Anna Van Hoek
Higley Unified School District, At-large
Tenure
Term ends
Years in position
Elections and appointments
Personal
Contact
Anna Van Hoek is an at-large member of the Higley Unified School District in Arizona. She assumed office on January 1, 2023. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.
Van Hoek ran for election for an at-large seat of the Higley Unified School District in Arizona. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Van Hoek completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Anna Van Hoek served in the U.S. Army. Her career experience includes working as a banking professional. She has also worked in television, law enforcement, and insurance. Van Hoek previously worked for the Red Cross and March of Dimes.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Higley Unified School District, Arizona, elections (2022)
General election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Anna Van Hoek completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Van Hoek's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Anna moved to Gilbert in 2003. She has 2 children, 17 and 12 and has lived in the Higley District since 2006 and in the Higley schools since 2010. I have been a parental advocate for many years educating parents on how to advocate for their children. When the focus is on the child’s best interest, things shouldn’t be difficult.
- Parental Rights and Parent Involvement
- Academic Accountability
- Spending and Curriculum Transparency
I am personally passionate about directing the focus of public schools back to education. Academics shouldn’t take a backseat to social issues. Education is the great equalizer. A well-educated populace is vital to our society.
Being motivated and go above and beyond to ensure all the students' needs are met in order for them to learn and be successful.
I have been a long time parental right advocate and will do whatever I can to make sure that the main priority are the students. I will also work hard to have school practices and curriculum that will benefit the students and not any political agenda. Last but certainly not least, we need to make sure parental rights are acknowledged in our schools.
I have 25+ years of experience in finance, analytics and accounting which I will utilize to ensure that the budget and district spending is transparent to taxpayers and appropriately allocated.
I have excellent communication skills and work well as a team. I will utilize these skills to collaborate with the other board members, ask questions instead of rubber stamping everything placed in front of me, make sure the community is informed of the actions being taken by the board and the progresses and challenges the district faces.
The primary focus is the students. Their academic achievement is a priority.
Parental involvement is key to a student’s academic achievement. Increasing parental involvement is a priority.
Creating a districtwide environment of respect to attract and retain great teachers is a priority. I would like the district to thrive and be very desirable to parents for them to want to bring their children to Higley. I want teachers to be paid appropriately in order to reduce the turnover but at the same time be fiscally responsible.
When I moved to the US at the age of 6 and became a citizen of this great country.
I started working at the age of 13 during the summer for March of Dimes.
Tuesdays with Morrie. One of my favorite things to do is sit with the elderly and listen to their stories. They life experiences are invaluable.
Approve curriculum, budgets and policies
Hiring and firing the Superintendent
Represent the community and be their voice The taxpayers, parents and children who live in the district.
I think the most important thing is having an open line of communication with all of them in order to better understand their needs and work together to ensure that we meet those needs.
Having worked for a large corporation, completing many diversity courses and supporting many different senior leaders, I've learned that taking the time to ask questions and learning about each individual allows a better understanding of how to communicate with each person and also what their needs are.
School districts are partners with the communities they serve, including the local businesses. HUSD is obligated to students, parents, taxpayers and businesses to produce educated and capable employees, entrepreneurs, and college ready students. HUSD should seek to maintain an open line of communication with the city that will form a mutually beneficial relationship for our students and their future employers.
The pandemic and politics wreaked havoc on our kids and their educations. Most of our students have suffered learning loss, and the existing achievement gaps have become even greater. It is imperative that we return to our original mission of providing an excellent education and focus on academic rigor. I subscribe to the philosophy that education is the great equalizer, and I am committed to ensuring that all students receive the best education HUSD can deliver.
There has been a shift in education away from teaching the core subjects. I will work with the other board members to get everyone's attention back to basics to ensure the children have normalcy and are learning the necessary skills in order to graduate.
I think learning a technical skill while in school is extremely important and will help the children build a resume. Having dual enrollment and schools like EVIT provides that opportunity for the children. I remember having wood shop, auto shop, TV Production and welding when I was in school. These were all great skills to have.
The most recent budget passed on June 23, 2022, provided $18 billion in education funding, which included $1 billion in new funding. It is not clear that securing additional funding above and beyond that is required at this point. I would like to dig further into the budget to determine where the funding has been going. HUSD also recently gave all staff a 7% raise which is great, but I'd like to understand if that is sustainable.
Personal experience is what drives my policies. I believe having SRO's in schools is crucial for the safety of students. SRO's also have a positive impact on the lives of the children by building relationships that could last a lifetime. My SRO from High School was instrumental in my life by checking in with me to make sure I was staying on the right path. He did this with all the students.
Parents must be involved in all aspects of their children's lives. Especially, when it comes to school. That includes having open communication with faculty and staff. Parents being able to volunteer in class would also help teachers.
I believe we are overdoing it with technology. Children are getting too much screen time and that needs to be limited.
The pandemic wreaked havoc on our kids and their educations. Most of our students have suffered learning loss, and the existing achievement gaps have become even greater. It is imperative that we return to our original mission of providing an excellent education and focus on academic rigor. I subscribe to the philosophy that education is the great equalizer, and I am committed to ensuring that all students receive the best education HUSD can deliver.
I will work to ensure that open meeting laws are followed, and that public comment is always on the agenda. The district should make every effort to encourage attendance and participation in governing board meetings.
When parents have an understanding of what their children are learning and how the funds are being utilized, they are typically encouraged to take an active role in their children's education. Making it as easy as possible for them to be more involved is also important.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
External links
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 2, 2022
