Ricardo Oliva (Bloomington Public Schools School Board At-large, Minnesota, candidate 2023)
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Ricardo Oliva ran for election to the Bloomington Public Schools School Board At-large in Minnesota. He was on the ballot in the general election on November 7, 2023.[source]
Oliva completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
[1]Elections
Per our coverage scope, Ballotpedia does not provide election results for this particular race. Check your city or county government's election website for vote totals.
General election
General election for Bloomington Public Schools School Board At-large (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Bloomington Public Schools School Board At-large on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | ||
| Sandra Johnson (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Nelly Korman (Nonpartisan) | ||
Ricardo Oliva (Nonpartisan)  | ||
| Mia Olson (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Langa Oriho (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Heather Starks (Nonpartisan) | ||
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
Endorsements
Oliva received the following endorsements.
- Bloomington School Brd. Memb. Dick Bergstrom (Nonpartisan)
- Minnesota Parents Alliance
Pledges
Oliva signed the following pledges.
Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ricardo Oliva completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Oliva's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I grew up in Bloomington, graduated from Kennedy High School, and went on to earn a B.M. in Contemporary Writing and Production from Berklee College of Music and a M.M. in Music Education from Boston University. Whether it is coaching youth baseball, serving on an advisory committee, or teaching music lessons, I feel great joy in serving our community and I am passionate about education. I am running for school board so I can combine my experience with my dedication to education and have a positive influence on our entire school community.
- In all decisions, do what is best for our students.
- Fight for adequate funding so we can continue to attract high quality talent and offer top notch programming while remaining fiscally solvent.
- Promote diversity of thought. Understanding that while we cannot make everyone happy, we can work to make sure all voices are heard and considered.
I have a passion for education with a focus on curriculum and policy development.
My parents. They both grew up on small farms and taught me the value of hard work, fiscal responsibility, and never giving up on my dreams.
For a school board member, the number one principle is "do what is best for students." School board members should be honest, selfless, and have a deep desire to serve their community.
I think what helped me the most the first time I was on the school board was my ability to understand topics from multiple perspectives and work through disagreements in a respectful manner.
Individually, board members should come prepared to meetings by reading their board packets and doing outside research into events affecting school districts and school district governance.
Finding a greater purpose in a finite lifespan.
The primary job of a school board member is to work together with the other board members along with the administration to ensure the school district is meeting the needs of its students. The school board creates policies, approves budgets, and sets the strategic plan and vision for the district to achieve student success. Individual board members must do their due diligence to ensure they are able to meaningfully participate at board meetings and offer input when needed.
The quality of the school district impacts the entire community, so our constituents are not only students but also anyone who works or lives in Bloomington.
By encouraging differentiated learning and innovative teaching methods we can create an environment that supports a wide range of needs, interests, and skills.
It is important to engage in community listening sessions and be responsive to community feedback, especially when it is negative. It is important to engage with all stakeholders, with extra emphasis on their primary role in the community.
A good teacher meets the needs of their students and helps improve their understanding of the subject matter so they can pass their required tests. A great teacher inspires their students to be better each day, to keep going when they want to give up, and encourages them to become the best version of themselves possible.
I would like to see more opportunities surrounding the trades and also software development. I would like to see more opportunities in elementary and middle school to mix classes on ability and skill instead of only by grade.
The school district needs to put more pressure on local legislators to ensure proper funding and to minimize unfunded mandates.
I support our district's current safety and security plan and encourage the administration to offer suggestions if they believe we could do even more. For example, perhaps we could find a way to eliminate the need for backpacks to mitigate the chances of a weapon being brought into the school. The reason being most violence in schools happens between students.
We need to put more pressure on our local legislators to increase funding for mental health professionals in the schools. We also need to make sure consequences for bullying and harassment are enforced. The days of "boys will be boys" and "they're just kids playing around" are over.
I used to be addicted to soap. I'm clean now.
Board policy 524 regarding computer system and internet acceptable use says "Users will not use the district system to access, review, upload, download, store, print, post, receive, transmit or distribute: a. pornographic, obscene or sexually explicit material or other visual depictions that are harmful to minors; b. obscene, abusive, profane, lewd, vulgar, rude, inflammatory, threatening, disrespectful, or sexually explicit language; c. materials that use language or images that are inappropriate in the education setting or disruptive to the educational process."
Policy 550 requires secondary schools to create a student handbook, one of them says "Possession of sexually explicit material is prohibited at Jefferson High School (this includes images on student clothing). When necessary, this type of material will be reported to the police."
There is no single ideal learning environment. Whenever possible we should offer multiple options for learning. For example, some students are easily distracted in a large classroom setting while others have a hard time focusing when they have to do online classes.
Like pretty much everyone else, they were caught off guard by the long term impact the pandemic and the subsequent decisions by our state and federal government would have on the school system. We need to make sure we have detailed plans in place to handle various scenarios, including doing disaster recovery tests so we know what to do if we need to shut down schools again.
It starts with a competitive compensation package. Then we need to cast a wide net in order to grow our candidate pool. For example, post to more than one website and outside of the Twin Cities metro area. And then we need to create a work environment that encourages thought leadership and feedback among 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.
Other survey responses
Ballotpedia identified the following surveys, interviews, and questionnaires Oliva completed for other organizations. If you are aware of a link that should be added, email us.
See also
2023 Elections
External links
Footnotes
