Jillian La Serna

Jillian La Serna

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Nonpartisan

Education

Bachelor's

California State University, Sacramento

Graduate

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Personal

Profession

Assistant professor

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

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Jillian La Serna ran for election for an at-large seat of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education in North Carolina. She won in the general election on November 5, 2019.

La Serna completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

La Serna received a bachelor's degree from the California State University, Sacramento, in 2001 and a graduate degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2017. Her professional experience includes being an assistant professor of educational leadership. La Serna received her NC School Administrator Superintendent License; NC School Administrator Principal License; NC Elementary Education (K-6) Elementary Education License; CA Multiple Subject Teaching Credential; CA Gifted and Talented Education Certificate; and CA Cross-cultural, Language, and Academic Development Certificate.

Elections

2019

See also: Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, North Carolina, elections (2019)

General election

General election for Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education At-large (4 seats)

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

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rani Dasi (Nonpartisan)	23.6	8,807
✔	Submit photo	Jillian La Serna (Nonpartisan)	22.9	8,534
✔	Submit photo	Deon Temne (Nonpartisan)	17.5	6,529
✔		Ashton Powell (Nonpartisan)	13.7	5,107
		Andrew Davidson (Nonpartisan)	12.0	4,469
	Submit photo	Carmen Huerta-Bapat (Nonpartisan)	6.5	2,426
	Submit photo	Louis Tortora (Nonpartisan) (Unofficially withdrew)	3.5	1,308
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	136

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 37,316
= 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

To see a list of endorsements for Jillian La Serna, click here.

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Jillian La Serna completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by La Serna'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 been an educator for the past 20 years. I started my career in K-12 education as a teacher assistant, working in severe and profound special education. Upon graduating Summa Cum Laude from CSU-Sacramento, I worked as a classroom teacher in San Diego Unified School District. I also spent a year teaching abroad in Ayacucho and Lima, Peru.

I hold a Master's Degree in School Administration and a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from UNC-Chapel Hill. Over the past 11 years I have had the pleasure of serving as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal at Carrboro Elementary School. Currently, I am an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at UNC-Charlotte.

I love to travel, read, hike, and watch Carolina basketball (Go Heels!). I married my high school sweetheart and we have two children, a 13 year old son and a 10 year old daughter, both students in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools since Pre-K.

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?

• Students First: I pledge to put students first in all district-level decisions. Whether discussing the budget, considering a new initiative, or evaluating hiring practices, we must ensure that the needs of all students are our top priority.
• Servant Leadership: In my six years as principal in this district, I made sure that every single parent had a voice and that decisions were made as a community. I will carry this grassroots leadership to the school board and look you in the eye. I'm listening.
• Recruitment and Retention: Teachers and principals make the greatest impact on our students. Our school system should attract the most talented educators from all backgrounds and create a culture that makes the most qualified teachers and administrators want to stay here.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am personally passionately about equity. I have spent my twenty years as an educator advocating for social justice at all levels of the academic spectrum, from pre-K to high school. As your school board representative, I will continue to fight systemic racism and promote equity and access for all.

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

willingness to listen; Integrity; knowledge and experience; transparency; ability to generate and consider new ideas; dedication to the field

What legacy would you like to leave?

Closing the achievement gap

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

When I was 18, I began working in K-12 education as a teacher assistant. I worked in that capacity for three years while going to college in Sacramento, California. It was one of the most valuable experiences of my career.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan is a wonderful young adult historical fiction novel. I would use it as a teaching tool with students with I was a classroom teacher and it continues to hold a special place in my heart because of my memories in the classroom as well as my discussions about the book with my own children.

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

As a first generation college student, navigating the educational system was an obstacle that I would not have overcome if not for the amazing public educators that supported me.

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

The primary job of a school board member is to be in conversation with the community and district administration to ensure that the needs of every student in the district are met.

Who are your constituents?

The students, families, and community members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School District. I work for you.

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

First, listen. In order to support the diverse needs of the district's students, faculty, staff, and community, you have to listen to know what challenges are being faced as well as hearing ideas for how we can meet the needs of the stakeholders.

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

It is important to be present in the community, schools, and events in the community. Building relationships is key to understanding the needs of our community, schools, and students. Being bilingual, I can offer the an opportunity to conduct more outreach to our Latinx community and in recruitment of Latinx faculty, with a constant lens of inclusivity.

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?

I plan to take steps to create direct lines of communication between the the board members and parents. If elected, I plan to offer "office hours" for the public so that there are open lines of communication between the community and myself as a board member.

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, the district faculty and staff does not represent the student or parent population. The

district should continue its efforts to recruit and retain a diverse staff, including
Black, Latinx, and Asian faculty. I believe that there are talented faculty of color within this state, and our district needs to develop relationships with universities and teaching candidates beginning at the undergraduate level. We also need to ensure that administrators are trained to
recognize micro-aggressions so that they can appropriately respond when faculty of

color encounter them at the workplace.

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

In my current position as Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, I am constantly in conversation with the most current educational research that we can utilize to ensure good teaching is happening in our school district. Fink and Markholt (2011) describe five dimensions of teaching and learning that can be used in defining what constitutes good teaching: classroom environment and culture, purpose, student engagement, curriculum and pedagogy, and assessment for student learning. This provides a framework in which we can measure the complexity of what is good teaching. Professional development around teaching should be offered in a three-part process to increase effectiveness: initial training, guided practice, and finally accountability.

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?

Across PreK-12 classrooms, we need to embed culturally relevant curriculum and practices. This is an important issue for me and is the topic of my scholarly research. As principal of Carrboro Elementary School, I worked with my instructional leadership team to use an innovation grant to fund an analysis of current units and integrate social justice standards from Teaching Tolerance throughout the curriculum.

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

Individual school safety plans as well as close relationships with emergency personnel and law enforcement play key roles in prevention and response to crisis.

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

This is an important issue facing our district. I would like to see additional funds directed toward increasing the counselor to student ratios as well as the number of school psychologists in our district. In addition, counselors, psychologists, and social workers need access to ongoing professional development so they are prepared to handle the varying mental health needs of our students. Finally, continued partnership with local organizations and resources is key for ongoing support of our students, families, and 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.

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