Jose Matthews

Equity means providing all students the resources and supports they need to be successful. That means different things to different students.

I am a supporter of ensuring a baseline of funding for Delaware's students. Every Delaware child should walk into a reasonably-sized classroom and have a full range of content-area educators and unified arts and career and technically educators, as well as adequate mental health supports.

For schools serving students with high numbers of special needs, English learners, and students living in poverty, large amounts of additional funding should be provided to those schools to help drastically reduce class sizes and special education caseloads, as well as increasing the amount of school counselors, psychologists, and social workers who can engage with students and families to make their lives better.

To ensure this is happening, I believe we need to first go to the legislature to ask for this funding. There have been improvements in recent years related to special education funding, opportunity funding, and increased mental supports, but we need so much more.

We need to place more resources where we know they're needed most, especially in schools with high concentrations of poverty, where students often experience more traumatic events in their lives. By providing more school counselors, psychologists, and other support staff, as well as the needed wraparound services and wellness centers, schools can address students' needs holistically that could then create more inclusive, equitable school cultures where all students feel like they're part of the community.

School safety is a top issue of mine. We need restorative practices in our schools, but too often, those practices aren't being followed with fidelity because there aren't enough staff to help deescalate a situation and truly begin the restorative process. We need to dramatically increase school counselors and social workers who can lead these processes in our schools so that they can be done as they were meant to be done. Restorative Circles and Restorative student-led courts can be one way to have buy-in from students and I think all of these needs to be on the table. However, it won't work if it's not fully funded and supported.

Yes, I believe this 100%. We as a Board should not be in the business of censoring materials in our schools that lead to uncomfortable, yet necessary, conversations.

Yes, I support this statement. And in my first term as school board member, I introduced and rallied support for a transgender and gender non-conforming policy that allows students to be who they are at school and not risk threats to their safety at home. We need to expand upon this and make sure our educators have the tools to become even more culturally competent in serving our students from diverse backgrounds.

Yes, and I have stated as such in my time on the Board.

Students who are being bullied need to be protected. They need to be provided supports and counseling when these events occur.

Bullies need help, too. They need to be given a wide range of counseling supports and their parents need to be held accountable, too.

If there is a bullying culture at a particular school, then I would trust our administrators to do the work necessary to put an end to it, maintaining the safety and confidentiality of all students involved while at the same time implementing social and emotional supports to create a more positive culture at the school.

Yes, and I have requested interpreters at some of our Board meetings. I believe we need to offer that option for every school-based event and I will continue to push for that if reelected.

Absolutely. I've said for a long time that our educator workforce should look like the students we serve. We need educators who share many of the same experiences as our students in classrooms so that ALL students can receive instruction from a diverse workforce. In the end, this enriches everyone, which should be the goal of a good public education.

This was one of my biggest action items last year. I led the charge to hold the state Department of Education accountable for not reporting out in a timely fashion the results of lead testing in schools from more than two years. I got some pushback from Board members and administrators who thought we should move on from this, but I wasn't satisfied and I got the Board to pass a resolution asking the District to send a letter to the Federal EPA demanding the state DOE be held accountable.

When water in our buildings is tested, the community needs to know immediately. I'd like to work with the District and community members to build trust about the water in our buildings. We've done a great job installing filtration stations in our schools, but even more community outreach is needed and I hope to be a part of that.