www.votebarnes.org
About Shannon M. Barnes
NEWS.
EVENTS.
4.13.2010VICTORY FOR SHANNON M. BARNES & CHRIS ORTEGAThank you all for your support and votes during the election process. I am humbled by your belief in my ability to serve Merrimack well and look forward to the job in front of me.4.01.2010Information about my platform now available in my new Q and A section 04.01.2010Another Supporter Speaks out regarding my candidacy (copy & paste into your web browser)http://www.cabinet.com/merrimackjournal/merrimackletters/691679-308/barnes-would-be-great-addition-to-school.html03.25.2010My Candidacy has been announced in the Merrimack Journal: (copy & paste into your web browser)http://www.cabinet.com/merrimackjournal/merrimackletters/684055-308/shannon-barnes-announces-candidacy.html03.11.201003.25.2010Another Supporter Speaks out regarding my candidacy (copy & paste into your web browser) http://www.cabinet.com/merrimackjournal/merrimackletters/684815-308/reader-recommends-school-board-candidates.html 03.11.2010Check Out this Letter to the Editor published in the Nashua Telegraph: (copy & paste into your web browser)http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinion/letters/665897-263/candidates-endorsedfor-merrimack-schools.html 03.02.2009Shannon M. Barnes officially signs up to run for Merrimack School Board
4.13.2010
VICTORY FOR SHANNON M. BARNES & CHRIS ORTEGA
Thank you all for your support and votes during the election process. I am humbled by your belief in my ability to serve Merrimack well and look forward to the job in front of me.
4.01.2010
Information about my platform now available in my new Q and A section
04.01.2010
Another Supporter Speaks out regarding my candidacy (copy & paste into your web browser)
http://www.cabinet.com/merrimackjournal/merrimackletters/691679-308/barnes-would-be-great-addition-to-school.html
03.25.2010
My Candidacy has been announced in the Merrimack Journal: (copy & paste into your web browser)
http://www.cabinet.com/merrimackjournal/merrimackletters/684055-308/shannon-barnes-announces-candidacy.html03.11.2010
http://www.cabinet.com/merrimackjournal/merrimackletters/684815-308/reader-recommends-school-board-candidates.html
03.11.2010
Check Out this Letter to the Editor published in the Nashua Telegraph: (copy & paste into your web browser)
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinion/letters/665897-263/candidates-endorsedfor-merrimack-schools.html
03.02.2009
Shannon M. Barnes officially signs up to run for Merrimack School Board
Merrimack School Board (term expires 2013)•Mother of a 1st & 2nd Grader at Reeds Ferry Elementary•Masters Degree concentrating in Human Resources•Bachelors Degree Concentrating in Marketing•Involved in the Community o School Planning & Building Committee (2005-8) o Served on the School District Subcommittee for Energy Conservation (2008) o Served on the Horse Hill Committee & AdHoc Committee (2001-5) o Currently Serving on the Library Marketing Committee o Currently Serving as Vice-Chair of the Merrimack Democratic Party (term Expires 2012)
Merrimack School Board (term expires 2013)
•Mother of a 1st & 2nd Grader at Reeds Ferry Elementary
•Masters Degree concentrating in Human Resources
•Bachelors Degree Concentrating in Marketing
•Involved in the Community
o School Planning & Building Committee (2005-8)
o Served on the School District Subcommittee for
Energy Conservation (2008)
o Served on the Horse Hill Committee & AdHoc
Committee (2001-5)
o Currently Serving on the Library Marketing
Committee
o Currently Serving as Vice-Chair of the Merrimack Democratic Party (term Expires 2012)
April 19th: School Board Meeting at 7pm in the Merrimack High School Cafeteria.Campaign Events:Thank you to all who attended Candidate's Night and a special thank you to our hosts, the Merrimack Exchange Club. If you missed it you can stream it from: http://merrimacktv.com/online-video/miscellaneous/You can also watch it on Cable Access Channel 22 on Comcast. Link to the schedule is below:http://www.merrimack.tv/schedule/pub.phpThank you for all who took the time to greet me and my family at the Middle School Play, Concert Association Event, Out Lady of Mercy Italian Night, and Merrimack Democratic Caucus Meeting and the Library Trustee Candidate's Night and Cavalcade of Bands!
