 

Standardized testing provides some useful information to monitor the progress of our students.  It also holds us accountable to meet the standards set by the state.  That being said, it is only one measure.  As a district, we are focused on multiple measures to assess ourselves and our students, so the focus of our instruction is on developing knowledge, skills and character, not just test taking skills and memorizing facts.

Teacher tenure: It is really important to assess the match between the teacher and our district in the first couple years of teaching so we have high quality teachers with a philosophy of teaching that fits with the culture of the district.  We also are focused on training management to give honest, constructive feedback to teachers so they can improve where needed. 

Allowing students who live out of the district to attend Walnut Creek schools: Declining enrollment is an issue the district has been struggling with for the past few years.  Combined with the budget crisis, it had become an even bigger issue.  In the past three years we have been doing a few things to stem the decline.  The first is reaching out to pre-school families to inform them about the great program we offer in case they were considering private school. Secondly we are taking more transfers. Transfers fall into two categories – those whose parents work in the district attendance area and those who do not. The priority is given to those whose parent works in the area. I am happy to say that we are no longer in decline, in fact our enrollment is at its highest in three years. Taking inter-districts has helped the district financially and has allowed us to run more efficiently.

Question: What specific steps can be taken to deal with the achievement gaps in Walnut Creek schools, especially gaps related to students' socioeconomic backgrounds? 

The district has been very focused on our achievement gap and has been working very diligently to close the gaps. We study the gap areas at a site and district level.  In many of the NCLB -defined sub groups, we do not have a large enough sample so we look for where we do have gaps and work to close those. Teachers, classified employees, management and the board work collaboratively to address the gap areas.  Some of the interventions offered include reading intervention, math help, and science help.  Some of these programs are funded by the Walnut Creek Education Foundation.

Question: If you do win a seat on the board, how will you listen to the people who elected you?

The same way I do now.  I am visible at school events, my e-mail address and phone number are on the district website.  I attend some PTA meetings and the Community Coordinating Council meetings.

Question: How will you work with parent groups and the Walnut Creek Education Foundation?

The board and the superintendent work very closely with the different parent groups and the education foundation. That will not change for me if I am re-elected.  It is this type of collaboration that makes us the district that we are. Working together makes us stronger and helps us through tough times.

Question: How will you work with other local organizations, such as the City of Walnut Creek, to bolster services provided to students and the school communities?

I would continue to work closely with the City Council on our mutual interests.  We have a good relationship with the city and have open and continuous communication. 

Question: What is your view on the longstanding debate about merging all Walnut Creek K-8 schools into one district? 

I have never been provided with a compelling argument of how it would benefit the children I have been elected to represent. The district did conduct a high level analysis of the impact and determined that the merge would not be in the best interest of either district.

Question: What is your educational philosophy?

I truly believe that access to good quality public education is the foundation of democracy.  Serving on the school board has allowed me to ensure that every child in this community has access to an excellent education.  I am proud of the work of the Walnut Creek School District and would be honored to continue to serve.

Question: What unique history or challenge shaped your interest in education or in seeking this position?

I think my experience of serving on the board for seven years, including the past two as president,  provided me with a deep understanding of what needs to be done to provide an outstanding education to all children, even in the toughest of economic times.