Linda Hunt Brown Announces Run for School Board as
Write in Candidate

As way of introduction, my name is Linda Brown and I am running in the November 7th Custer County School Board Director election as a “Write In” candidate.
It is my belief that our district should function like a family, full of heart. I want to support the progress and success our district had achieved pre-COVID 19 and again create an atmosphere of caring and harmony. As a five year resident of Custer County, I am concerned about the direction the district is headed, with school attendance and test scores declining, family/community engagement limited, and staff turnover. It is important to me that we keep the education, safety, and well-being of each student at the forefront of our decisions.
I feel that my training and experience could be a real asset to our district, especially my knowledge of curriculum and Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) test data usage to improve our students’ performance on the required standardized test. (This test is currently being used by our district.) As a national trainer for NWEA, I not only traveled across the country helping districts implement this assessment for learning, but also helped teachers learn to interpret the individual student data. “MAP Growth, part of the Growth Activation Solution from NWEA, is the most trusted and innovative assessment for measuring achievement and growth in K–12 math, reading, language usage and science. It provides teachers with accurate, actionable evidence to help inform instructional strategies regardless of how far students are above or below grade level. Using MAP Growth as part of a comprehensive and balanced assessment plan, teachers can confidently tailor instruction to challenge every student, whether they are below, at, or above grade level. “MAP Growth student reports also present realistic learning goals by subject areas so that, through a teacher’s guidance, students can individually see their progress and be inspired to take charge of their own learning.” https://www.nwea.org/map-growth/ When knowledgeably implemented this strategy routinely improves student motivation,
achievement, and therefore attendance.
We are blessed that Colorado allows parents a great amount of freedom to choose the venue for their children’s education. As a Board member, I feel this right must be respected and that the district needs to work closely with families to support their children’s academic and social success. Having been a homeschool mother with a special needs child (with epilepsy) and his five siblings, I have an empathic understanding of the challenges involved and hope to be a link to this component of our community.
Having reviewed the district website, I noted that this new Board will most likely be instrumental in the creation/revision of the District C-1 Strategic Plan since it is dated 2019. As a previous superintendent/principal, I have been intricately involved in this laborious task and would be a valuable team player in the undertaking.
The chief goal of my professional life has been to invigorate the minds and hearts of those I touch and provide for them opportunities to succeed. I would count it a privilege to share the wealth of knowledge, which I have obtained through my teaching and life experiences to better equip others for their place in our changing world.
Thank you for taking the time to review my website https://sites.google.com/view/dr-linda-brown-custer-school which includes my professional credentials including; Doctorate in Educational Leadership, Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership, Masters in Education Using Computers, and, from University of Colorado, a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. You will also find my educational experiences as a College instructor, superintendent, principal and teacher.
Please remember that I am a WRITE IN candidate so you will need to add my name in the blank on the ballet to support my candidacy. Thank you for making this extra effort!
Respectfully, Linda Brown

Joe McCarthy Announces Run for School Board

My name is Joseph McCarthy. I am running for the Custer County School Board. I have lived in Colorado for 21 years and in Westcliffe for almost 10 years. I am the parent of a 2015 CCHS graduate and just watched my granddaughter start school here.
The theme of my campaign is “Children must be taught how to
think, not what to think.” It encapsulates my educational philosophy. We should encourage children’s curiosity. Learning should be an adventure. Graduation should be a milepost, not an end goal. Successful students become lifelong learners.
Selecting members of the school board is an incredibly important responsibility. It is a shared responsibility, not one simply limited to those with school-age children. Board members should reflect the values of the community. The skills and experience of board members should complement one another. An effective school board is a highly functioning team. This requires strong leadership and management skills, an ability to think strategically, and objectively monitor the performance of the superintendent and the school district’s educational programs.
My business and educational background provide me with a solid foundation to fulfill these responsibilities. As a senior executive, I synthesized empirical data and tactical information into goals and strategical plans. I managed a 13-state region, four geographically dispersed offices, over 150 employees, and a $22 million budget. Leadership and management skills are transferable, applicable to any size organization. I have an undergraduate degree in English, a master’s degree in business administration, and a master’s degree in organizational leadership.
It is difficult to offer a vision of the future without suggestions viewed as a criticism of the present. My intent is to present an alternative way of fulfilling the board’s governance responsibilities. I am an advocate of redesigning the school board meetings. The most important items should drive the agenda. The discussion topics and meeting reports should clearly align with the board’s annual goals and the school district’s strategic plan.
It would be beneficial for the district to develop a comprehensive communication strategy to keep parents and the community informed of the school district’s successes and challenges. This will foster greater transparency and accountability.
The Colorado Department of Education released the school district preliminary performance ratings and the results of the spring 2023 standardized assessments in August. These are important data points of the district’s core educational efforts. At what point should the school district share these key performance indicators with parents and the community?
Experience has taught me it is better to be responsive than reactive. Helping the public interpret data is easier than correcting erroneous conclusions. A good example of this approach is immediately addressing why our middle school received the lowest rating in the preliminary performance report.
The spring 2023 assessment test results indicate the percentage of Custer’s third through eighth grade students who met or exceeded grade-level expectations in English language arts and math. There is aggregate benchmark data provided in the form of how all of Colorado’s districts and schools performed. The statewide benchmark is 43.7% for English language arts. In math, 32.9% of all districts and schools met or exceeded grade-level expectations. Our elementary school scored 37.5% and 23.6%, respectively. The middle school’s results were 16.9% met or exceeded grade-level expectations in English language arts and 18.5%
in math.
The Colorado Department of Education website can be over-whelming. I would encourage you to review the information for our school district by typing CUSTER in the search feature in these two articles:
https://co.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/29/23851588/colorado-school-district-performanceratings-2023

https://co.chalkbeat.org/ 2023/8/17/23834986/colorado-cmas-2023-test-results-scores-find-your-school-districtI wanted to know if Custer is an outlier or if other districts are facing similar challenges? I conducted a peer group analysis to provide context in understanding our results. Using Colorado Department of Education data, I identified 18 peer districts with the same state designation as Custer, “Remote.” I then sought districts of comparable size, between 300 to 500 students. Custer’s pupil total was 356. I compared each district’s All Districts / All Schools data to the state’s benchmark results.
Five districts scored above the state benchmark; 11 districts, including Custer, scored below; and three districts had mixed results or incomplete data. I then compared the Custer results to the other 10 districts ranked below the state benchmark. Five districts scored better than Custer in both English and math, two districts scored below in both subjects, and three district had one score above and one below Custer’s results.
Context provides perspective, not blame. The administration, the faculty, and our students need the support of parents and the community. You can view these observations through the prism of education alone or step back and look at it from a macro level. Strong schools prepare students for the next phase of their life, attract families and businesses, affect the employment pool, and support and increase property values. It is a complex equation.
Elect a formidable team to the school board to explore these results, formulate a plan with the superintendent, and monitor the plan’s progress in fulfilling the district’s vision “to provide a quality education” to the students of Custer County.
Joseph McCarthy
mccarthy4boe@gmail.com