How long, and where have you lived in Gilpin County?

The same house at the top of Golden Gate Canyon since December of 1996

What schools have you attended throughout life?

Elementary, junior high and high school.

What additional training or education have you received relevant to the Gilpin County School Board Commission?

Numerous training sessions from the Colorado Association of School Boards. Networking with board members from other districts across the state.

List the Gilpin County boards, civic or volunteer activities in which you have been involved and the dates of service.

Gilpin RE-1 District Accountability Committee 1997, 98, Gilpin County Planning Commission about 2016 to 2019, Gilpin County Senior Living board about 2017 to 2019.

What is your position on teacher salaries and what will you do to help them be competitive so that it attracts quality talent to educate our children intellectually, physically, and socially to be resilient citizens in the 21st century?

Teacher salaries & benefits should be as high as possible while fitting within the district budget.

How would you improve the way that emergencies like the swatting event are handled by the school and the administration?

Our biggest challenge during the swatting incident in February was lack of communication. We as a district have designed a system to keep staff informed with timely and necessary information should a future event take place.

Do you support following Public Health guidelines for child safety like vaccinations? If you don’t then what are your reasons and alternatives?

I believe a child’s health is up to their parents and their doctor.

Do you support banning books in the school library and if so which books?

I don’t support banning books. I do however support having age appropriate material in a school age library.

Did you support or oppose the RE-1 mill levy increase ballot initiative in 20xx and give reasons for your position?

I have always supported financial support of local education. The last override on our ballot was 2013.

Gilpin County government pays half of the School Resource Officers (SRO) salary from the general fund account. Do you think this is a fair arrangement? How do taxpayers in RE-2 who pay into the general fund benefit from this expenditure?

I think this is fair. The SRO officer is a deputy on patrol providing law enforcement in the county when school isn’t in session as well as on call when needed like all law enforcement personnel.

Why do you want to hold the office for which you are running?

I am running for this second term to continue the solid leadership that has put our district in a very good position educationally as well as fiscally.

Will you be able to meet the time requirements of the office?

Absolutely

How would you promote diversity in the school?

Our teaching and support staff continue to bring their diverse backgrounds with them which gives diversity to our program.

Are you committed to a secular approach to education, supporting education based on science, not religion, and on a progressive reading of history, i.e. that the story of our past is both glorious and horrible with neither left out?

We need to have a balanced approach to education. There has been a very diverse and blended history in our country. That’s what we were founded on. We need to teach history, complete and correct history. We can’t just concentrate on the horrible which seems to be the trend right now. There has been very glorious history as well. We need to teach history with no slant or bias.

To your knowledge, what is the role of the Board and school administration in terms of setting curriculum standards for our students?

The district and school administration makes sure any new curriculum meets standards that are set by the State Board of Education. Then staff and administration have input through the decision process. Once that process is complete it is brought to the board for approval.

For additional information email Joe at marr4gilpin@gmail.com or call 303-601-2460