Kristen Draper
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Kristen Draper is the District C representative on the Poudre School District school board in Colorado. Draper won a first term in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Draper participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Biography
Draper's work experience includes serving as a digital literacy librarian at the Poudre River Public Library District. She earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1994 and a master's degree in educational media and technology from the University of Northern Colorado in 2004. She has served as the president of Ft. Collins/NOCO Chapter of PFLAG and has been involved in the Imagine Zero Suicide Coalition. Her oldest child is a graduate of the school district, and her youngest child was a junior in high school in the school district for the 2017-2018 school year.[1]
Elections
2017
- See also: Poudre School District elections (2017)
Three of the seven seats on the Poudre School District Board of Education in Colorado were up for nonpartisan general election on November 7, 2017. In their bids for re-election, incumbents Christophe Febvre and Carolyn Reed ran unopposed to the District D and E seats, respectively. Kristen Draper defeated John Clarke in the race for the open District C seat.[2][3]
Results
| Poudre School District, District C General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Kristen Draper |
65.29% | 27,831 |
| John Clarke | 34.71% | 14,796 |
| Total Votes | 42,627 | |
| Source: Larimer County Clerk, "Election Summary Report: 2017 Larimer County Coordinated Election," accessed November 27, 2017 | ||
Funding
Draper reported $26,307.85 in contributions and $24,616.04 in expenditures to the Colorado Secretary of State, which left her campaign with $1,691.81 on hand in the election.[4]
Endorsements
Draper was endorsed by the following organizations and elected officials:[5][6][7]
- Poudre Education Association
- State Sen. John Kefalas (D-14)
- State Rep. Joann Ginal (D-52)
- Poudre Board of Education District A representative Cathy Kipp
- Poudre Board of Education District B representative Nate Donovan
- Poudre Board of Education District C representative David Trask
- Poudre Board of Education District G representative Susan Gutowsky
Draper was also endorsed by former officials. Click here for a list of her supporters.
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Kristen Draper participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[8] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on October 6, 2017:
| “ | I am running for the Board of Education because I know I can be a strong leader and advocate for education in our community. As a member of the School Board, I have 3 main issues that I intend to address with responsible and practical solutions. First, I want to promote clear avenues of communication between the Board of Education and students, parents, and community members. As a digital literacy librarian and working mom, I know first-hand the benefits of increased digital access and a strong social media presence. By making the Board of Education more accessible to parents outside of regular Board meetings, we will increase the Board’s overall transparency and provide more opportunities for community input. Second, I will fight for better funding for our schools. As an LGBTQ rights advocate, I have successfully worked with the current state legislators to secure funding for a variety of projects. Budget and funding issues are, of course, complicated, and my experience as a librarian and teacher means that I know how to educate our community members about the complexity of and necessity for state funding of education. I will ensure that the funding PSD does have is distributed responsibly, and I will bring our community together to work for local solutions to PSD’s funding needs. Finally, I will work with Board of Education, teachers, families, and community members to continue to close the opportunity gap facing some of the students in our district. We know that PSD has an excellent testing and graduation rate - we exceed the state level. However, when we break down these rates along racial or socio-economic factors, we find that students of color and low-income students have significantly lower tests scores and rates of graduation than their peers. We need to address this issue on multiple fronts, and one of the most effective actions we can take is to hire more diverse teachers to better serve our students as mentors and role models. Furthermore, I will ensure that PSD continues to fund and develop initiative that serve all of our students, regardless of background, identity, or learning style.[9][10] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Colorado. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | As many of you know, our schools are facing a funding crisis. Because of TABOR, education always has to compete for funds at the state level, and right now we are losing. To ensure that our schools are properly funded, we need to increase our advocacy for state funding. For the past two years, I have been advocating for the Poudre River Public Library and for LGBT issues as part of my leadership role in PFLAG NOCO, and I will bring this experience to the School Board. I will also make sure that our community members understand the complexity of state funding for education, so that we can work together on local solutions to our schools’ funding problems and ensure the responsible distribution of funds within the Poudre School District. Through my extensive experience serving on boards and committees, communicating with legislators, and working within the school district, I am prepared to dive in and help our schools get the money they need to succeed.[10] | ” |
