Five Questions for Jason Stinson, Carson City School Board Trustee Candidate District 1
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Sat, 04/16/2022 - 8:00am
In March, all candidates for local and state positions filed their intention to run for office, in everything from the senate to the school board.
The 2022 Nevada Primary Election will be held on Tuesday, June 14.
*Early Voting begins on Saturday, May 28 and runs through Friday, June 10.
The 2022 Nevada General Election will be held on Tuesday, November 8.
*Early voting begins on Saturday, October 22 and runs through Friday, November 4.
Each candidate will be asked five questions relating to their position as a part of the Five Question series from Carson Now.
Jason Stinson is running for School Board Trustee in District 1.
1) What is the greatest challenge our schools are facing currently?
I believe as a general rule it’s impossible to only have just one “greatest challenge” because one challenge creates a waterfall effect of challenge’s. The externalities of having one crisis is almost certain to create other problems. If I have to pick something that would help our students and staff, I would have to say academic success. Academic success is holding back our graduates from being the best they can be. Some of the factors of why the current scores from the Nevada Department of Education show Carson school district at level 2 or “approaching standard” are overcrowded classrooms. Another causal of low academic success is state requirement’s that are not focused on academic standards. The teachers that I have have spoken with feel they have had there proverbial hands tied behind their backs by state requirements.
2) What do you think is the solution to that challenge?
If we allow the teachers to teach and use positive reinforcement tools for the children we can foster an environment that will create greater self esteem for children who are currently not looking forward to going to school. Greater engagement by children will give the teachers satisfaction in seeing the results in a positive environment. We need more parents to attend school board meetings so the board has community alignment in creating curriculum that is inclusive for every child. We also need to have a legislative body that is willing to review the current requirements and restructure what is important. I believe academic success is vital to have future high school graduates being hired by local companies versus outsourcing new hires from other areas.
3) What is the best decision the Carson City School Board has made in the past year, and why?
I think having the mask policy as “optional” allowed the superintendent to remove the masks from the children when the superintendent deemed necessary. Although the masks have been a political weapon I have seen my children and their friends seem much happier since the masks have been removed from the children as a requirement. I hope this also helps with the amount of violence that has been going on at the high school. According to my children they have not witnessed violence in the past couple weeks. Witnessing violence is traumatic for children because they wonder if they might be attacked next.
4) What in your background makes you an ideal candidate for the school board?
As a parent of 6 children I have been involved in getting to know a lot of teachers over the years. I have had the opportunity to get a inside look at what some of the struggles the teachers face on a daily basis are. Being a involved parent has allowed me to understand that parents should take time every night to get involved and ask questions about what happened at school that day. I believe having a diverse group of knowledge is healthy for any board. It’s important to have various viewpoints and perspective in order to get as much of a understanding of what a solution to a problem could be.
5) What is the top priority project or idea that you would like the school board to implement in the next five years?
Fixing the current budget deficit is what I see as something the board needs to focus on. Exploring how to review any potential fixes to the “Modernization of The Equity Allocation Model” the legislature is willing to consider I would champion this project. I don’t believe any board should spend money they don’t have. Not knowing how much money you will get each year makes it difficult to predict spending for future projects. Our children and teachers deserve to have consistency in programs. It’s up to the board to fight for future of our teachers and children.
