New Berlin Resident Tom David Announces Candidacy for School Board

My name is Tom David and I would like to announce my candidacy for the New Berlin School Board. I have been a resident of New Berlin for nearly eight years, and have a great interest in our community; especially our schools, as my daughter attends New Berlin Eisenhower. For many years I have followed and studied political events shaping our local, state, and federal government. I have attended many school board and city council meetings, communicated with elected officials, and even wrote letters to the editors of the Journal Sentinel. I even regularly participated in political roundtable discussions on a Milwaukee based cable access show several years ago. Not exactly “Meet the Press”, but speaking publicly about topical issues has given me a passion for wanting to make a difference in our community.

I first really began to see where I can be of assistance to the New Berlin school district in 2004 when I volunteered to support the school district by participating in a committee consisting of members of the community in identifying a proposal for the Human Growth and Development curriculum. I have also supported our community as a director of youth ministries for eleven years at the Layton Avenue Church in Greenfield, where I developed a sincere desire to help children and youth to achieve to be their best. I have developed curriculum, taught junior high and high school students, served as the children’s and youth counselor, and annually prepared and managed a budget for the youth ministry.

Becoming a member of the school board is important to me because, like you, I have been affected by our current economic situation, knowing how important it is to be financially responsible with limited resources. In developing and managing budgets for both corporate and non-profit organizations, I have always taken a personal interest in ensuring that money was spent using responsible spending practices and a careful examination and prioritization of budget requests. I wish to take this same attitude towards developing a responsible budget for our school district to address district operations and capital improvements.

I have learned how important a quality education is in the life of a student. After completing a less than stellar high school career, I obtained my bachelors degree after serving in the U.S. Air Force on active duty, and my masters degrees well into my career path. I have realized that it is incumbent upon our schools to not merely teach the students so that they pass tests, but to better teach them how to learn. We cannot simply prepare our grade school students for high school, and our high school students for college or tech school. We need to provide the courses, curriculum, and technology that will equip every one of our students for life.

My professional experience is extremely diverse; ranging from law enforcement and investigations to software programming, quality and project management, and process and operations improvement. My passion in my professional life has been to help companies become "better, stronger, and faster", through improved processes and quality, while helping them reduce costs and increase revenue. I have also focused on proactively measuring performance regularly to track progress, mitigate issues in a timely basis, and to ensure accountability. I am confident that I can use my experience and success in this area to best serve me as a member of the New Berlin School Board.

My leadership, management, and interpersonal skills have been developed by leading and developing teams of individuals in business, the military, and nonprofit organizations. I have strong communications and dynamic presentation skills that I have developed as an instructor for business related classes and seminars, as well as teaching and presenting seminars for non-profit organizations.

As a member of the school board, I would strive to better the communication and collaboration between the board, the administration, teachers, and especially the public. I would like to examine the physical needs of the schools, and assist in determining responsible solutions to better affect the quality of our students’ education experience. I would be open to examining any and all suggestions to reduce costs, without compromising quality.

I invite everyone to visit my website www.tomdavidforschoolboard.com to learn more about me and to contact me with any comments or questions you may have. I would look forward to serving the New Berlin community as a member of the school board.