| —Kristen Draper (October 6, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| Yes. Charter schools are Colorado state law and here to stay. Poudre School District is one of the finest school districts in Colorado and offers many choices to meet the educational needs of students and their families. Charter schools provide even more education choices, but they MUST be subject to the same rules and regulations as neighborhood schools. I also believe that neighborhood schools and charter schools can learn from each other. PSD should encourage and participate in an exchange of ideas between all schools to provide the best opportunities for all of our kids. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should defer to school board decisions in most cases. The state should defer to school board decisions in most cases. We have local control in Colorado, and the BOE should be meeting with the community, parents and students to make sure that the school district is meeting the expectations of the community. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Standardized tests are only part of the story, and we need to use the information as such. While standardized testing is federally mandated and one objective way for taxpayers to hold PSD accountable, teachers are the best judges of how students are performing over the entire school year with formative testing such as personal interactions, creative writings and others that go beyond a single day or a single test. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. We need better teacher performance evaluations before we start to base pay off of those evaluations. Merit pay may also inhibit collaboration between staff. Unless the merit pay system is is based on collaboration between the teachers and not solely based on teacher evaluations, I do not believe it is what is in the best interest of our students. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Taxpayer dollars for schools are decreasing, and putting that money toward school vouchers would fund private, rather than public educations, and significantly limit the reach of educational resources intended for the public good. Simply put, I do not believe school vouchers are the right choice for our community, and I do not believe that public money should be used in private education. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| PSD has various ways to help students who have been expelled after returning (state law of 1 year expulsion) to graduate. One example, Opportunities Unlimited (OU) is a re-engagement program housed in Poudre High School, which caters to students who are off track for graduation or have dropped out of a high school in PSD. This is part of closing the opportunity gap for these kids, and making them feel connected to their school and their community. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement. Teachers ANDParent involvement are key to student success. Great teachers inspire parent involvement in their kids education, and parent involvement will last for the student's educational career and beyond. I am still friends with many of my kids elementary school teachers and principals. They are wonderful, inspirational people who helped my kids achieve their best, even in difficult situations. Be an advocate for you own child’s education. Attend meetings when you can, but even if you can’t, get the teachers emails and don’t be afraid to use it. You know what is best for you child, and together you and your child's teacher can get the best education for them. |
Candidate website
Draper highlighted the following issues on her campaign website:
| “ | Fiscal Responsibility Ensure the Mill Levy money voters approved in 2016 is used responsibly Education for Everyone Community Collaboration |
” |
| —Kristen Draper (2017)[11] | ||
Political philosophy
Draper submitted the following political philosophy to Ballotpedia:
| “ | As a parent, educator, and public librarian, I believe that education should be the great equalizer, and I also know that even in a wonderful, welcoming school district like Poudre, there is still an opportunity gap that we need to close. Every child deserves a great education, and I am committed to making that happen.[10] | ” |
| —Kristen Draper (2017)[1] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Kristen Draper Poudre School District school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted on Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form on September 26, 2017
- ↑ Poudre School District, "Board of Education Election," accessed September 2, 2017
- ↑ 2017 Larimer County Election Results, "Final Unofficial Results," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "TRACER: Candidate Search," accessed December 18, 2017
- ↑ Coloradoan, "Letter: Draper is right for PSD board, PEA says," October 1, 2017
- ↑ Coloradoan, "Letter: Draper has range of relevant experiences for PSD board," September 10, 2017
- ↑ Kristen Draper for Poudre School Board, "Home: What Others Are Saying," accessed November 2, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Kristen Draper's responses," October 6, 2017
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Kristen Draper for Poudre School Board, "Home: What She’ll Get Done," accessed November 2, 2017
| Poudre School District elections in 2017 | |
| Larimer County, Colorado | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | District C: • John Clarke • Kristen Draper District D: • Incumbent, Christophe Febvre District E: • Incumbent, Carolyn Reed |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
