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Kathy Miks
Kathy Miks ran for election to the Jeffco Board of Education to represent District 5 in Colorado. She lost in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Miks completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kathy Miks was born in Amarillo, Texas. She earned a bachelor's degree from the Colorado School of Mines in 1987. Miks' professional experience includes leading the innovation and commercialization team for Johns Manville's Building Insulation business and as a high school volleyball coach. She previously worked as the lead solid propellant engineer for the space shuttle program. Miks has been affiliated with the Spray Foam Coalition, the Center for Polyurethanes Industry, and the Polyisocyanurate Manufacturers Association.[1][2]
Elections
2021
See also: Jeffco Public Schools, Colorado, elections (2021)
General election
General election for Jeffco Board of Education District 5
Mary Parker defeated Kathy Miks in the general election for Jeffco Board of Education District 5 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mary Parker (Nonpartisan) | 55.4 | 91,307 |
 | Kathy Miks (Nonpartisan)  | 44.6 | 73,540 | |
| Total votes: 164,847 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kathy Miks completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Miks' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Prepare all children for success after high school by improving academic achievement. In 2019, 65% of Jeffco 6th graders did not meet state math standards. In the 21st century economy, this is unacceptable. Our children deserve better. We must also offer robust career and technical education programs and certifications that are valued by employers for jobs that are in high demand.
- Improve fiscal accountability. We must ensure that Jeffco’s $1.4 billion budget (and the millions in federal aid the district is receiving) is used effectively and efficiently to improve outcomes for our children and provide competitive salaries for our teachers and employees. We must have tighter oversight of the $800 million dollar capital improvement program to ensure our facilities are up to date and promises to voters are kept.
- Support parent choice and robust extracurricular activities. Many kids today are struggling, and parents deserve public education choices with enriching activities to keep kids engaged and provide opportunities for academic, mental, social, emotional, and physical development.
• Compassionate
• Respectful
• Experienced
1) Academic Performance and Next-Step Readiness for All Students
2) Employer of Choice for Teachers, Administrators, and All Support Staff
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.
Campaign website
Miks’ campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Academic Excellence However, for the last few years Jeffco academics have been declining. In 2019 before COVID, only 46% of 3rd graders met the state’s English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency standard, 35% of 6th graders met the Math standard, and 38% of 8th graders met the Science standard. The 2021 COVID-impacted scores are even worse. In spring 2021, 45% of 3rd graders met the state’s ELA proficiency standard, 26% of 6th graders met the Math standard, and 33% of 8th graders met the Science standard. That means that a majority of our students do NOT have the skills necessary to read, write, or understand math and science at grade level. As a coach, I know one score does not define an athlete, team, coach, or season. Success is more than just one number. However, when most measures are going in the wrong direction, it is time to evaluate what is happening and adjust. Jeffco scores that measure how much our students are learning compared to students around the State of Colorado have seen similar declines. In 2017 achievement growth numbers (how much our students learn in a year) showed the growth for 17 out of 23 subgroups were above state averages in ELA. By 2019, only 4 out of 23 subgroups were above state averages. Similarly, in 2017, 16 out of 23 subgroups were above state averages in math. By 2019 only 2 out of 23 subgroups were above state averages. That means in Jefferson County, where all of my family received excellent educations, only a small fraction of students learned more than their peers around the state. The scores above show that we are not delivering great education opportunities for most students. The most recent scores below indicate that there are significant gaps in performance. We all need to ensure ALL students have access to great education. Having coached hundreds of female athletes, I know that whether our students are headed directly to a career, the military, or are going on to higher education, they need basic skills to succeed. The Board must review and monitor the curriculum and resources used in our schools to be sure students are learning the basics. We must do better for all of our students, and I will work hard to ensure that we improve academic performance and give students the skills they need to build better futures. Fiscal Responsibility Spending over the last 5 years has significantly outpaced inflation while enrollment in district-run schools has dropped. From 2016 to 2020 spending increased 33% vs. a 10% inflation rate for the US3. During this same time, enrollment decreased approximately 7% from 86,361 students to 80,098 students. Although per pupil spending has kept pace with inflation, the number of employees in the Administrative Services category has grown from 594 to 716, a growth of over 20%. In short, student enrollment has decreased while spending has outpaced inflation and administrative growth has increased over 20%. If this variance was accompanied with higher performance, we could celebrate. However, that is not the case. We should all be concerned about the allocation of Jeffco’s taxpayers funds without acceptable student achievement. I have the business experience necessary to uncover spending leakage, right size administrative spending, focus money in the classroom, and invest in programs that increase opportunities for students. In 2018 Jeffco voters approved a $567 million bond initiative, allowing the district to borrow funds with payback costing up to $997,640,000 or nearly a billion dollars. These funds were to be spent across the district to improve facilities. Spending projects were outlined in a “flip book” provided by the district.8 Because of market conditions the districts borrowed over one hundred million dollars more than the $567 that voters authorized while staying under the $997 million payback. There has been no public conversation on the spending priorities for this additional $100 million dollars, leading many to question the lack of transparency on how these and other funds have been spent. The district has recently hired an outside company to audit the spending and processes. The rebuild at Alameda Jr/Sr High School project has been mentioned consistently as an example of a spending increase that was not