Sarah Grcevich

As representatives of our educators and staff, the SCEA, SCPA, and IUOE provide valuable support to the Stillwater School District. Earning the endorsement of these three bodies would signify their confidence in my ability to be a strong advocate for the district’s employees. It would also demonstrate that they trust me to work collaboratively to advance the educational environment, ensuring our teachers and staff have the support and resources they need to help all students achieve.

2. Why are you running for the school board? In your opinion, what is the most important role of a board member?

I am running for school board because I believe deeply in the value of public education as both a civic institution and a source of equal opportunity for all children regardless of their background. I want our district to succeed and provide the best possible environment for our students and educators. I recognize that public education faces immense challenges, and the only way we’ll find solutions is if people are willing to step up – even when they don’t have all the answers. I’m committed to being one of those people, and doing everything I can to help guide our district toward success.

My racial experience comes mainly from a place of privilege, which I try my best to acknowledge and challenge. However, as a woman, I understand the dynamics of power imbalance and do my best to apply my learnings from that lens to broader racial and socioeconomic issues.

The role of a governing board is to help set strategic direction and vision for the district by representing the needs of constituents and remaining committed to equity in opportunities for all learners. The board’s job is not to manage logistics, but to vet ideas, review data, and support the administration’s initiatives.

A balanced approach to managing a school district superintendent involves offering general support while holding them accountable through transparent communication, data-driven decision-making, and respectful dialogue. Accordingly, my goal will be to foster a supportive yet accountable relationship with the superintendent. This means regularly reviewing data on student achievement, budgeting, and school performance to ensure that decisions align with district goals. Thinking ahead to the question about collaboration, I will encourage an environment where tough questions are welcome and disagreements handled respectfully, allowing all stakeholders to collaboratively address challenging issues. Ultimately, the school board member role is about supporting the superintendent while making sure they remain focused on delivering results.

Although I don’t have direct personal experience with unions or collective bargaining, I understand and appreciate their role in advocating for their members. As it relates to educators specifically, unions help ensure that the individuals with the most immediate and direct impact on students are supported and advocated for. I view the unions as a lens through which I can gain a better understanding of the opinions, concerns, and suggestions of the teachers and professionals they represent.

I have not experienced or observed examples of systemic or institutional racism directly in Stillwater public schools; however, I am not naive about the reality students of color face. Specifically with respect to academics, the statistics are clear: Minnesota has historically had some of the most significant racial achievement gaps in the nation, and these have been further exacerbated by the pandemic, decreasing public school enrollment by higher-income families, and underfunding in general. We need to do more collectively to ensure public education is democratized and remains an equalizer for all children.

Those who are trained experts in their field should ultimately be entrusted with making decisions and recommendations about curriculum, assessment, staffing, and school management. The role of the board is to monitor and assess these things over time to ensure that the designated approaches to critical areas of performance are meeting established goals.

Collaboration means bringing different experience, knowledge, and expertise to a group in commitment to a shared vision, but at its core it is about how stakeholders engage with one another during this process. It means listening actively and respectively to others’ experiences, points of view, and beliefs. It means remaining focused on collective problem-solving rather than individual agendas. It may not always mean complete consensus, but it always involves respect.

My approach for each of these groups will be the same, with a focus on active listening, community engagement, welcoming questions and feedback, and practicing transparency in decision-making. Making sure people feel included in conversations and decisions; that their opinions are being heard; and that they can rely on their elected officials to follow-through on commitments are all critical for creating a foundation of trust.

Our district has so much to offer its students – we need to be sure that our educators and staff feel supported, that our families are aware of the value of public education in general and Stillwater School District in particular. An obvious and perennial area we need to address is around literacy rates and math proficiency. We need to figure out a way to improve these scores across all students. We can’t do this without acknowledging the huge socioeconomic and racial disparities, mental health issues, and lack of resources our students and educators face. Balancing this critical need with the reality of budget constraints will be challenging, and there won’t be easy solutions. But I am committed to seeking solutions – we owe it to our kids.

I will rely on the experts to provide the financial data and the options for resolving the economic challenges we will inevitably face. My job as a board member will be to help guide a decision toward solutions that keep a focus on the needs of all constituents and ensure the greatest level of equity.