April 19th: School Board Meeting at 7pm in the Merrimack High School Cafeteria.
Campaign Events:
Thank you to all who attended Candidate's Night and a special thank you to our hosts, the Merrimack Exchange Club. If you missed it you can stream it from: http://merrimacktv.com/online-video/miscellaneous/
You can also watch it on Cable Access Channel 22 on Comcast. Link to the schedule is below:
http://www.merrimack.tv/schedule/pub.php
Thank you for all who took the time to greet me and my family at the Middle School Play, Concert Association Event, Out Lady of Mercy Italian Night, and Merrimack Democratic Caucus Meeting and the Library Trustee Candidate's Night and Cavalcade of Bands!
Write here news or dates of coming events
Ways You Can Help...............
+ Share with us your areas of expertise and your availability to spend time volunteering to share it with the school district. + Communicate to the Board your "kudos" and "success stories" from your experience with the School District. They help us to recognize good employees and share ideas of how we can utilize ideas across all of the schools. + Share with us your concerns or issues so we cna be aware of them and work with you toward a successful resolution. + Attend or Watch School Board Meetings (available on replay via Channel 21 on Comcast or OnDemand through www.merrimack.tv). If you can make the meetings, please introduce yourself. We want to get to know you and connect with you on the issues that matter to you.
+ Share with us your areas of expertise and your availability to spend time volunteering to share it with the school
district.
+ Communicate to the Board your "kudos" and "success stories" from your experience with the School District.
They help us to recognize good employees and share ideas of how we can utilize ideas across all of the schools.
+ Share with us your concerns or issues so we cna be aware of them and work with you toward a successful
resolution.
+ Attend or Watch School Board Meetings (available on replay via Channel 21 on Comcast or OnDemand through
www.merrimack.tv). If you can make the meetings, please introduce yourself. We want to get to know you and
connect with you on the issues that matter to you.
Questions from Candidates Night Not Aired
My Position on Warrant Articles
1: What do you feel you bring to the table to help teacher negotiations next year?My graduate studies in Human Resources included Labor Negotiations and Arbitration as well as Benefits Management. Couple that with my professional experience in contract negotiations for carriage agreements in my work in the cable industry and I have had my fair share of practice meeting in the middle and discovering win/win resolutions.2: Should Article 7 pass affording the retention of a fourth 7th grade team for the time being, what other options/models would you like to see explored if enrollments continue to decline in the ensuing years as presently projected?Other options such as: changes to scheduling, a combined 7th & 8th grade team, or 3 or 5 teacher teams should be explored in an effort to accomodate the enrollment flucuations at the Middle School in a manner with more flexibility than the current 4 teacher team.3: Are you prepared to request the school district to look at programs instead of classroom teachers as a way to save the taxpayers money?I participated in the energy cost reduction subcommittee where we worked with Honeywell to maximize the efficiencies of every school building in the district which will in the long run save the district thousands per year. We should continue with these types of studies as well as identify other ways we can strategize to work more cost effectively. A reduction in teachers should correlate with a reduction in students to teach, not to reach a bottom line number. 4: Recent discussions surrounding the MHS Math Lab has tended to indicate that it is desirable on some level, yet underused to date. Please describe how you would like to see it operated/maintained, and what kind of accountability/data reporting you would like to see in place to ensure that it is operating and being availed efficiently?An unused facility manned by our teachers is a waste of resources. A math lab has no value if it is not being used. To start I would make the Math lab an after school resource, as those who do not have free study periods due to a full academic load cannot get the additional help when there is no time in their school day to do so. If the after school program catches on, I would expand to lunch periods. I would also keep logs of what students are using it and what areas of math are requiring additional instruction so we can look at preparing "FAQ" materials for topics of frequent confusion.5: Please describe your position on a tenured versus a merit pay based approach to employment within our district.Merit pay makes more sense since student success is definable and quantifiable. Educators who have high performing students deserve compensation that rewards and retains them. Success can be measured by the level of performance gained