Mike Heil

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Mike Heil

Nonpartisan

School District 49 school board, District 5

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

1

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 7, 2023

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Navy

Years of service

1993 - 1999

Personal

Profession

Information technology professional

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Mike Heil is a member of the Falcon School District 49 school board in Colorado, representing District 5. He assumed office on December 6, 2023. His current term ends in 2027.

Heil ran for election to the Falcon School District 49 school board to represent District 5 in Colorado. He won in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Heil completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Mike Heil served in the U.S. Navy from 1993 to 1999. His career experience includes working as an information technology professional.

Elections

2023

See also: Falcon School District 49, Colorado, elections (2023)

General election

General election for School District 49 school board, District 5

Mike Heil won election in the general election for School District 49 school board, District 5 on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Heil (Nonpartisan)	100.0	3,906

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,906
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Heil in this election.

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Mike Heil completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Heil's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a Navy veteran, a professional computer nerd, a musician, and a father. I've also been a foster parent, and served six kids in that capacity. I've been a fixture at school board meetings for over a year now, including speaking at public forum, and I've served the district on the MLO committee, and on the Cultural Leadership Accountability Council, where I contribute on the data subcommittee and have helped draft the new bylaws.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Outstanding student outcomes begin with outstanding teachers. We must support them better so they can support our students.
• Politics have no place in our public schools. They exist to serve all students.
• Review the basics. Make sure kids have enough time to eat, play, etc. These are underrated factors critical to productive classwork.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Evidence-based policies that set our children up to thrive.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

John Adams. He is the most underappreciated Founder and it's not even close. Most people are unaware that, even though he was abroad during the Constitutional Convention, his fingerprints are all over it. Adams could have personally prospered so much more had he stuck to his farm and his legal practice, but he answered the call of public service every time. He stuck to his principles and stayed true to himself, even when that worked against him as a foreign minister to France. He tried to run a nonpartisan government as president, inviting members of the opposition party to serve on his Cabinet.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

This is almost going to sound corny, but it trying to come up with the three most important characteristics, I landed on something very similar to the US Navy's core values:

Honor - Be diligent in speaking truth, accept feedback, acknowledge fault, and proceed with humility.

Courage - Be prepared to make the hard choices, and be prepared to push back against loud community groups coming at you with bad information and/or ill-intent.

Commitment - Show up ready to do the work. Read your packet, engage the staff with your questions before the meeting, and make your concerns known so they can be prepared to respond ahead of time, which contributes to making meetings productive.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

A better question might be, "When is there not a song stuck in your head?" My major hobby is a classic rock (mostly 60s-90s, or as I like to say, Rolling Stones to Stone Temple Pilots) cover band, where I perform lead vocals and play a little rhythm guitar.

As I'm typing this our cover of "Feel Like Makin' Love" by Bad Company is in my head. I get to strum a little and I'm joined by two guitarists who are not confident in their vocal abilities... but when those three-part harmonies kick in during the verses, it's gold, and it's now one of our go-to songs when we want to make a positive first impression on an audience.

Who are your constituents?

Ultimately I am answerable to all the voters in my director district, but above all, I feel like my real constituents are the students. If we're doing anything as a board that does not serve them, then we are failing in our jobs, and the community that elected us.

In what areas would you like to expand curriculum? For example, do you see a need for advanced technical training or apprenticeships? What sort of innovative programming would you advance if given the opportunity?

D49 does an amazing job of providing advanced training to our high school students in all sorts of ways - early college, trade crafts, etc, and I would champion protecting those programs, and expanding them where it makes sense.

One opportunity that really excites me is the potential to bring music instruction to our early elementary students. I've seen a scientific study that demonstrated significant brain structure changes and improved achievement scores for students who received music lessons from ages 6-8. I would love to have someone pilot it in one of our schools, and develop a roadmap for expanding it to all of our operated portfolion.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

D49 is significantly underfunded compared to its neighboring districts. As such, it must continue to find creative ways to reduce costs, such as utilizing charter and online schools. Frugality on its own is not enough, however. I personally encourage all D49 voters to approve the upcoming MLO, to help move our teacher pay into a livable wage. And I would encourage our staff to continue to be aggressive in pursuing grant opportunities.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

None yet, but the campaign is just kicking off.

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.

Other survey responses

Ballotpedia identified the following surveys, interviews, and questionnaires Heil completed for other organizations. If you are aware of a link that should be added, email us.

• League of Women Voters

See also

2023 Elections

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Newsletters

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External links

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Candidate

School District 49 school board, District 5

Website

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