Laura McKenzie
Running for school board in Kent County
How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 5)?
45
Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?
I am a case manager for the Benedictine School and a licensed professional counselor for Discovering Serenity Counseling Services.
What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?
Master's degree in counseling from The Johns Hopkins University School of Education.
Why are you running for the school board?
Given the educational and behavioral health needs of our current student population, I believe it’s vital to have a board member who is well-versed in both of those areas who understands the complex needs of our current student population and who can effectively advocate on their behalf to achieve better educational and employment outcomes for all of our students. I am running because I understand what it's like to work in a school and be a parent of a child that needs more support. I live both sides of that equation, and I believe in the power of collaboration between schools and families, and I know how to advocate for mutually respectful partnerships.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
I’ve been a proud Kent County Public Schools parent for over 18 years. I’ve been a special education professional for over 10 years and a practicing licensed professional counselor for over two years. I am expert by experience in supporting my own children through their mental health and educational struggles. I advocated on behalf of my children to receive additional supports from the school and community to help them through those difficult periods. I am grateful for the support I received at their schools, at my local church and from their therapists.
I also served as a liaison between nonpublic schools in Maryland and Maryland State Department of Education to represent the needs of transition professionals in nonpublic schools. I regularly attended statewide trainings for transition professionals and collaborated with a variety of state agencies, nonprofits and employment providers to connect students and their families to the supports needed to help students achieve their educational and employment goals.
What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?
Statewide, our student proficiency rates in math and English are suffering, and Kent County is no different. Teachers are burdened with tasks that extend far beyond instruction. I believe we can better utilize support staff in our schools to assist teachers with non-instructional tasks so that teachers can focus more on teaching. Additionally, given the diverse needs of our student population, it’s more important than ever to provide targeted professional development to teachers that equips them to build strong professional relationships with students and parents, manage classrooms more effectively and create learning environments that are more structured and engaging. Teachers also need to feel supported by their administrators in every school, and as a district it’s vital that we improve in-house communication and collaboration so that there is consistency in the behavioral expectations set and maintained in each classroom.
I believe as a district we need to regularly engage with statewide initiatives like Maryland READS (Reading Education Aligned to Data and Science) and local partners such as Open Doors Partners in Education so that our students have more access to additional support outside of the classroom. I’ve participated with local and statewide work groups and consortiums that bring professionals together and partnerships like these are invaluable when it comes to addressing and meeting students’ needs. As a board member, I would actively seek out and participate in cross disciplinary collaborations so I can better advocate for the needs of all students.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
I admire Dr. Ben Carson because he remains true to his faith and trust in God and expresses himself in a humble manner in spite of all he has accomplished professionally, personally and on behalf of others. He is mission-oriented and communicates his views and intents respectfully and clearly. He prioritizes following God’s will for his life rather than his own agenda or the agenda of others. He is consistent in promoting a message of possibility for any person willing to do the work and endure the struggle that is necessary to achieve their goals.
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, passed by the General Assembly in 2021, is a 10-year plan that includes increased education funding to support early childhood education, increased teacher starting pay, college/career-readiness standards for high school graduates, and expanded services to multilingual and impoverished families, among other goals. Please tell us your views on the Blueprint and how it will affect your school district.
I believe the pillars of the Blueprint (Early Childhood Education, High Quality and Diverse Teachers and Leaders, College and Career Readiness, More Resources for all Students to be Successful and Governance and Accountability) are designed to better close the achievement gaps that currently exist. I am especially pleased to see that career readiness is being elevated to the level of college readiness, since there is a significant shortage in skilled labor nationwide, and students can lead successful independent lives leaving high school either with a certification in a specific trade or with a solid plan to gain a certification. The overall goals and strategies prescribed by the Blueprint certainly appear to be more in line with what is needed to help all students succeed. I am concerned about the feasibility for our county to meet the budgetary requirements within the timeline set. I know that many counties in Maryland are grappling with how to be in compliance without making cuts to programs and services that students and families have come to rely upon. It’s important for the state (Maryland State Department of Education and Annapolis) to listen to and work with local school systems as they communicate their struggles with budgetary compliance.
Some school districts nationwide are placing new limits on the use of cellphones in middle and high schools. What do you think should be the policy on student use of cellphones in your district, and why do you support that policy?
Given that cellphones often are a significant disruption to instruction, have the potential for interfering with student safety and can contribute to an overall negative school experience, I believe that firm boundaries need to be established and enforced in middle and high school settings. It’s important that students understand that the use of technology is a privilege, not a right, and that this privilege can be revoked. Because the county provides tablets and computers for student use, the majority of students no longer need their cellphones during instructional time. During instructional time, cellphones should be kept out of sight and turned off. If a student refuses to comply with the boundaries established by the school for cellphone use, then an administrator should take temporary possession of the phone and follow up with any disciplinary action required.
Are you satisfied with your school district's efforts to ensure the safety of its students? What, if anything, should be done to improve school safety in your district?
Overall, I am satisfied with my district’s efforts to ensure the safety of our students within the school buildings themselves. I believe we can do a better job as a district educating our students about the dangers of human trafficking and how to identify the potential red flags for relationships or jobs that may develop into human trafficking or some other exploitative situation.
Do you think there are circumstances when books should be removed from school libraries? If so, what kind of books should be removed, and who should make those decisions?
I am for informing parents about books that contain sensitive material so that they can make an informed decision about what they feel is developmentally appropriate for their child and what their child may access.
Some school districts enact policies allowing transgender and gender nonconforming students to use their preferred pronouns while at the same time not informing those students' parents about that decision. What is your opinion of such policies?
I support the guideline outlined in “The World Professional Association for Transgender Health” that “Mental health professionals should help families to have an accepting and nurturing response to the concerns of their gender dysphoric child or adolescent. Families play an important role in the psychological health and well-being of youth. This also applies to peers and mentors from the community, who can be another source of social support.”
Since families play an important role in their child’s well-being, and schools cannot guarantee confidentiality with the open use of preferred pronouns and names, I believe it is best to inform families before changes occur. Youth experiencing gender dysphoria often have co-occurring struggles like anxiety and depression, and parents are in the best position to ensure that all psychological health needs are addressed.
