Paula Reed

Paula Reed is a member of the Jeffco Board of Education in Colorado, representing District 2. She assumed office on November 29, 2021. Her current term ends in 2025.

Reed ran for election to the Jeffco Board of Education to represent District 2 in Colorado. She won in the general election on November 2, 2021.

Reed completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Paula Reed attended Loretto Heights College. She earned a bachelor's degree from University of Colorado, Boulder in 1984. Reed's career experience includes working as a customer service agent with a small sign company, as a teacher, and as a school administrator.^[1]^[2]

Elections

2021

General election

General election for Jeffco Board of Education District 2

Paula Reed defeated Theresa Shelton and David Johnson in the general election for Jeffco Board of Education District 2 on November 2, 2021.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Paula Reed (Nonpartisan)	50.2	82,980
	Theresa Shelton (Nonpartisan)	38.1	62,993
	David Johnson (Nonpartisan)	11.6	19,246

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 165,219
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign themes

2021

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released October 8, 2021

Ballotpedia survey responses

Paula Reed completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Reed'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 have lived in Jefferson County most of my life, graduating from Pomona High School and getting my B.A. in English from CU Boulder. My husband and I raised 2 Jeffco graduates, and I worked in Jeffco Schools for over 30 years before retiring.

I have taught speech and debate, general English classes, and ACE, an at-risk intervention class, at Columbine High School. My work in ACE allowed me to see how many Jeffco children and families depend upon having a strong, well supported school in their community. I will work hard to make sure that every child has access to excellent schools.

As a member of the Jefferson County Education Association, I worked on teacher-led professional development and served on the operational board. Since retiring from education, I work in customer service in my husband’s small business and serve on my church’s board of trustees. These experiences have provided me with insights into what practices from the private sector make sense in schools, as well as best practices in organizational governance.

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?

We need to make sure our educators and staff are paid their worth.
We need to support and expand career and technical training.
We need to fully support our neighborhood schools and provide enough options to serve all the children of the community.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am truly passionate about the importance of neighborhood schools. They are the schools that are accessible to every child, no matter their family's circumstances. They can be the hub of the community. Used creatively, they can be centers of community services. Education is the best way to provide a fair shot in life for every child, and that accessible neighborhood school plays critical part.

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

My family role model is my stepmom, whom my father married when I was 12. She was also a teacher and is still an invaluable mentor. In terms of famous people, I have always admired Annie Sullivan. She overcame poverty and disability to become a teacher who modeled tough love (emphasis on love) and devotion to her student, Helen Keller.

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

A political leader should be fundamentally motivated by a desire to serve. This does not mean they will always twist in the wind to make everyone happy. It means they listen to all sides, take additional relevant facts and expert opinions into account, and does the best they can to serve the community and their constituents.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

They should listen to their constituents and take into account the present and future well-being of the community. A school board member should provide vision for the district and direction for the superintendent, as well as fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities, including good financial management.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I clearly remember the Apollo Moon Landing. I was just shy of seven years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was at a department store called LaBelle's in Arvada. I worked there for two years.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

A school board member listens to the community and the professionals who do the work of the district. They provide vision for the district and oversight for the superintendent and budget, and never lose faith in what our schools can be and do.

Who are your constituents?

First and foremost, my constituents are the students. They may not be able to vote, but schools exist to serve them. The community as a whole comes next: Parents, businesses, residents of Jefferson County, whether they have children in schools or not. Our schools are our future.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

I would actively seek input from community agencies and organizations, especially those who represent traditionally marginalized groups, like the Community Diversity Advisory Council and JCEA's Ethnic and Minority Organizing Action team. I would also work with our various parent groups, such as the PTA and the parents of GT and disabled students. I would definitely like to hear from our student senators and other student leaders. One of the jobs of the board is to assure that resources are allotted equitably, each according to their needs, and I would take this part of the job very seriously. Input from those most affected is critical.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

There are numerous important groups who can help us understand the world we are preparing kids to work in as adults, such as our Chambers of Commerce. We also need to work with agencies like Jefferson County Public Health, Jefferson County Public Health, the Action Center, and others.

Do you believe it is important to intentionally recruit with the aim of diversifying the district’s faculty, staff, and administration? If so, what would be your policy to achieve this?

It is absolutely important to make sure that students see adults who like them in all roles in the district. This is where district and educator association ethnic and minority advisory councils can help. We also need to foster a desire to become a Jeffco teacher within our students, offering opportunities to be interns and encouraging them to take advantage of scholarships for future educators, like the JCEA Excellence Fund. I would like to be able to find a way to help future educators prepare for the exams they have to take to get licensed. These exams are expensive, so taking them multiple times can be cost-prohibitive. I think we can help them pass the first time.