discussed with the community. Originally projected to cost just over $18 million, spending approved by the School Board now exceeds $25 million.9 The new building capacity will be reduced from 1,610 students10 to 1,200 students. That means the Alameda project costs have increased nearly 40% while the capacity of the building is being reduced by 25%. With this reduced capacity and new houses being built in the neighborhood many wonder how the additional neighborhood students will be served. Others want to know what projects won’t be completed due to the $7 million that was moved to the Alameda project. The Jeffco School Board should be transparent with the community over how the $667 million in new funds is spent. I have managed large projects. I know the right questions to ask and will prioritize spending to the projects voters approved, so that we honor our commitments to our community. In 2010 the Jeffco Schools Board considered closing Ken Carly Middle school, a school that was at nearly one hundred percent capacity. Since that time dozens of Jeffco schools have been threatened with closures. These threats create an immense amount of angst among families, students, staff, and the community. Often the threat of closing a school can result in families leaving the school further eroding enrollment. Clearly there is not consistent criteria for placing a school on the potential school closure list. Martensen Elementary was closed in 2011. Not long after Zerger in Westminster and Pleasant View in Golden were also closed. Those community students, like the Martensen community students, were split and no longer had a neighborhood school. Shortly after closing Zerger and Pleasant View, the Board approved moving other schools into those buildings and Martensen became the district’s safety center. We were told these schools needed to close to save money, but how is money being saved when new programs are moved into these closed schools? Worse, last spring without a vote of the Jeffco Schools Board, and with very little community conversation, Allendale Elementary was closed. District leadership said there were too few students planning to return to the school for it to provide robust education options. Families were left scrambling to find new schools in the middle of a pandemic and now the district is proposing to move programs into the Allendale building. Not only are these school closings negatively impacting families, but they are also not saving the funds they were closed to save. Now parents in all Jeffco schools with enrollment under 200 students are worried their school will be closed without warning.11 Jeffco Schools needs a comprehensive facility plan and community members should have a huge part in creating the plan. The Board needs to weigh the impact of closing a school on the community versus any potential savings especially when historically new schools open in the facility that closed. Never again should parents be surprised that their school is on a closure list. Over the last decade four Jeffco schools have been closed: Martensen closed in 2011 and became the district safety center 12, 13 Zerger closed in 2012 and Doral charter school opened in the building 14, 15 Pleasant View closed in 2017 and Free Horizon Montessori opened in the building 16, 17 Allendale closed 2021 and the district is proposing to start a day treatment program in the building 18 Supporting Parents & Individual Choice In my family, my three children had different learning needs. They attended our neighborhood elementary and middle schools, but when it came to high school, we were fortunate to be able to make a choice that was not our neighborhood school for one of our children. Every parent should have that opportunity. Every Jeffco Public School from Jefferson Academy to Great Work Montessori, from Addenbrooke Classical to Compass Montessori, from Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen to Mountain Phoenix - every student in every charter school should be supported just as those attending a neighborhood school. Students in our option schools, whether that is Jeffco Open School, McClain, Warren Tech, Rocky Mountain Deaf School or D’Evelyn should also be supported. Just as I made the best educational choices for my children, I commit to supporting educational choices for parents and students. Now more than ever it is important to support the public education choices parents are making. I am grateful that we were able to decide which high school was best for our children. All parents should be able to choose what is best for their children. I support parents’ ability to make the best choices for their students. Good Mental Health & Supporting the Whole Child As the mom of three children with very different needs and having coached hundreds of students over my ten-year coaching career, I know we must do everything we can to engage our students, find ways to inspire and drive them, and help them to envision a bright and hopeful future. I am proud to have the endorsement of a number of former players. Through play, we taught them to set goals, work hard, function within a team, and showed them they could have great futures. Today, far too many of our students feel isolated and cut off from their communities. Voters in 2018 approved additional funds for mental health supports and Jeffco has hired a number of new social emotional specialists. These folks work to prevent future crises. But what about those who need interventions right now? There has been no conversation about how these funds are allocated and if they are truly serving the students in need. I have the experience needed to ask the proper questions to ensure funds are spent to address the needs of students. Also critical is ensuring that we have robust extracurricular activities available across the district. My heart broke thinking of all the kids that missed-out on activities that were canceled due to COVID shutdowns. Extracurricular activities are fun, build a sense of community and belonging, and foster healthy social, emotional, and mental well-being. I know firsthand how many of the students I coached stayed connected to school because of their athletic opportunities. From athletics to band, choir, theater, debate, speech, student government, and clubs, we must provide the opportunities our students crave and need outside of the classrooms. And this is true for all our students, from elementary chess and reading clubs, to middle school cooking and bowling clubs, to high school activities and athletics. All students must have opportunities. I support development of all aspects of our children - academic, mental, social, emotional, and physical - for joy and long-term success. [3] |
” |
| —Kathy Miks’ campaign website (2021)[4] | ||
See also
2021 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Kathy Miks' 2021 campaign website, "Home," accessed September 16, 2021
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 10, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Kathy Miks’ campaign website, “Priorities,” accessed September 15, 2021
