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Marcy Clark - For Bennington School Board of Education, Bennington, NE (2026)

05/10/2022

Today is election day! I would appreciate your support today!

Serving the Bennington community would be an honor. I am a parent of young children that will continue to grow and be a part of the area. I am invested in seeing the school prosper and be the best it can be. I am an educator and I believe that if given the opportunity to have someone on the board that has experience in education can be invaluable. I believe in having a balance that can listen to all members of a community and providing the best service for all.

Main areas of focus will be..
- First and foremost, STUDENTS! All students and their needs. Ours schools schould be filled with opportunities for students to grow in their academics and activities. In recent years Bennington has been in the news about inequity for all students. School should be a safe place for a student to learn and grow and be prepared for adulthood. This includes giving opportunities for exploring different paths whether it be 4-year college or trade school or internships for immediate careers.
- Teachers and staff and their needs are an area of focus. We are a growing community but the teacher shortage continues to grow every year for everywhere including Bennington. Bennington needs to continue to remain competitive for teachers and staff and a place where they are respected and listened to.
- Fiscal Responsibility – Taxes across the state continue to grow, we pay one of the highest in the country. This money should be used in a responsible way for the students and staff and also is transparent to the community. Honesty and transparency in a community that may have many different view points in essential in creating trust that will help the area continue to grow.

04/29/2022

Our currently proposed Health and Hygiene standards are having a lot of discussion across Nebraska. This is important for many families who are concerned with the information that may be taught to our students in the future.

First thing to take note is that transparency with the process needs to be addressed. The state is currently on its 2nd draft of proposed standards. I have posted the link below. The state has standards that in some cases are vague and purposefully so. They are vague to give local school districts an opportunity to forge the details that fit their community. After the state has adopted standards, local school boards decide on the specific curriculum that is taught and I have seen this done in 2 ways. Either the board buys curriculum from a company, commonly done with math and english, or it will hire its own staff to write the curriculum in the summer including lessons that are taught in the school. I have personally been a part of writing science curriculum for K-12th grade for over 5 years and understand this process.

With either direction, if the board accepts the standards in Bennington I think a good step that could be implemented would be to put out a survey for the parents to give feedback on examples of specific lessons taught. This would help in the transparency of what is included and then parents can make informed decisions about whether they want their child to participate or opt-out.

Concerning the current draft of health standards, I have studied it in detail. In K-2nd grade the topics are on safe and unsafe touch. For my 1st grader I envision a lesson about this being where the teacher discusses with the class that some of our friends are ok with hugs and some of our friends prefer high fives. If your classmate doesn’t want a hug, that’s ok and we should not make them feel bad about that. Body anatomy is not even discussed until 3rd grade a very tiny amount, again mostly referring just to keeping personal boundaries. At this age, 8-9 years old, I personally do think this is appropriate for some simple understanding that girls and boys have different parts and we should respect. And then body anatomy is discussed again in 5th grade.

Some girls will be starting their period by 5th grade and there is so much that we don’t even know that our kids are seeing online or talking about with their friends. Ideally we like to hope and believe that all children are safe at home and getting the information that they need at appropriate ages but this is not the case.

I believe that there can be a balance formed between giving parents the right to opt out, giving appropriate health and hygiene information, and giving more details for the students that are not safe and getting it at home.

As a teacher in middle and high school, I have had many students that are not getting the information needed at home and are making very risky choices simply because they were not taught.
Creating the curriculum ourselves that keeps all students in mind with community input and always an option to opt out completely I believe can be the start to a solution for a very important topic.

04/26/2022

One of the top questions discussed is the teacher shortage and teachers leaving the district for other places and families leaving the district for other schools. Below are my thoughts on both of these as they are very important to me.

Teacher Shortage:
I am a educator and I see and experience the effects of the teacher shortage that is happening and the results it has on students and the community. It is a national issue but still effecting Bennington and our students. Bennington has been a sought after place to work but will need to stay competitive to keep good teachers here. Exit interviews from teacher can be helpful but should remain anonymous for the district to get the best possible feedback.

