St. Vrain Valley school board election Q&A: Debbie Lammers, District B
October 11, 2009 by Clay Evans
Filed under News
Web site: debbielammers.com
E-mail: ADL7270@comcast.net
Age: 57
Address: 7270 Spring Creek Circle, Niwot
Family: Husband, Chris Lammers; daughters Laura, 23, and Kelly, 16; son Stephen, 19
How long have you lived in St. Vrain Valley? Niwot for 12 years
Education: Bachelor’s degree from California State University in 1974; post-graduate studies at John F. Kennedy School of Law in California from 1977 to 1978
Professional background: Law firm legal assistant and paralegal administrator from 1978 to 1988 in San Francisco, Calif.; now a homemaker and community volunteer
Political experience: No public offices; St. Vrain Valley School District ballot measure campaign committees in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008
Who is your hero? My sister. She has been through a number of public and personal challenges and remains strong and determined.
Tell us something unusual about yourself that few people know: My sister and I attended Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic School. Sounds funny, but it is true.
What is your favorite Web site or blog? I visit Web sites for news, research and occasional shopping. I read blogs on news sites to help me gain additional perspectives about issues — but rarely participate.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I am even-tempered and friendly, but I can be very serious which I am not sure some folks I meet realize. I enjoy reading and talking about school issues and discussing the pros and cons of a particular direction. One of the things I’m learning to change is to review issues to gain a governance-minded perspective.
What do you think are the district’s top budget priorities? And how would you engage the community in making tough decisions? The priority is classrooms — curriculum, teachers and technology. Each school has its own community whose parents should play a role in advising that school. It is key to engage residents in communication that provides the district with the best reflection of what stakeholders expect from their school district.
How do you think the district should move forward with teacher contract negotiations? Engage a mediator to minimize negative discourse and promote consensus. Both parties should “move forward” and provide complete information during the process. Teachers, as well as other employee groups, are entitled to compensation increases which can be sustained over time while reflecting residents’ expectations.
How would you work to continue closing the achievement gap? I would support enhancing the efforts in place that are showing significant gains in this area and consider piloting additional best practices that address the achievement gap. I would also support building a parent engagement program to support these and other classroom efforts.
What issue would you take up, if elected, that you think hasn’t been addressed by previous school boards? I would like our school board to raise the bar on efforts to address curriculum and facility equity. I would also support opportunities to target communication avenues between schools and parents regarding programming changes in place or forthcoming and accountability for those changes.
