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Chris Wallis
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the official's last term in office covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Chris Wallis was an at-large member of the Colorado Springs School District 11 school board. He assumed office on November 11, 2020. He left office on December 1, 2021.
Wallis ran for re-election for an at-large seat of the Colorado Springs School District 11 school board. He lost in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Wallis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Wallis received his bachelor's degree from the University of Denver in 2008. His professional experience includes working in warehouse and logistics management. Wallis has been associated with the Parent Teacher Association and the School Accountability Committee.[1]
Elections
2021
See also: Colorado Springs School District 11, Colorado, elections (2021)
General election
General election for Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education At-large (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education At-large on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sandra Bankes (Nonpartisan)  | 20.2 | 24,059 |
| ✔ |  | Lauren Nelson (Nonpartisan) | 20.0 | 23,763 |
| ✔ |  | Julie Ott (Nonpartisan) | 15.1 | 17,987 |
 | Chris Wallis (Nonpartisan) | 14.7 | 17,515 | |
 | Jennifer Williamson (Nonpartisan) | 13.1 | 15,541 | |
 | John Gustafson (Nonpartisan) | 11.3 | 13,449 | |
| Rebecca Acevedo Kenderdine (Nonpartisan) | 5.5 | 6,501 | ||
| Total votes: 118,815 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Joseph Shelton (Nonpartisan)
Endorsements
To view Wallis' endorsements in the 2021 election, please click here.
2019
See also: Colorado Springs School District 11, Colorado, elections (2019)
General election
General election for Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education At-large (4 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education At-large on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mary Coleman (Nonpartisan) | 19.3 | 24,977 |
| ✔ |  | Darleen Daniels (Nonpartisan) | 16.3 | 21,045 |
| ✔ |  | Parth Melpakam (Nonpartisan) | 13.8 | 17,814 |
| ✔ |  | Jason Jorgenson (Nonpartisan) | 12.9 | 16,727 |
| Chris Wallis (Nonpartisan) | 12.5 | 16,169 | |
| Vincent Puzick (Nonpartisan) | 10.0 | 12,944 | ||
 | Joseph Shelton (Nonpartisan) | 7.9 | 10,237 | |
| Conner Sargent (Nonpartisan) | 7.2 | 9,373 | ||
| Total votes: 129,286 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Chris Wallis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Wallis' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I'm a Colorado native and a proud father to a D11 student. I've been honored to serve on the Board for the past year and I’m proud to have the support of our teachers. Prior to my service on the Board, I was active on the Parent Teacher Association and School Accountability Committee at my child’s school. I've spent over 15 years leading teams in the results-oriented world of transportation and warehouse logistics. I currently serve as Logistics Director for our local food bank. I have a track record of delivering sustained results and I look forward to doing so on the School Board. I believe in supporting our teachers and students and will work to do so while I am on the Board.
- Deliver high achievement by meeting the unique needs of each student.
- Advocate for teachers and education support professionals.
- Ensure transparency and accountability in district budgeting.
For too long, public education has sought to deliver a one-size-fits-all education for students while undervaluing the contributions of educators. Students thrive when they have access to educational experiences that are personalized to them, and teachers thrive when they are valued and supported. As school board director, I will support innovations that increase educational options for students through aligned magnet program pathways and improve neighborhood schools regardless of zip code. I will support policies and practices that reflect the value of the important work that our educators engage in daily.
I am proud to say that District 11 is not afraid to examine disparities amongst students. This examination extends beyond performance on standardized tests and looks at selection for specialized programming, disciplinary referrals, and community engagement. This work reveals where we might be under-serving students and provides a framework for creating meaningful plans for improvement from which all students can benefit. As your next board member, I will work to ensure all students have access to educational environments that are safe, supportive, and ambitious.
I am proud to say that District 11 is not afraid to examine disparities amongst students. This examination extends beyond performance on standardized tests and looks at selection for specialized programming, disciplinary referrals, and community engagement. This work reveals where we might be under-serving students and provides a framework for creating meaningful plans for improvement from which all students can benefit. As your next board member, I will work to ensure all students have access to educational environments that are safe, supportive, and ambitious.
I have great admiration for many current and historical figures. Some figures I consider role models are Malala Yousafzai, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Preet Bharara, Alexander Vindman, The common theme I see in these individuals is that they demonstrated courage and conviction in difficult circumstances.
