Ryan Risselman for Litchfield School Board

US schools once were the best in the world.

Today, only 8% of our 15 year olds excel at math*.

44% of Chinese kids excel at math*.

Our leaders are giving our best high-paying tech-jobs
to H-1 visa foreign nationals.

* https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cnu.pdf

Bio

Ryan Risselman has been an accomplished electrical estimator in commercial construction for the past seven years, helping grow our community.
He majored in Business Management and Administration.
He has extensive experience in planning, optimizing and controlling costs of large projects.
He is married with three young children.
He has in depth ongoing experience with the operation and frustrations of LESD.

Statement

I had never before dreamt of being involved in politics, but it has broken my heart watching the very fabric of America get dismantled over the past 5 months, which is what motivated me to get involved and want to serve my community.

I am a devoted husband and father with common sense, morals, and values. I want my kids to grow up with the same memories of this great country I have – keeping “God” in our Pledge of Allegiance, preserving our history, and learning to be thought-builders. Teaching critical thinking to our students is paramount so they are strong enough to form their own decisions in their lives. Life is competitive, and I believe they should all be given the proper tools to forge their own way competently and successfully after they leave the district.

I will work hard for you, for ALL of us in the district, to ensure that YOUR voice will be heard. I will bring a conservative approach to both the budget and the curriculum, with the transparency that parents want and deserve. I want to work with the parents and residents in the district to be sure our Governing Board is a true representation of the direction we want for our children.

I would be honored to have your write-in vote for Ryan Risselman for LESD#79 Governing Board on the November 3rd ballot.

Q&A

What are the three most important issues facing your district?
1) We need to plan for the rapid growth of our district, the West Valley is one of the fastest growing regions in the entire nation. Schools are essential, not only to our children, but maintaining our district’s excellent status will encourage more families to move into our district, which will in turn grow our revenue.
2) Teacher retention – Not only do we need to explore how to keep our best teachers in the district, but also attract top talent out of college and from surrounding districts.
3) I want to take a conservative approach to both the budget and the curriculum; with the transparency the parents want and deserve. I want to work with the parents and residents in the district to be sure our governing board is a true representation of the direction we want for our children.

How will you address budgetary issues facing the district?
Kids First. I will make sure to address our budget issues bottom-up as opposed to top-down. I want to make sure every one of kid’s needs are met so they can excel to the best of their capabilities. I’d also like to re-evaluate contracts the district has in place with vendors to ensure the district is getting the best possible deal. If not, these relationships should be reconsidered.

What resources are needed to ensure safe, healthy schools during the pandemic and how will you advocate for those resources?
Unfortunately, this is not a one-size fits all solution. The virus is not something that will ever just leave, it’s a virus. We need to learn to live with it as we do all other strains of the flu. The teachers and students who want to be in the classroom learning should be allowed to unabated. Alternately, the teachers and students in the district who would prefer to learn remotely should be allowed to using a district-wide “online-only” academy which could be created as its own entity. Depending on the size and interest of this group, we would be able to reduce the financial burden on the brick and mortar locations to help fund this venture.

What will you do to ensure schools will not become overcrowded, and how will you try to alleviate overcrowding at schools already at capacity?
Maintaining a lower student to teacher ratio is very important for the development of children, especially at an elementary level. It is equally as important to families as they look at prospective school districts to move in to. As the West Valley continues to grow, I think we should work with City Managers to ensure a plan is in place to accommodate changing population densities, as well as exploring the possibility of having a new elementary and middle school built within the next 4-5 years to serve all of our incoming families better. In the interim, adding Teacher’s Assistants or even parent volunteer options would be a good short-term solution to make sure our kids are getting the attention needed.

How will you deal with inequities and other systemic barriers that keep low-income students and students of color from thriving? How will you strive for equity in the school system?
I do not believe in propping up or segregating any one group of people based on race – that in and of itself is racism. The kids need to be taught how valuable of an opportunity they have in this world, no matter their race, color, or creed. As a district, we need to give these children the support system they may not have in their own home and giving them the best resources and role models to surround themselves with. Teaching critical thinking is paramount so they are strong enough to form their own decisions in their lives.

What ideas do you have for retaining teachers in the district?
I believe we should recruit and retain the best talent not just by providing good pay and benefits but surrounding them with other staff who want to achieve the same ideals. The lowest performing teachers, staff and administration should be relieved and new talent recruited and brought in until you have a cohesive team all working towards the same goal – which ultimately should be the success of the students. This is a crucial time in our country where these students are not hearing many positive things going on in their world. We need to make sure we have people of the highest character, morals, and values with our children every day. Finding this cohesion will result in long term retention.

When elected, I will always be your voice on the school board.

- Ryan Risselman