A Reference Guide to Laura’s Views and Ideas

My Vision for Fredon

And My Vision for Fredon School

Topic	Summary	Further Elaboration and Stories
Taxes and Small Government	I believe in: small government lean budgets shared services avoiding risk and liability to save money the benefits of paying the government in the form of taxes to administer services that keep us all safe, healthy, and active. I am eager to see if school consolidation could bring us more tax relief, because I believe it will also bring us academic benefits and help us retain our best school employees.	​On Mrs, Beem’s Pond Making Sense of Fredon’s Census Potential Costs of a Bad Reputation
Free Speech	​Fredon Township should develop and implement a Social Media Policy to protect everyone’s First Amendment Rights on social media, especially citizens’ rights to petition the government (ask questions and provide input) online.	My Uncensored and Unexpected Blessing A social media policy would: protect citizens’ rights to speak to elected officials online. protect elected officials‘ free speech when speaking as private individuals. help guide elected officials from violating the Open Public Meetings Act by inadvertently ending up in a quorum. ensure that Fredon is being accurately represented online and its reputation for being a great place to live and do business is preserved.
Warehouses	​I believe we should specify in our Township Code and Master Plan the size of the warehouses we are comfortable with in Fredon before we are faced with an application we might not be prepared to handle.	Re-Examining Fredon’s Master Plan
Property Rights	I acknowledge that most citizens do not want unnecessary restrictions or laws placed on their personal property and will support the current Committee in their attempts to avoid them too. I also believe that health and safety have to guide us in directing our priorities in Fredon, when considering new ordinances, and when updating the Township Code.	​Short-Term Rentals in Fredon If restrictions aren’t necessary or there are easier solutions, I support listening and looking for them together as a team.
​Diversity and Inclusion	​I enjoy listening to all political views and religious beliefs. I also support our LGBTQ+ community, especially the youth.	Talking Politics in Fredon Making Sense of Fredon’s Census My Choice to Cool Off I believe we are facing a terrible bout of “political prejudice” in Fredon where we are dismissing each other based on political party and beliefs. To me, our town appears a bit more purple and moderate so our vision, direction, and leadership approaches should match this diversity of views too. I officially announced my support for the LGBTQ+ community because from where I sit, some in our community have not been as welcoming to these individuals as we could be. I want to make sure citizens from all views and backgrounds have somewhere to go where they are comfortable enough to provide feedback. If I see other groups being treated unfairly from where I sit, I plan to support them the best I can as well.
Town-Wide Emergencies	​Big party politics will not help us in the next town-wide emergency, but strong communication and a sense of community will.	The Fredon Party Improving communication online and off is going to be key in the next town-wide emergency, such as a power outage, weather-related event, or crisis. We also need to retain our current volunteer Fire and EMS teams by providing them with more support and appreciation for all they do.
​School Topics
School Budget Vote	​I have no intentions of using time and energy to coordinate efforts and petitions to change the school budget vote again. I’m focused on the future opportunities for shared services and district-wide school consolidation which I believe can bring better academic opportunities to students.	​My Dissents for April, May, and June I would like to see more consistent and fair communication from the Township Committee about the school and municipal budgets in advance of any elections or final decisions. I think it would make both budget processes smoother for all parties involved.
Mandates	​Whether it be masks, vaccines, learning standards, or anything unforeseen in our future, I believe we should protest the State of New Jersey over mandates - not our tiny, powerless schools or Fredon Township.	​​My Support for Our Schools We should not be asking any elected official, school administrator, or volunteer Board of Education member to break the law or face ethics violations, including asking them to go against mandates, learning standards, or any other directive or legislation that comes from Trenton. We are going to continue to lose our best Superintendents and experienced Board members because they are not going to risk their doctorates, licenses, and reputations to break the law and face ethics violations when more reasonable approaches can be found. They will move on to better opportunities and our kids will continue to fall behind academically after the last few years. The State holds the power and voice - not Fredon School with ~180 students in a state with 1.3 million public school students. We can reach out to these State representatives today, any day, or every day and have a much bigger impact than protesting within Fredon School at monthly BOE meetings.
Health Curriculum	Parents can opt-in or opt-out of the controversial parts of the health curriculum and that is the very definition of parental choice and rights. The controversial parts of the curriculum represent 0.25% - or about four classes - of the overall instructional time in the year. We should make our choices as parents in private, look to the future, and let our school leaders focus on the 99.75% of the curriculum we aren’t focused on so we can catch these kids up after so much learning loss - and missed fun childhood traditions - these last few years.	​No-Need-To-Panic Truth About The Health Curriculum Students’ Rights As a former educator, I know there is more than only my child that matters in the bigger picture of a public school system - just like there is more than only my family that matters when sharing a public park or a public roadway paid for with our shared taxes. There are staff members and other people's children too and they must be considered in decisions. Currently, we all have a choice to make on the exposure of the new aspects of the health curriculum on our children and we should be able to make those choices without judgment. I am OK with my children learning the sample lessons that have been proposed. I am also OK if other parents are not. That has been our right to choose privately for years. To address the mis-quote that is being attributed to me - I did not say: "Schools and teachers know better than parents." I did say in one way or another that: "Schools and teachers can know better and care for students better than the abusive and neglectful parents." I also said that those in “education, social services, and healthcare” can have a better pulse on overall youth culture which moves faster than most adults can keep up with because of technology, so their expertise is important when updating anything in public education. All students - whether their parents care for them or not - should have a right to an age-appropriate education on consent, protecting themselves, and healthy sexual practices. Abused and neglected students also have a right to be protected by other adults in their lives, such as teachers and school staff, who are legally responsible for reporting abuse and neglect that is often confided in them during the school day. I will not look away from these children nor will I forget their rights to be protected in health and safety conversations.