In my personal life, I look up to my grandfather who served as a Colonel in the US Army. After retirement, he spent many years teaching incarcerated citizens to read and would share stories of how much those young men taught him.
In my personal life, I look up to my grandfather who served as a Colonel in the US Army. After retirement, he spent many years teaching incarcerated citizens to read and would share stories of how much those young men taught him.
I would recommend "What Unites Us" by Dan Rather. In this series of essays he articulates a common sense vision for the ideals of community and freedom that form the pragmatic bedrock of many of our institutions.
As an elected official, it is first and foremost important to demonstrate integrity. An elected official must be willing to listen to constituents and seek compromise on policies while standing firm on principles. As a leader for more than 15 years, I understand the gravity of making tough decisions. As a school board member, my decision making process always starts and ends with "what is best for students?"
I possess a capacity for nuance and a desire to wrestle with tough ideas to come to effective and workable solutions that generally benefit all stakeholders. I am a parent in the district and have a vested interest in the well-being of the district. I've held positions of progressive leadership in my career that have given me a sound understanding of the importance of good leadership and the necessity to support frontline workers.
A board member must supervise the superintendent, pass policy and curriculum, and approve the budget. To effectively accomplish this, it is important that a board member be sufficiently engaged with students, teachers, parents, administration, community members.
While I remember the fall of the Berlin Wall, I was too young at the time to understand the significance it had. During my high school career, I witnessed both the massacre at Columbine High School and the horrors of 9/11.
My very first job was at a Dairy Queen while I was in high school. I held it the majority of my high school career. From there, I learned how powerful customer service can be.
It's impossible to pick just one favorite book over the course of my life but Doing Justice by Preet Bharara is a book that I enjoyed tremendously in the past few years. It examines the philosophical underpinnings of our justice system with reverence and nuance while at the same time sharing some of the incredible history of the Office of the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. It inspired in me hope and humility for the high ideals of our nation.
Perfect by Pink
A school board member has three essential roles: 1. Manage the superintendent 2. Approve the budget and 3. Approve policy and curriculum. A board member must be actively engaged with the district to properly carry out these duties. It is important that a board member dedicate sufficient time and resources to hearing the perspectives of students, teachers, parents, and community members.
My constituents include anyone touched by the work of District 11. These stakeholders include students, teachers, parents, educational support professionals, and community members.
We must promote high achievement and offer career opportunities that are the right fit for our students. We must also ensure these opportunities are supported with transportation access. District 11 is currently developing an Academic Master Plan that will offer all students broad educational options to choose from while still delivering a high-quality base curriculum. Among these options will be a robust new investment in our award-winning Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming in addition to new magnet programs that will raise the bar for excellence in the region.
Our educators and educational support professionals deserve a work environment where they feel safe, supported, and valued. As your next school board member I will advocate for better compensation for frontline staff and I will support policies that encourage excellence while honoring the tireless efforts of our staff.
Our educators and educational support professionals deserve a work environment where they feel safe, supported, and valued. As your next school board member I will advocate for better compensation for frontline staff and I will support policies that encourage excellence while honoring the tireless efforts of our staff.
In my current role as Director, I regularly make time to have conversations with teachers, parents, or community members to hear their concerns. I am always encouraged at how much common ground can be found when two stakeholders can have a meaningful conversation about an issue. While it is important to engage with all aspects of our community, I feel it is particularly important to reach out to our military families that often have unique needs due to the transient nature of the work of our service members.
School districts should bring excellent diverse voices to the table at all levels of leadership. Doing so invites representative perspectives about how to best deliver high achievement. One way to nurture this environment is the creation of in-house talent development pipelines. These pathways for students and non-licensed staff to become licensed educators can ensure high standards of excellence while also manifesting a sense of belonging that otherwise would take years to develop.
Many things can pose significant barriers to education. Hunger, language barriers, unseen learning disabilities, and unstable housing are just a few circumstances that can make thriving in the learning environment difficult. We must build a curriculum and an educational experience that seeks to address the unique needs that each child has while mitigating the impact of these barriers. Doing this requires educators and educational support professionals to have the bandwidth and skills necessary to listen for unique needs and properly introduce supports. We must advocate for better educational supports inside and outside of the classroom to meet these needs.
