Dawn Brockman and Scott Christian are running for Norman Public Schools Board of Education Office No. 4. The election will be held on Tuesday.
Dawn Brockman
Dawn Brockman was a public school teacher for 20 years and taught at Norman High School for 14 years. At Norman High, Brockman also served as the student congress advisor. Both of her children have attended Norman Public Schools, one of whom currently attends Norman North High School.
Brockman later became the executive director of the Oklahoma Association of Student Councils and the director of alumni relations and university development at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, where she currently works as Dean of Students.
Brockman said her potential role as a board member is crucial for giving teachers a voice, especially in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You've got to take care of the people who were in the trenches, and I think that being in the trenches allows you to make decisions that are going to take care of teachers,” Brockman said. “I will make sure that we have a legitimate voice going forward.”
Teacher retention and funding
Brockman said her biggest priority, as well as the biggest issue for education in the state, is teacher retention.
“Norman has always been known as a gold standard among Oklahoma schools, but I think that we've reached the point where they’ve staved off — as long as they can — the effects of a lack of funding from our state government,” Brockman said. “We’ve increased the amount of students that we have, so that becomes a state issue as well. We need funding for our schools.”
With state funds dwindling, she said she hopes to focus on retaining current teachers in addition to hiring more with dwindling state funds.
“If we take care of the (teachers) we have, that would be huge going forward,” she said. “I think that having a board that is focused on taking care of teachers is going to be so important.”
Transparency
According to Brockman, transparency will allow the board and the public to identify and respond to school issues accordingly, which is why having a communicative and transparent board of education is a priority for her campaign.
“Coming together as a community to take care of issues requires you to name the challenges as they come up (and) we have a lot of challenges coming forward,” Brockman said. “We just need to identify what our challenges are so that we can face them and overcome them.”
She said she hopes virtual communication options like Zoom are further implemented to allow parents to communicate with NPS.
School safety and school resource officers
“There was no one more important in our building at building relationships than the SROs that we had from the Norman Police Department,” Brockman said.
Brockman said that although she supports student resource officers, she is uncertain about spending, referencing her role as student congress advisor at Norman High. She said student resource officers would need to be funded for school events, whereas Norman police officers were already financially covered.
“‘Where are the costs being covered on this, do we have an agreement with the city?’” Brockman said. “That requires us asking for people or board members that are going to ask some questions on that.”
Westheimer Airport and the Oklahoma Aviation Academy
Brockman said she supports the Oklahoma Aviation Academy, along with anything else that supports student interests. However, she added she wants to ensure students are adequately positioned and trained or served elsewhere.
“Norman always has had great opportunities and lots of opportunities for different directions, different passions, and I think that the aviation one is a fabulous one,” Brockman said.
Diversity and inclusion
Brockman said she intends to serve from a standpoint of inclusivity and will work to support all students.
“The entire purpose of a public school from day one has been to take care of everyone, so how could you not come at this from having an inclusive standpoint as a board member,” Brockman said. “I'm here for all kids.”
Mental health, social-emotional learning
Brockman said mental health is an important issue for Norman Public Schools, citing the increase in mental health challenges since the COVID-19 pandemic. She said social-emotional learning is a crucial part of student mental health and hopes the investment in student resource officers equates to an investment in mental health.
“I think that the attack on SEL has been kind of ridiculous because it's so inherent to what we do every single day. How do you interact with others? How do you behave in the classroom?” Brockman said. “(Social-emotional learning) is what we do every day.”
She added appealing to and funding counselors would contribute to student mental health, citing Oklahoma’s counselor shortage. She said an improved reputation for NPS could attract teachers as well as counselors.
“If you're a district that takes care of teachers and takes care of counselors, people talk, and it's an opportunity for them to increase (the number of) people wanting to be in Norman Public Schools,” Brockman said.
Scott Christian
Scott Christian has worked in banking for eight years and currently works at Prosperity Bank as vice president and a commercial lender. He also runs the Burn Boot Camp gym with his wife and her business partner. He has four children, one of whom graduated from Norman North. His mother was an NPS teacher.
Christian said his career as a commercial lender allows him to understand the financial aspect of the school board. He added it would allow the board to better allocate and spend its resources.
“The school board is technically in charge of hiring and firing the superintendent, but you also have to understand the allotments and the financials that go with allocating that money and making sure it's spent wisely,” Christian said. “I bring in a fresh, unique perspective that I think works well with everybody, not just a certain demographic.”
Christian said competition creates a better learning and working environment for NPS.
“I will do everything in our power to make sure that our students have the best education in place to make it desirable,” Christian said. “I think competition sharpens each other; the goal is to make everybody better.”
Teacher retention and pay
Christian said teacher retention is an important issue. Christian said he hopes to work with surrounding universities to create an environment based on meritocracy that attracts passionate teachers.
According to Merriam-Webster, meritocracy is a system in which members are positioned based on merit and ability.
“I want to get the teachers where they thrive and do the best, but also have a meritocracy – that's a place that rewards good behavior,” Christian said.
Diversity and inclusion
Christian said his belief in meritocracy extends to students. He said he hopes to attract students as well as teachers.
“I want (students) to be incentivized to do well,” Christian said. “We want to be welcoming and understanding of everybody, but we also need to have accountability and understanding of where we're at.”
Mental health
Christian said he wants to be empathetic and aware of mental health challenges by addressing ways technology impacts student mental health.
“For all the good things that technology is, is it really helping our students or hindering their learning ability?” Christian said. “I'm not saying it's bad, but really trying to maybe curtail some of that and really empower those teachers and those students to get back to some traditional forms of learning.”
He added he supports ensuring recess time for students to allow them to release energy and socialize.
SROs and safety
Christian said he supports Norman’s recent student resource officer expansion. He added student resource officers can immediately deter threats and respond quicker than NPD.
“I'm mindful that not everybody views policing the way that I do, but I'm also very well aware that (SROs) do a tremendous job in building up these students and (in) really creating a deterrent,” Christian said.
Oklahoma Aviation Academy
Christian said he supports the Oklahoma Aviation Academy at Norman Public Schools, citing aviation’s role as Oklahoma’s second-largest employer.
“It's creating competition, it's creating opportunities to make Norman Public Schools attractive,” he said. “It's creating a workforce pipeline for our second largest employer in our state.”
Early voting will be held on Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
This story was edited by Peggy Dodd, Anusha Fathepure and Ismael Lele. Avery Avery and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