What issues get in the way of quality education? How would you address these obstacles?

We are having a really hard time attracting and retaining the best teachers. This is a funding issue, and it needs to be addressed, both in how we spend the money we have as well as in putting pressure on the state to stop using the Budget Stabilization Factor and start complying with the Colorado State Constitution.

There is also no doubt that we lost a lot of instructional time during COVID, so we will need to use federal ESSER funds for after school and online programs to help kids catch up.

What constitutes good teaching? How will you measure this? How will you support advanced teaching approaches?

Good teachers engage students. This is immediately observable when you walk into their classrooms. Kids are participating, not acting out, raising hands, asking questions, talking to each other about the topic, and doing work with minimal pressure from the teacher. When asked, students can explain, not only what they are learning, but why. They can connect it to other subjects and to life outside of school.

We need to streamline teacher evaluations. They need to focus on these important, observable factors and not be the checklists of minutia they can become. If the big things are happening, so are the small. If kids are not engaged, the teacher is disorganized, there are behavior issues, then it's time to delve into the details. Frequent observations in the first few years will help new teachers develop skills, after which time, they don't need to be observed as often. Perhaps every other year.

Professional development led by advanced teachers and dedicated time to share best practices are really helpful for teachers in developing their craft. Newer teachers who are struggling would benefit from master teacher mentorship.

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?

There is always room for more CTE (Career and Technical Education). I used to supervise students getting credit for working at jobs outside of school. My daughter, who was college-bound, had an internship in the district communications department here in Jeffco and received high school credit. We have three Warren Tech campuses, which is great, but there are other ways, such as this, to bring CTE into neighborhood schools.

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

I believe every school district in the state should be placing pressure on the legislature to fund schools in accordance with the Constitution. No more paying in IOU's and making up names like the negative Factor or Budget Stabilization Factor. Poor funding and the resulting problems it causes schools hurt the whole state.

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

I think students whose social and emotional needs are being met are less like to cause safety issues. We need to make sure we have adequate mental health resources in our schools and partner with agencies such as Jefferson County mental Health. We currently have a national expert in school safety in charge of security, and I would continue to work with him and our sheriff's department, which provides our SROs. It is very important to understand that SRO's are there to keep kids safe from immediately dangerous criminal activity. They are NOT there to take care of routine disciplinary issues or even major disruptions that are not criminal.

I would also want to make sure that our administrators are well versed in restorative justice practices. Kids who feel a part of community in their schools are less like to be a danger to themselves or others.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

Training in mental health first aid is a cost-effective way to help our staff take care of students and each other. We also need to make sure we aren't adding more pressure than we need to to the work we're all doing. Homework for children and additional work and duties for adults must be truly necessary to education. otherwise, we need to take these things off people's plates. Finally, adequate personnel whose job it is to look after children's mental health (SELS, counselors, schools psychologists, etc.) must be prioritized.

What role do you imagine technology playing in (and outside) the classroom in the future? How would you prepare the district for this?

During COVID, technology was a lifesaver, but too much of it is not necessarily a great thing. Reading comprehension often goes down when a screen is involved, and technical difficulties can make test scores less valid, because they reflect issues with the technology, not academic performance. One of the drains on mental health is the disconnection from community that can happen when screens become our primary means of connecting.

Technology is the tool, the means, not the end. We need to make sure that we keep the big-picture learning in the foreground, because technology changes. We want student to think more about how technology can be used to help them with that learning. less focused on learning how to use a particular piece of technology as an end in itself.

What are your views on how to address schooling during pandemic times?

I wish we had been more creative with time and the elements. We knew early on that being outdoors led to fewer infections. If we'd had kids go to school during traditional vacation times, when the weather was warm, and used colder months for more extended time off, it would have reduced stress and allowed for in-person learning.

For COVID right now, a combination of vaccinations and masking seem to be making in-person school work. It's hard to say what any future health crises might call for, but schools and public health need to work together with the understanding that mental health and education are as important as physical health. We need a comprehensive approach.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district? What plans do you have to be inclusive of parental involvement?

Most of our advisory committees are made up of parents, and their input is crucial. I would also listen thoughtfully to public comment and read emails understanding that, when parents communicate with the board, what they have to say is very important for them and for their child(ren).