Beyond simple performance on standardized tests, effective teaching instills in students a love of learning. Our changing world demands that students must be able to pursue their own learning and we serve them best when we equip them with the tools necessary to learn effectively, independently, and collaboratively. Among these tools are creativity, critical thinking skills, a growth mindset, and emotional intelligence.
I support a robust academic master plan that will provide a variety of new options for parents and students. It is top priority to deliver quality neighborhood schools regardless of zip code. Additionally, we will make new investments in our award-winning Career and Technical Education programming and magnet programs centered around STEM, visual and performing arts, outdoor education, and dual language immersion. These programs will still provide a strong base instruction in all subjects while delivering it in a format that resonates better with individual students based on their interests.
Colorado ranks near the bottom of states for funding of public education. It is important to find new and innovative ways to pursue funding for education while at the same time advocating for legislative support for our underfunded schools. Thanks to the support of our voters last November, District 11 successfully removed some government restrictions on funding. We, therefore, can pursue private grant funding in a way that we have not been able to in the past. We must aggressively pursue this private funding and continue to advocate for additional support at the state level.
Safety must be at the forefront of what we do. I believe security programs in schools must begin with an understanding of trauma-informed care for students while mitigating opportunities for unauthorized outside access to facilities. Schools must maintain vigilance for threats both internal and external. The safety and well-being of our students is paramount.
The social and emotional needs of our students are tremendously important. We must place a renewed emphasis on supporting our students. While our teachers play a crucial and often unrecognized role in the support of our student’s emotional needs, D11 is also home to the “Colorado Counselor of the Year” at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. This achievement makes it clear that District 11 is taking this work seriously and is achieving excellence institutionally. Social and emotional learning must be embedded into our curriculum because we've seen the damage that can occur for individuals and communities when mental health needs are disregarded.
In response to the pandemic, District 11 took the bold step to ensure that every student had a device available to them to support their learning. Technology will continue to play an important role in the educational environment. We should ensure our students learn to use this technology in productive and appropriate ways. While technology can make many tasks easier, it is important we also teach students the logical underpinnings of technological operations so that they can apply these skills independently when needed.
As a parent, I saw firsthand the impact that a remote learning environment had on my child. This year, it is critical that we maintain in-person learning environments that are safe, supportive, and ambitious. Our best opportunity to achieve this is by adhering to the guidance of local, state, and national experts. We must also place new emphasis on the mental health needs of our students as well as our staff. Doing so will better prepare the district for high achievement academically.
Parent involvement is an essential component in any high achieving public school model. Unfortunately, for some parents, finding time to engage with the school system is more difficult than ever. It is important that a school district make significant efforts to reach out to parents and meet them in a way that is most convenient. Often times, this can mean hosting a meeting repeatedly at a variety of dates and times to best meet differing work schedules. We've also seen that virtual meetings can offer an opportunity for engagement that didn't exist just a few years ago. We must be willing to attempt specialized approaches to connect with the families that can be hardest to reach. This includes military families, working parents, and parents with a language barrier.
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.
2019
Chris Wallis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Wallis' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a PTA dad and member of the School Accountability Committee at my daughter's school. I regularly attend school board meetings and work groups. I am a Colorado native with a degree in communications from the University of Denver. I am committed to serving the community by adopting a 'listen first' approach and implementing solutions that are supported by meaningful research. Professionally, I have had the opportunity to be part of a variety of teams, both big and small. I have had the privilege of managing teams as small as 10 and am currently managing a team of nearly 100. My management style and philosophy is grounded in the idea of service. To me, an effective leader is one that is proficient in removing obstacles from front-line staff so that front-line staff can operate to the height of their potential.
- Provide a world class education to all students regardless of zip code
- Create a culture that will attract, retain, and develop the best educators
- Promote a curriculum that prepares students to lead and address the challenges of the future.
I am passionate about education, social and emotional development, mental health and equitable practices throughout society.
One person I look up to is Malala Yousafzai. She risked her life for the right to education for all people. Despite her traumatic experience, she emerged from it with a deeper commitment to her cause and does so with a persistent message of kindness and forgiveness.
I am inspired by the work Fred Rogers to promote the wellness of the whole child in support of education.
1. Integrity
2. Public stewardship
I have 15+ years managing teams and I believe in a philosophy of servant-leadership. I have heart that calls me to advocate for those that are under-served and often unheard. I will approach all issues with their needs in mind and seek to make their voices heard wherever possible.