commensurate with the individual student's potential to learn. The existing required classroom skills testing can establish the benchmarks.6: What do you think is the most important skill for a board member to have?I feel an open mind is needed to serve on the board because my ideas of what is important may not be another's. I will be serving the community, not just those who agree with me on everything.7: During the past several years, a number of the more costly, off-site field trips presently offered within our district have come under discussion and review. Ex: Camp Mi-Te-Na and Washington, DC on the middle school level; the China Exchange program and various European trips on the high school level. Please describe your knowledge of and position on continuing to offer these trips.I feel that trips need to take into account the student's ability to pay for them. I look at the day trips at the Elementary level and the fact they are under $10 per student to cover busing makes attendance at these events nearly 100%. When it comes to trips that require overnight stays, it changes the ability for students to participate as the student's cost goes up. Although the experiences on these types of trips can be great, it is not great for those left behind which created a segregated, non-inclusive environment. As a school district, we should not encourage events that define a line between those who can and those who can't. The only solution is to have the district pay for all to attend, which I cannot support due to the financial impact on the district and thus the taxpayer.8: What would you do to improve science and math education in our schools? At the last school board meeting, the NECAP results for 11th grade math was discussed. Assistant Superintendent McLaughlin mentioned the lack of seriousness the 11th graders showed in the way they took the test and that is likely to continue. The NECAP grades the school's performance as it relates to the student's ability. The individual student's score does not impact them as their SAT score does. If an 11th grader answered every question with the letter "C" for example, and they scored 25% of the test right, it would not impact them on getting in to the college of their choice. So until the 11th graders understand better "WIIFM" (What's In It For Me?), we will continue to be without a true statistic as to the math skill level in comparison to the regional standard. 9: During the budget discussions for fiscal year 2005/06, four teaching positions were cut at Mastricola Elementary School which ultimately resulted in a 4th Grade ration of 27:1 per classroom. The issue of those ratios was not formally addressed until just before the school year opened in August 2005 when a group of parents came forth sharing concerns, and the Board agreed to hire one para-educator to share among the classrooms for better balance. Share you views on this precedent by comparison to the projected 7th Grade rations at MMS for 2010/11, and further describe how you would propose address class size ratios were Article 7 to fail.Declining enrollments drive the decision to eliminate these positions. The argument for this warrant article is classroom ratios. The accounting did not exclude special education students who have dedicated educators as part of their IEP (Individual Education Plan), absenteeism, and lastly, the plan Principal Woelflein mentioned at a budget committee meeting that would lessen the ratios with students having "specials", further breaking down the number of kids in a classroom at a given time. Specials include: Computer, Art, Music, Physical Education, Foreign Language. I would not anticipate based on these strategies any given time where there are 27 students to one teacher.10: Do you feel that the municipal part of the Budget has been cut so low that it's time for the School to cut back?If there is "fat" to be cut, it should be cut. If there is ROI on the expenditure in the way of money or academic performance, it should be kept and secured. Anything that comes into question for cuts needs to be scrutinized as it relates to the quality of the educational experience of the students.11: What do you want to see in the next teachers contract?I hope the next contract will take into account the needs of the district, the teacher, the student, and the taxpayer. We need to have all parties motivated and invested in making Merrimack schools the best they can be.12: What specific aspects of the budget do you: Agree with? Disagree WithAll in all agree with the budget. It follows closely the district's logic model which gives us vision for a successful educational environment.
1: What do you feel you bring to the table to help teacher negotiations next year?
My graduate studies in Human Resources included Labor Negotiations and Arbitration as well as Benefits Management. Couple that with my professional experience in contract negotiations for carriage agreements in my work in the cable industry and I have had my fair share of practice meeting in the middle and discovering win/win resolutions.
