Current occupation and employer (may also list up to two previous jobs you’ve held); if retired, list your last job and employer: insurance and financial services agent

Political experience (public offices held and when; as well as unsuccessful campaigns for office and which years; do not include political party positions): Board of Education candidate, 2020

PTA or other school district-related experience: assistant varsity basketball coach, Urbana and Oakdale high schools, 13 years.

Campaign information:

• email: deanroseforboe@gmail.com
• website: www.deanroseforboe.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/deanroseforboe
• Twitter: @DRose62
• Instagram: @deanroseforboe

1 – Why are you running for the school board? (75 words max)

I have the passion, commitment and experience necessary to be a member of the Board of Education. I have been a passionate advocate, mentor and coach for over 30 years. I have attended or watched every board meeting since 2018 and I possess the experience and business skills that would make me an asset to the BOE.

2 – What is the most important issue in this race? How specifically would you address it? (100 words max)

I have several issues at the top of my list, but I believe the retention and recruitment of teachers and staff is our most critical issue. Without them, all our other goals and initiatives are impossible. We need to make our pay more competitive and create a safe and healthy environment for our teachers, students and staff. I plan to advocate at all levels for competitive pay for all our staff and work to create a positive classroom environment for all. I will empower our Human Resources Department to broaden their recruiting efforts and hold them accountable for results.

3 – What experience (work, political or other) has prepared you to hold this position? (100 words max)

I have 37 years of business and executive management experience with a Fortune 100 company. I was a member of the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Frederick County for six years and served as board chair for two. I volunteered as aassistant varsity basketball coach at Urbana and Oakdale High Schools for 13 years and in January 2021, I served as chair of the Frederick County Compensation Review Committee. Currently, I am member of the Rotary Club of Carroll Creek and the Special Gifts Committee at Frederick Health, and chair the Tour de Frederick committee.

4 – What is one major issue the current school board has handled poorly? What would you have done differently? (100 words max)

I believe the BOE should have acted with a greater sense of urgency in addressing the COVID pandemic. To my knowledge, there were no emergency board meetings, and regular COVID updates to the board didn’t begin until January 2022. The BOE also failed to appoint an administrator to oversee and coordinate all COVID-related matters until early 2022. These failures, among others, caused our school system to always be lagging behind our neighboring counties. Being reactive rather than proactive and not acting with a sense of urgency undoubtedly had a negative impact on thousands of students and staff in our county.

5 – Has the district responded appropriately to the U.S. Department of Justice investigation into restraints and seclusions? (100 words max)

I believe Dr. Markoe and FCPS staff have responded appropriately to the DOJ report. Listening more closely to the Special Education Citizens Advisory Committee and forming the Blue Ribbon Task Force are steps in the right direction for implementing policies and procedures that will benefit our special needs students and staff. In addition, increased reporting on the use of restraint provides a level of transparency that is necessary in order to understand the problems that exist and rebuild trust between parents, teachers and the school system. There's still much work to be done, but these are the first steps forward.

6 – What do you think of the district’s family life curriculum? (100 words max)

The current family life curriculum is both age appropriate and effective. I was happy to see that the school system has added another term of health instruction in high school. In addition, MSDE recently released an updated health framework, which was unanimously approved by the Board of Education. While this basic outline has caused some uproar in the community, FCPS has only just begun the process of developing the age-appropriate curriculum that will be designed to meet the goals of the new framework. FCPS has already instituted an opt-out provision for all Family Life instruction for pre-K through 12^th grade.

7 – What do you think of the school board’s choice of Cheryl Dyson as superintendent and of the process for choosing her? (100 words max)

I must admit I wasn’t particularly happy with the choice or cost of the recruiting agency. I understand that executive recruitment can be expensive. I just question whether FCPS obtained competitive quotes. As far as the interview process itself, it appears that the board did a thorough job and interviewed several very qualified candidates. Based on her resume, speaking with past colleagues and limited interaction, I believe that Dr. Dyson is an outstanding choice to lead FCPS into the future. Her past experience with helping to lead a diverse and growing school system will be an asset to FCPS.

8 – Frederick County ranks below other similar school districts for teacher pay. Does the district need to address that? How? (100 words max)

Absolutely, Frederick County must address the disparity in teachers’ pay. Particularly since every adjoining county offers a higher starting salary than FCPS. Teachers aren’t the only ones who need to have their salary scale updated. Support staff and administrators all need to have their pay schedules brought in line with the market. To achieve this goal, we are going to have to work with our entire county delegation, our employee associations and our community in order to reach the proper level of revenue. Then, we can work to allocate the appropriate amount of dollars in our budget for employee compensation.

 9 – The school district has an achievement gap between students of different racial and ethnic groups. How should the district address this? (100 words max)

First, we need to improve the diversity of our teaching staff. Every study tells us that students do better when they are able to interact with educators who share their ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Then, we need to constantly review our curriculum to ensure that it is appropriate for all students. Through partnerships and collaborations, we need to provide before- and after-school enrichment for the students who need us most. Organizations like I Believe in Me, the Boys & Girls Club of Frederick County and The City Youth Matrix, to name a few, provide valuable support to these students.

10 – How well did the district handle instruction and safety during the pandemic? (100 words max)

As I said above, the Board of Education could have acted with a greater sense of urgency. However, our school system put the safety of our students and staff first and still provided an educational opportunity for our students. Educators provided the absolute best learning environment possible under these conditions. I personally had the opportunity to witness some of the online instruction and came away very impressed with the commitment of our educators. In almost every situation, our educators worked even longer hours, in order to give our students, the opportunity to learn and grow during this very difficult time.