Some ideas I want to bring to the board for the teachers is…
- First, listen to their needs for their classrooms. We have large taxes that have continued to go up. The first place to look for using them should be for the students and teachers and the needs of the classroom.
- Professional development opportunities that they would desire to be a part of to grow.
- The district offers full family health insurance but is about $1000 less than the state average for pay. This should be something that is looked at if the taxes for the community are going to continue to be high.
- Sick Day Bank: teachers could put their sick days into a bank for any other teacher in the district to use in emergency situations without loss of pay (including maternity/paternity leave).

Families/Students Leaving District
Immediate thoughts are 2 possibilities.
- The first could have some reasonable solutions, that we do not have some of the same opportunities as other schools offer. One off the top of my head is a swimming team. Building a swimming pool is an expensive route but sharing with another school could be a possibility. For example, at the new OPS school on 156th, Westview, in conjunction with the YMCA, they will have a pool. However, between their own use and use for the YMCA scheduling could be difficult but not impossible. If its not possible to have a swim team, we should explain to the public the reasons why. Also, making sure our class selections are competitive with other schools would be a solution that can be achieved.
- The 2nd thought as to why families and students are leaving the district is that they do not feel that it is a good fit for various reasons. If at any point parents, students, and families did not feel as though they were listened to and heard about their concerns that is unacceptable. It is hard and sometimes nearly impossible to make everyone happy. The issues that created the feeling of not being a good fit should be discussed within staff about how to improve for the future. No one is perfect and there can always be room for discussion and improvement.

04/23/2022

Hello!
There are only 18 days left until the primary on May 10th! I wanted to give a few updates. I have seen comments on social media hoping candidates will give a clear picture of where they stand on some issues. Over the next 2 weeks leading up to the primary, I will make multiple posts on a different topics and some of my thoughts. Please feel free to comment or ask questions.

- I would love to hear from parents and community members so don't hesitate to reach out with questions. Feel free to post here, send me a pm, or email me directly. However, facebook seems to be making its own decisions lately about what pm's get through so if you have already sent one or going to, leave a comment quick so I can search for it.

Also...
- I will be participating in the Bennington Mom's facebook group live interview on Friday, April 29th at 5pm so look for that to be posted here shortly afterwards.

- I will be at the Meet and Greet at Nate's Stumble Inn on May 1st from 4:30 - 6:30 pm. Hope many of you can make it there!

03/09/2022

A little about myself. My family and I have lived in Bennington for 6 years. I am a high school science teacher in my 9th year of education. Originally from Lincoln, I went to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln where I earned my Bachelor's in Chemistry and Education and then moved to the Omaha metro. My husband, Kyle, is a superintendent for a local construction company and we have 2 children. Elise is 6 and in 1st grade at Heritage Elementary and Ben is 1 years old.

Education has been a part of me my entire life as grandpa and aunt were both teachers and i grew up hanging out in their classrooms. I want to help be a part of the educational decisions for the community that my family calls home.

If serving on the Bennington Board of Education, my goals would focus on the following:

Students: The students are the focus and always should be. There are a lot of changes in the world and helping students become active and positive members of society should be the goal of every school district. My personal beliefs are important for what I teach my children at home but they are not the only ones in the school. Students from varying backgrounds make the classrooms stronger and this should be emphasized.

Equality: There is room in a community for all members to be included and heard. I want to be a voice that listens to all stakeholders and works collaboratively with students, educators, and parents to find the path that is inclusive for all students to strive and be successful. I have a daughter and teach her that she can do anything she wants when she gets older, her education should support and encourage any and all goals she or any other students set for themselves.

Teachers: Educators are in the ones in the classroom everyday and are the experts and professionals in their field. I will support teachers and all school staff and focus on their needs for continuing school improvement as our community grows. This includes listening to their viewpoints as curriculum changes occur over the years for classrooms.

Transparency: Honest and open communication is vital for a community to strive. This includes detailed minutes of board meetings, budget allowances and changes, and a welcome environment for parents to be a part of their child's education. The school and the home should be a team in the education of a child. Transparency helps to create trust with the district to best serve the student. Our taxes are astronomical and should be used for the classrooms and the students.

I am an educator, spouse, and mother which gives me multiple viewpoints to contribute to the decisions that will have an effect on our students education.

Address

Bennington, NE
68007

Telephone

+14023107904

Website

facebook.com

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