Ryan Williams (Minnesota)

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Ryan Williams

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Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 2, 2021

Personal

Birthplace

Minneapolis, Minn.

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Ryan Williams ran for election for an at-large seat of the Saint Paul Board of Education in Minnesota. He lost in the general election on November 2, 2021.

Elections

2021

See also: Saint Paul Public Schools, Minnesota, elections (2021)

General election

General election for Saint Paul Board of Education At-large (3 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Saint Paul Board of Education At-large on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Jim Vue (Nonpartisan)	23.9	26,767
✔		Halla Henderson (Nonpartisan)	21.5	24,090
✔		Uriah Ward (Nonpartisan)	20.1	22,466
	Submit photo	James Farnsworth (Nonpartisan)	18.9	21,188
		Jennifer McPherson (Nonpartisan)	10.3	11,520
	Submit photo	Ryan Williams (Nonpartisan)	4.2	4,699
		Other/Write-in votes	1.0	1,106

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 111,836
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2019

See also: Saint Paul Public Schools, Minnesota, elections (2019)

General election

General election for Saint Paul Board of Education At-large (4 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Saint Paul Board of Education At-large on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Marchese (Nonpartisan)	17.1	23,845
✔		Zuki Ellis (Nonpartisan)	17.0	23,753
✔		Jessica Kopp (Nonpartisan)	14.3	20,021
✔		Chauntyll Allen (Nonpartisan)	13.8	19,209
	Submit photo	Charlie Castro (Nonpartisan)	8.6	11,950
		Jennifer McPherson (Nonpartisan)	7.6	10,557
		Omar Syed (Nonpartisan)	7.0	9,833
		Tiffany Fearing (Nonpartisan)	5.7	8,024
	Submit photo	Ryan Williams (Nonpartisan)	5.0	6,920
	Submit photo	Elijah Norris-Holliday (Nonpartisan)	3.1	4,325
		Other/Write-in votes	0.8	1,147

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 139,584
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2021

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Ryan Williams did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2019

Ryan Williams completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Williams' 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 running to meet the safety standards we have fallen behind on. On the board I will;

- Publicly release the lead in water follow up test results. - Insure the districts documents all physical restraints used on students, to end unneeded restraints. - Designate a School Transportation Safety Director - Adopt the required policies for bus monitors qualifications, training, and duties.

As a former special education students I will proudly fight for our under represented special education students

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?

• SPPS must document all physical restraints used on our students.
• SPPS must update our outdated transportation safety policies. We must comply with all the requirements of Minnesota Statute 123B.91 SCHOOL DISTRICT BUS SAFETY RESPONSIBILITIES.
• SPPS must immediately publicly publish the results of the lead in water follow up tests results

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

-Disability Rights & ADA compliance

-OSHA Safety Standards.
-Transportation

-Transparency

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

I look up to our students. They are the ones fighting everyday to make our schools better.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

The Tao of Pooh

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

Supporting the rights of the people

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I'm the only candidate that acknowledges; lead in the water, transportation requirements, physical restraint documentation, OSHA standards.

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

Serving the citizens

What legacy would you like to leave?

Ending undocumented physical restraints of students

What is your favorite book? Why?

To be honest, Youtube. I put on an audiobook on from youtube when I fall asleep. I listen to what ever students are reading at the time.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

I do not know

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

FF7

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Obtaining safety requirements for the students and staff of SPPS

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

The primary job of the school board member is to insure the districts meet the standards set by the state. Going above and beyond those standards to give the students the education they deserve.

Who are your constituents?

Students, Staff and, Families that want a better public school system

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

I will better partner with the Metro State Urban Teacher program to bring in more teachers that better represent our students.

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

I will fight for the rights of all of our students. I am working closely with disability advocacy groups.

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

We will be honest with the parents. We will release the lead in water follow up test results to restore transparency and earn back the trusts of the parents

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?

Yes. We need a central volunteer placement opportunity for future educators. We are losing out on future educators from Metro State by making volunteering in SPPS too difficult

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

Getting the students to and from school is on of the biggest obstacles. I would intimidate create a comprehensive school transportation safety policy that has been required since 1994. I would start by complying with MN statute 123B.91 SCHOOL DISTRICT BUS SAFETY RESPONSIBILITIES.

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

Connecting with students. I will support more opportunities for students to evaluate teachers. We will need to support advanced teaching approaches one step at a time, the first step will be a work safety sweep to insure we are complying with OSHA safety standards for our Employees.

What type of skills should students be learning for success in the 21st century?

Students must be given a range of skill from surviving to surviving. We need to help students learn a range of career paths.

How might you improve the value of a high school diploma? What should a 21st century diploma reflect?

We can improve the value of a SPPS diploma by improving the district that it comes from. A SPPS diploma should reflect the ability to continue education or start a career.

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?

The Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota community must be included in the curriculum

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

We must restore parents trust in the districts 3rd party billing program for special education services

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

We need to meet the student and employee safety standards that we are decades behind on.

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

End the physical restraints of students. Document every physical restraint. Publicly document how many restraints have been made and how is ordering the restraints.

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

We need to spend smarter on smart tech. We dont need need I pads for elementary students when A kindle fire is 10% of the cost. We need to be realistic on spending.

Not a single student has a Promethean board at home. We should be teaching kids what they can do with a cheaper device that they will have access to.

We need to fix out bad job at tech spending

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.

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Candidate

Saint Paul Board of Education At-large

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