Ronda Scholting
Age: 56
Occupation: Public relations manager at Re/Max
Family: Husband, two children who attended district schools
Residency: Has lived in Douglas County for 12 years
Political experience: Served on Parker Fire Protection District board for 1 1/2 years
Education: Bachelor’s degree in journalism
Website: rondafordougcoschools.com
Why she’s running: Scholting said she would bring a parent’s perspective to the board and has experience dealing with teachers and administrators. As part of her service on the fire protection district, she said she has dealt with budgets and property taxes and knows how to use those resources.
She said she is concerned about where taxpayer money is going and that the district has shown an inability to accurately forecast, leading to unnecessary costs. While the student population has grown by 10 percent, they’ve cut teachers and made cuts to the high schools, leading students not to get their full learning experience and not being able to take classes they need to get into the universities they want to apply to, she said. She also is concerned by the large amount of time the board spends in executive session and how disrespectful the board has been to parents and teachers.
“Every parent has told me if you don’t respect the teachers, this district is going to fail,” Scholting said.
She said her opponent, Meghann Silverthorn, has failed to be a voice for parents and teachers, that the board doesn’t listen to outside opinions and there’s a certain amount of “groupthink,” with the board voting 7-0 most of the time. She said a change is needed on the board because what they’re doing has not been serving all Douglas County families.