Shari Barnett for Saline Board of Education

I am enthusiastically launching my campaign for Saline Area School District Board of Education. On November 5, 2024, the general election will allow an opportunity to elect 4 individuals to the SAS Board of Education. I am hoping to be one of these individuals who is elected and bring some new ideas and perspectives.

I have lived in Washtenaw County for over 26 years. My daughter is preparing to start her senior year at Central Michigan University and my son will be a senior at Saline High School this Fall. I have been a professional at the University of Michigan for 34 years, specializing in clinical research and clinical research education.  During these 34 years, I have been fortunate to work in the roles of Respiratory Therapist, Respiratory Care Clinical Specialist in the UM Trauma Burn Unit, Clinical Research Coordinator and several senior leadership roles including Manager of the UM Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research Project Management and Monitoring Unit and Assistant Managing Director of the Education, Mentoring and Career Development Unit.  In 2010, after suffering a family tragedy, I felt the need to transition into a more patient facing position, this ultimately led me to taking on the role as Program Manager to build a clinical and translational research program for the UM Section of Thoracic Surgery.  Today, this program comprises a robust portfolio of research, several research coordinator positions and numerous training and mentoring opportunities for research fellowships.  Working with patients and students is truly something that brings immense joy to my life. 

My other joy is supporting my children and their friends in school-related activities and career endeavors.  I am a passionate wrestling mom and grateful for the opportunities that the coaches, teammates and parents provided to my son as he has trained in this amazing sport. We are looking forward to the 2024/2025 Wrestling Season.

I decided to run for school board because I believe this is the right time to refocus the district's effort and funds toward supporting the teaching staff, retaining families and winning students back to the district, who chose to leave for alternative education options. First, I feel the teachers in this district need the Board's unwavering support to be the professionals that they spent years being trained to be. I feel it is time to lessen the administrative mandates and burdens on our teaching professionals and let them teach and develop their lesson plans according to their expertise and training. We also need to work with our teachers to develop strategies and action plans to minimize classroom disruptions and disturbances. I want to work with teachers and parents to develop these strategies and action plans and ensure all staff and students have a safe and nurturing environment to teach and learn in.

Second, and equally important, is the loss of students (especially our local students) and the impact on the district's finances. This is the time to put effort into assessing the causes of student loss and addressing issues to prevent further loss. It's prevalent and there are things that administration can do to address this issue. There are many challenges in public education right now, but we can't be so focused appeasing one issue, that we neglect and alienate others. I want to work with staff and families to truly understand what is happening in the district that is driving families to choose other educational institutions or schooling from home. This is paramount for us as a district to be able to balance our budget and keep the amazing teachers we currently have and continue to recruit the best.

Third, there are many local families who already left Saline Area Schools and I feel effort needs to be made to win these students back to the district. We need a public dialogue with these local stakeholders. I want to understand what specifically caused families to leave the district and what these other schools and home school environments are providing that the district does not provide. I feel this is an urgent need in our community to know how we can create a public school system that places equal value on ALL students and their families. We need to make an effort to meet everyone's needs and everyone needs to be a part of this solution instead of alienating each other. Losing local families and resorting to more and more school of choice is not a good long-term solution. It is clear from the state's education budget for the 2024/2025 school year, that large increases to the general fund for per-pupil funding is not likely. So, we as a district need to take action now to retain the students we do have and try to win back the students who departed the district.

Please give me a chance to show you how hard I will work for this district. Vote for Shari Barnett for Saline Area School Board.