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

Reed’s campaign website stated the following:

“

Open Schools Safely and Consistently
I like to frame the discussion of issues arounds stories, but I have no stories about having school during a pandemic. While there may be a few sturdy folks who have been alive since the last one, they wouldn’t have been school-aged at the time. The truth is, no one has navigated school with a full understanding of COVID19 and all its implications.

I’m not an epidemiologist. I’m not in the room with the teams of professionals with decades of collective experience and expertise who work at Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH), the CDC, and the WHO. They understand public health better than I.

Of course, they aren’t educators, but I spent 30 years in the classroom and am in constant communication with educators who have been navigating these uncharted waters since late 2019. I have heard stories of the impact of on-again-off-again in-person/online instruction. I have heard families struggling to juggle jobs and children and technology limitations. What I am hearing loud and clear is that we need kids in school and we need consistency.

The leadership of JCPH and Jeffco Schools must work together to safely keep our kids in school, in-person, without interruption in ways that do not imperil the health of those children, their families, or vulnerable staff members. The vaccine has been a major milestone, but many of our students are not yet eligible, and we have much to learn about COVID19.

I will work in tandem with JCPH to serve our children’s educational and emotional needs while preserving the health and safety of our whole community.

Neighborhood Schools
One of my students, a ninth-grader, got her father out of bed every morning after he had spent the previous night drinking. He was sluggish, hard to wake, and even harder to get on his feet. But if he didn’t get out of bed, take a shower, get dressed, and go to work, he and his daughter would be evicted. She made sure he had done all of these before she bolted out the front door and raced to get to her first class at 7:30 a.m. Fortunately, the school wasn’t far, and she usually made it on time. Another student’s single mom worked the night shift, not returning home until 8:00 a.m. The student was 17, and she cared for her younger siblings until Mom got home. She had no car, but she was able to walk to school in time for second hour, so her counselor always scheduled her with first hour off. Every opportunity these girls will have in life has depended upon a solid start in their neighborhood schools.

I spent 20 of my 30 years as a Jeffco teacher in an alternative program (ACE) embedded in a neighborhood school, so I know that one size does not fit all. A strong neighborhood school, one with options ranging from at-risk intervention to advanced placement classes, is a lifeline for students and their families. We have a responsibility to care for this important aspect of our communities. I will advocate for neighborhood schools getting the resources they need to serve all the students and families in their communities.

Quality Educators
As is true of districts all across the nation, Jeffco schools have faced hard times. In 2011, as a result of the economic crisis and resulting budget cuts, the majority of my colleagues and I voted to cut and freeze our salaries, as well as take furlough days. We wanted to do our part to help the district and keep cuts as far from the classroom as possible, though anything that impacts educators impacts students. The sacrifices we made then significantly impact my retirement today, but I still feel we did the right thing at the time.

The district promised to get educator compensation back on track as soon as possible, but a new board majority was elected in 2013 that actually created a pay scheme that was ultimately found to be unfair by an independent fact-finder. Although that board majority was recalled and a transparent salary system re-implemented, trust between the district and its educators had been damaged, and Jeffco remains well below neighboring districts, like Denver and Boulder, in educator compensation.

This is also true when it comes to compensation for our educational support professionals, vital members of the Jeffco Schools team who have struggled for years in negotiations to get compensation commensurate with their contributions to student achievement.

Betrayal of trust is no way to retain the quality educators we are fortunate enough to employ, and offering less-than-competitive salaries will not place us in an advantageous position for new hires. Jeffco has made commitments to our educators regarding compensation, and we must prioritize responsibility for those commitments to the best of our financial abilities. What we cannot offer in financial compensation, we must offer in work/life balance, by cutting back on extraneous tasks that do not directly benefit students.

Our students deserve educators who are committed to them, which means we need to be committed to our educators. ^[3]

”

—Paula Reed’s campaign website (2021)^[4]

External links

Jeffco Public Schools

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Candidate

Jeffco Board of Education District 2

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Footnotes

↑ Paula Reed's 2021 campaign website, "About Paula," accessed September 16, 2021
↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 18, 2021
↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
↑ Paula Reed’s campaign website, “Key Issues,” accessed September 15, 2021

[1] Paula Reed's 2021 campaign website, "About Paula," accessed September 16, 2021

[bio-2] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 18, 2021

[quotedisclaimer-3] Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

[4] Paula Reed’s campaign website, “Key Issues,” accessed September 15, 2021

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Paula Reed

Contents

Biography

Elections

2021

General election

General election for Jeffco Board of Education District 2

Campaign themes

2021

Video for Ballotpedia

Ballotpedia survey responses

Campaign website

See also

External links

Footnotes

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