2: Should Article 7 pass affording the retention of a fourth 7th grade team for the time being, what other options/models would you like to see explored if enrollments continue to decline in the ensuing years as presently projected?
Other options such as: changes to scheduling, a combined 7th & 8th grade team, or 3 or 5 teacher teams should be explored in an effort to accomodate the enrollment flucuations at the Middle School in a manner with more flexibility than the current 4 teacher team.
3: Are you prepared to request the school district to look at programs instead of classroom teachers as a way to save the taxpayers money?
I participated in the energy cost reduction subcommittee where we worked with Honeywell to maximize the efficiencies of every school building in the district which will in the long run save the district thousands per year. We should continue with these types of studies as well as identify other ways we can strategize to work more cost effectively. A reduction in teachers should correlate with a reduction in students to teach, not to reach a bottom line number.
4: Recent discussions surrounding the MHS Math Lab has tended to indicate that it is desirable on some level, yet underused to date. Please describe how you would like to see it operated/maintained, and what kind of accountability/data reporting you would like to see in place to ensure that it is operating and being availed efficiently?
An unused facility manned by our teachers is a waste of resources. A math lab has no value if it is not being used. To start I would make the Math lab an after school resource, as those who do not have free study periods due to a full academic load cannot get the additional help when there is no time in their school day to do so. If the after school program catches on, I would expand to lunch periods. I would also keep logs of what students are using it and what areas of math are requiring additional instruction so we can look at preparing "FAQ" materials for topics of frequent confusion.
5: Please describe your position on a tenured versus a merit pay based approach to employment within our district.
Merit pay makes more sense since student success is definable and quantifiable. Educators who have high performing students deserve compensation that rewards and retains them. Success can be measured by the level of performance gained commensurate with the individual student's potential to learn. The existing required classroom skills testing can establish the benchmarks.
6: What do you think is the most important skill for a board member to have?
I feel an open mind is needed to serve on the board because my ideas of what is important may not be another's. I will be serving the community, not just those who agree with me on everything.
7: During the past several years, a number of the more costly, off-site field trips presently offered within our district have come under discussion and review. Ex: Camp Mi-Te-Na and Washington, DC on the middle school level; the China Exchange program and various European trips on the high school level. Please describe your knowledge of and position on continuing to offer these trips.
I feel that trips need to take into account the student's ability to pay for them. I look at the day trips at the Elementary level and the fact they are under $10 per student to cover busing makes attendance at these events nearly 100%. When it comes to trips that require overnight stays, it changes the ability for students to participate as the student's cost goes up. Although the experiences on these types of trips can be great, it is not great for those left behind which created a segregated, non-inclusive environment. As a school district, we should not encourage events that define a line between those who can and those who can't. The only solution is to have the district pay for all to attend, which I cannot support due to the financial impact on the district and thus the taxpayer.
8: What would you do to improve science and math education in our schools?
At the last school board meeting, the NECAP results for 11th grade math was discussed. Assistant Superintendent McLaughlin mentioned the lack of seriousness the 11th graders showed in the way they took the test and that is likely to continue. The NECAP grades the school's performance as it relates to the student's ability. The individual student's score does not impact them as their SAT score does. If an 11th grader answered every question with the letter "C" for example, and they scored 25% of the test right, it would not impact them on getting in to the college of their choice. So until the 11th graders understand better "WIIFM" (What's In It For Me?), we will continue to be without a true statistic as to the math skill level in comparison to the regional standard.
9: During the budget discussions for fiscal year 2005/06, four teaching positions were cut at Mastricola Elementary School which ultimately resulted in a 4th Grade ration of 27:1 per classroom. The issue of those ratios was not formally addressed until just before the school year opened in August 2005 when a group of parents came forth sharing concerns, and the Board agreed to hire one para-educator to share among the classrooms for better balance. Share you views on this precedent by comparison to the projected 7th Grade rations at MMS for 2010/11, and further describe how you would propose address class size ratios were Article 7 to fail.
