Denise's Individual Accomplishments as a School Board Director
Students First: Denise keeps students at the center of her decisions and actions.
- Since being elected, Denise has visited schools over 150 times. These school visits range from visiting classrooms to helping in the lunchroom to listening to student voice groups to learning from building principals about their school improvement plans. As she visits schools, Denise sees both the successes and challenges for students and educators in our district.
- As board president, Denise implemented an advisory vote for the two student representatives to the board.
- At Denise's urging, the reports from student board representatives were moved to the beginning of the board meetings, so that the board heard from students first.
- Learning from other school districts, Denise asked to celebrate students who podium in state tournaments and meets. This led to celebrations of student athletes after each post-season and to an end-of-year district-wide CKSD Student Athlete Recognition.
Board Leadership: Denise provides stable, predictable leadership
- Denise served as board president December 2023-November 2024, board vice president March 2022-November 2023, and board legislative representative December 2021-March 2022 and April 2025-present
- Denise has assisted in orienting 4 new board directors. The Central Kitsap school board has experienced a lot of turnover in the last 4 years. As the second-most experienced member of the board, Denise has been instrumental in helping new board members learn their responsibilities and acclimated to being on the school board.
- As board vice president and president, Denise responded to emails on behalf of the board for over two-and-half years. Prior to Denise serving on the board, community members voiced disappointment in the board not responding to their emails. Those concerns ended as Denise diligently responded to emails.
- Representing CKSD, Denise presented at the 2023 and 2024 Washington State School Directors' Association Annual Conferences and at the 2024 AASA National Conference on Education.
- As board president, Denise collaborated with her fellow board directors to draft board goals. It was the first time in many years that the Central Kitsap Board of Directors had written goals for themselves.
- As part of those board goals, Denise proposed and organized coffee chats and walk & talks with community members and board listening sessions with staff.
- Denise condensed the board operating protocol from seven pages to one-and-half pages, making it easier for all board directors to understand the expectations they had for each other.
- Denise authored the superintendent evaluation for three annual rating periods.
Board Accomplishments Since Denise Joined the Board:
Denise is one of 5 school board directors, and she collaborates with the other board members to make decisions that support student opportunity and achievement.
Rebuilding Fairview Middle School
- Approving the location and budget for the rebuilding of Fairview Middle School were some of the first decisions Denise made as a school board director.
- Denise is proud that the district was able to also replace the gym floor and install a turf field. These improvements will not only benefit Fairview students, but they will also benefit local pee-wee sports leagues and other community members who use the gym and field.
- Fairview was rebuilt with federal heavy impact aid and state matching funds. A local bond was not needed.
Balanced Budget
- CKSD had a balanced budget in the 2024-2025 school year.
- The last few years have been a challenge financially for school districts across the country, with many districts facing staff and program reductions. Denise has continued to keep students at the center of her budget decisions, advocating for keeping any reductions away from direct classroom instruction and asking district leaders about their plans to mitigate the impacts to students.
Cell Phone and Dress Code Policies
- In the fall of 2024, Central Kitsap School District gathered input from students, staff, families, and community members about a new cell phone policy and a revised dress code policy.
- It was important to Denise, and the rest of the board, to hear the ideas and concerns from all stakeholders.
- Denise is grateful for all of those who provided input. From that feedback, Denise and the board were able to approve policies that keep students at the center and reflect our community's values.
2023-2026 Strategic Plan
- In the fall of 2022, CKSD gathered input from over 1700 stakeholders about a new strategic plan for the district. From this input, a synthesizing committee crafted a new strategic plan for the board to approve. The new strategic plan included a new vision, mission, core values, and goal areas.
- Denise attended several strategic plan listening sessions to her for herself the ideas and concerns of stakeholders.
- Denise was a member of the synthesizing committee.
- Denise was proud to approve the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan with an emphasis on boosting student achievement, increasing student engagement, and providing more opportunities for students to find their passion and achieve their dreams.