Julie Keim
Age: 48
Occupation: Director of finance and contracts for an energy company
Family: Husband, three children in district schools
Residency: Has lived in Douglas County for 11 years
Political experience: Served on school accountability committee and parent teacher organization
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration
Website: juliekeimfordcschools.com
Why she’s running: Keim said she brings a lot of fiscal and policy procedure implementation experience and has been very involved in her kids’ schools, so she see what’s necessary to provide better education in the district.
She said she thinks some of the ideas of the board are interesting, but overall doesn’t like the direction the board is heading in and said they engage in “groupthink.” She also is shocked at the limited amount of public input the board accepts and that they have failed to be transparent in what they’re doing with the large amount of time they spend in closed sessions.
“I believe you shouldn’t do anything you’d be ashamed of, you should speak to the public about what you’re doing,” Keim said.
She said she thinks the implementation of the board’s policies has been lacking and that the funding has not followed for those policies.
She agrees the new pay-for-performance plan is excellent but was displeased how the district made the program retroactive halfway through the school year despite consultants telling them not to do that.