Declining enrollments drive the decision to eliminate these positions. The argument for this warrant article is classroom ratios. The accounting did not exclude special education students who have dedicated educators as part of their IEP (Individual Education Plan), absenteeism, and lastly, the plan Principal Woelflein mentioned at a budget committee meeting that would lessen the ratios with students having "specials", further breaking down the number of kids in a classroom at a given time. Specials include: Computer, Art, Music, Physical Education, Foreign Language. I would not anticipate based on these strategies any given time where there are 27 students to one teacher.
10: Do you feel that the municipal part of the Budget has been cut so low that it's time for the School to cut back?
If there is "fat" to be cut, it should be cut. If there is ROI on the expenditure in the way of money or academic performance, it should be kept and secured. Anything that comes into question for cuts needs to be scrutinized as it relates to the quality of the educational experience of the students.
11: What do you want to see in the next teachers contract?
I hope the next contract will take into account the needs of the district, the teacher, the student, and the taxpayer. We need to have all parties motivated and invested in making Merrimack schools the best they can be.
12: What specific aspects of the budget do you: Agree with? Disagree With
All in all agree with the budget. It follows closely the district's logic model which gives us vision for a successful educational environment.
Article 2: (Accept Gifts): Yes. I feel we need to keep an open door for gifts that may come our way. By adding provisions as to how and when we can accept gifts, the grantors may look to other recipients they deem worthy that take less effort to support. Article 3: (Support Staff Contract) : Yes. This was a great example of both sides working toward a positive resolution. Article 4: (Special Meeting): YesArticle 5: (Reeds Ferry Roof): Absolutely. We can pay for roof repairs now or roof repairs plus water damage later. Maintenance needs to be proactive not reactive as we need to protect the contents of the building (including the people).Article 6: (Petitioned Warrant Article: Math Teacher): NoThe arguments presented included the specific teacher's work as a math lab teacher who also had instructional classes. The enrollment does not warrant the need for those classes and the math lab has been discussed on record as a resource very few students even use. Article 7: (Petitioned Warrant Article: Middle School Teachers): No. Declining enrollments drive the decision to eliminate these positions. The argument for this warrant article is classroom ratios. The accounting did not exclude special education students who have dedicated educators as part of their IEP (Individual Education Plan), absenteeism, and lastly, the plan Principal Woelflein mentioned at a budget committee meeting that would lessen the ratios with students having "specials", further breaking down the number of kids in a classroom at a given time. Specials include: Computer, Art, Music, Physical Education, Foreign Language. I would not anticipate based on these strategies any given time where there are 27 students to one teacher.Article 8: (Budget): Yes.
Article 2: (Accept Gifts): Yes. I feel we need to keep an open door for gifts that may come our way. By adding provisions as to how and when we can accept gifts, the grantors may look to other recipients they deem worthy that take less effort to support.
Article 3: (Support Staff Contract) : Yes. This was a great example of both sides working toward a positive resolution.
Article 4: (Special Meeting): Yes
Article 5: (Reeds Ferry Roof): Absolutely. We can pay for roof repairs now or roof repairs plus water damage later. Maintenance needs to be proactive not reactive as we need to protect the contents of the building (including the people).
Article 6: (Petitioned Warrant Article: Math Teacher): No
The arguments presented included the specific teacher's work as a math lab teacher who also had instructional classes. The enrollment does not warrant the need for those classes and the math lab has been discussed on record as a resource very few students even use.
Article 7: (Petitioned Warrant Article: Middle School Teachers): No. Declining enrollments drive the decision to eliminate these positions. The argument for this warrant article is classroom ratios. The accounting did not exclude special education students who have dedicated educators as part of their IEP (Individual Education Plan), absenteeism, and lastly, the plan Principal Woelflein mentioned at a budget committee meeting that would lessen the ratios with students having "specials", further breaking down the number of kids in a classroom at a given time. Specials include: Computer, Art, Music, Physical Education, Foreign Language. I would not anticipate based on these strategies any given time where there are 27 students to one teacher.
Article 8: (Budget): Yes.
1.CASE STUDY
2.CASE STUDY
3.CASE STUDY
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