Travis Talbert

  1. Why are you running for school board?

I am running for school board because I have 2 daughters that attend Hanover Street School. Running for school board allows me to see how the school district operates and allows me to be part of the decision-making process that can shape the future of the school district for the betterment of the students and the parents. Being on the school board allows me to hear the concerns that students and parents alike may have and to address those concerns. I believe that the school board should be a voice to students and parents and should be on their side. I don’t believe that the school should make any decisions without the consent or vote of parents and if there is something that they do not strongly agree with, then we shouldn’t override the parents. As a school board member, I believe that we need to put the wellbeing of the student first and give each student the ability to achieve and succeed in life and giving them a strong educational environment where they feel safe and nurtured will help them succeed.

  1. What skills and experiences would you bring to the position?

I’ve worked with children as a Guardian Ad Litem and have worked volunteering in my kids classroom.  Being prior military allowed me to give back to my country and now I would like to give back to the community and my kids school and attending school functions. As far as experience, I have not been on a school board before so I would be new to this, but, I do believe that the position would be a great place to start as far as being able to listen and knowing that choices made on our part can affect my kids future in the school district.

  1. What is one thing you want other people to know about you?

I think that the one thing that I would want people to know about me is that I am great father and wants what’s best for my kids and their academic future and I want to see all kids succeed.

  1. What are your top two priorities that you want to address if you are on the school board?

The top 2 priorities that I would like to address is

  1. Due to budget pressures, necessary improvements to school facilities, including safety, accessibility, and technology, are being deferred and we need to find a solution because not doing anything will lead to long term expenses and costs that should not have to be placed on the taxpayers.
  2. Finding a way financially with the proposed budget cuts to still allow for summer school programming and transportation to these activities for the kids. Allowing for summer activities/ programming and providing transportation helps parents to plan their summer schedule so that they don’t loose out on work or hours by trying to find someone or anyone to watch their kids especially if they are in a single-family setting. Daycare is very expensive and having summer programming also allows the kids to interact with their friends so they’re not stuck at home all day.

  1. Lebanon, like many other cities, is facing challenges with rising property taxes. When considering the school district budget, where would you look for ways to reduce spending? What spending should be protected most strongly from cuts?

The district is facing a 7% budget increase, leading to proposed cuts of over $100,000. Even though rising property taxes typically increase local revenue for publics, which receive about 80% of their local funding from this source, this however, if capped, can force our district to cut staff or programs. Some ways we could look to help reduce spending would be to look at underutilized buildings, reducing paper usage by going to digital communication and documentation, and leveraging bulk purchase agreements to lower costs on supplies. Also, we should foster partnerships with local businesses for sponsorship opportunities that can alleviate financial burdens and encourage community involvement and volunteerism to reduce labor costs for events and projects.

Spending that should be protected the most strongly from cuts would be on tutoring and curriculums, social-emotional support for students and also for high-need students that would normally get left behind. We also need to protect funding for infrastructure and technology and teacher support and development.

  1. Lebanon is home to students and families from widely varying economic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Please share a few ideas for how Lebanon schools help (or should help) all of these students thrive?

I think that with this giant melting pot of cultural and diverse backgrounds, educators must cultivate a sense of belonging through different methods. Such methods that I believe would work would be things such a hands-on activities and collaborative projects to accommodate different learning styles since all kids learn differently and at different paces. Building trust and having a sense of community by having students learn that everyone has a different background and story and that all are different. Also, helping students’ emotional well-being and academic needs is very important. Overall, by everyone working together and making sure that all student feel including no matter who they are, their financial status or background, everyone working together helps every student achieve academic success.