1. Listen first
2. Be knowledgeable of research on issues.
If I have a legacy, I hope it is that I helped transform education to align with the needs of a changing world, opened doors for our most vulnerable citizens, and did so with the support of, and in service of the community. I hope I am remember for my kindness, commitment, and passion.
When I was about 7 I remember hearing about the fall of the USSR and the collapse of communism. I didn't understand it at the time but I understood that the adults in my life thought it was very significant.
I worked at Dairy Queen for several years through high school.
There are too many to number but recently I very much enjoyed Doing Justice by Preet Bharara and Let her Fly by Ziauddin Yousafzai
I've always been inspired by the story of John Henry. It is the story or a man that relentlessly struggled against impossible odds for the good of those around him. While his struggle ultimately cost him everything, he emerged victorious inspired those around him to greatness.
A million dreams from the movie The Greatest Show on Earth.
My life has been filled with blessing but it hasn't been without struggle either. In my younger years I struggled with finding my place in the world and developing a sense of belonging. This certainly motivates me to be an advocate for all students and to help them reach the height of their potential by removing the barriers to their healthy development.
1. Act as a voice for the community
2. Approve the budget
3. Approve the curriculum
4. Approve Policy
My constituents are students, educators, parents, educational support professionals, and community partners.
Establishing equity means listening to community needs and working to establish solutions that address the unique needs of the community in which a school lives. We must ensure we first listen with this principle in mind and then allocate resources in pursuit of this ideal.
I will adopt a 'listen first' approach in my decision making process. My most important stakeholders are obviously the students and ensuring their success is paramount. To accomplish this, we must ensure our educators and other front-line personnel are valued and trained to provide the best instruction and care to our students. Parents and community partners are essential assets in this mission and must be included in the promotion of our students. I am committed to maintaining channels of communication with these groups.
Parental involvement is essential. As a director, I will look to develop channels of communication that parents in diverse backgrounds can engage with on multiple levels. This can mean exploring technology based solutions to communication needs or working to break down language barriers or other obstacles.
An education system that represents many different voices is a benefit to students of all backgrounds. I will work to see that our population is reflected in our staff and that all voices are represented in the curriculum.
Students are natural learners. Often times, trauma such as poverty, neglect and abuse pose significant barriers to a students natural passion for learning. Often times, this behavior is manifested in behavioral issues that result in discipline. I will look to ensure that the district is mindful of these barriers and seeks to remove barriers prior to resorting to discipline measures that may remove the child from the education process.
Effective educators are ones that convey essential curriculum while nurturing and developing the curiosity and passion necessary for life-long learning. An important component with this is strong relationships and a sense of trust between educators and students. There are many programs that educators have embraced to support this including restorative practices and the excel model.
There will be many challenges for the future leaders of tomorrow. While we don't know all of the problems they will face. We know that they will need to have strong critical thinking skills, the ability to innovate, and the ability to work in groups in healthy and productive ways. My campaign seeks to prioritize curiosity, creativity, and kindness.
A diploma should signify that a student is prepared to enter the adult world. This means that they are capable of managing themselves appropriately in society as well as being prepared for continuing education or the workforce as they choose.
I believe curriculum should be introduced that emphasizes and expands Social and emotional learning and STEAM programs that develop critical thinking skills and creativity.
District 11 lives in a uniquely limited funding environment. We must work to make sure that legislators at the state level are working to tackle these challenges. At the district level it is crucial that we are good stewards of the budget and render effective results so that when the opportunity to raise revenues is presents the taxpayer has faith that it is money well spent.
As a father of a student in the district, safety is paramount. As a district we must seek to meet the mental health needs of our students and identify those that may need additional support to include outside resources.
As a district we should seek to limit the burden we place on educators and maintain healthy relationships with students to ensure we are watching for changes in behavior that may be red flags to more concerning problems. We should implement a progressive referral safety net to those students who may need additional support.
Technology should be incorporated into the classroom where possible to prepare students for the world they are living in. There are many programs already integrated in the classroom that are accelerating the learning process for many students and presenting it ways that are accessible to students who may otherwise struggle with classroom instruction.
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
2021 Elections
External links
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Candidate Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education At-large |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 15, 2019
