Meet Lisa Barry for Shasta County Office of Education Trustee 

School has never left Lisa Barry’s world. A teacher for 16 years and a current master’s student, she is dedicated to learning and deepening her understanding of school leadership. When she “grows up,” she says she hopes to be a principal. For now, she’s focused on bringing ideas that promote access and attendance to the Shasta County Office of Education. 

What background or experiences have prepared you to serve on the SCOE Board? What are your priorities as a board member? 

I bring 16 years of teaching experience, the perspective of a parent and many years as a community organizer and volunteer in the Intermountain area. I’ve served on a lot of different boards including healthcare and service club boards. I also helped create a non-profit in Burney to benefit the community. 

A lot of kids in areas with small schools, especially the rural schools, face barriers. So I’ve seen the beauty of SCOE’s Community Connect program and how the removal of a barrier like not having shoes, or a way to heat up food, helps kids go to school. Another love of mine is the American Indian Advisory Committee, which is also part of SCOE. 

What do you see as the value of public education? Have you or would utilize public schools for your children? Why or why not?

Public education is there for all students. It’s the system that serves kids to ensure they are best positioned to meet their potential. It was incredible for me. I remember the names of teachers who were a lifesaver for the situation that I grew up in. They were my support systems and showed me how the world is supposed to work. We need to be there for all kids. 

This board has seen a significant amount of conflict over the ideologically diverse views of its current members. How would you work to center the needs of students and collaborate with those you may disagree with? 

Boards can either be performative, productive, or somewhere in the middle. My goal is to help make the SCOE Board productive and efficient. Everybody has biases that they come in with, and the trick is making sure that you remember why you’re there and who you are serving. 

As a board member, you’ll oversee the county’s budget. What concerns if any do you have about SCOE’s current budgetary approach? What would you intend to change, if anything? 

This is something that I have not formulated an opinion on right now. I’m in a master’s program and am in the middle of a fiscal leadership class. I’m reading the chapter right now on accountability and I’m going to use that knowledge to better understand the budget. 

SCOE Board members also oversee several local schools. How would you safeguard the rights of diverse children including those who are ethnically diverse and/or part of the LGBTQ+ community?

I would safeguard diverse kids by keeping the mission and vision of SCOE central, to provide education for all and to help every kid reach their potential. 

One of my areas of interest is attendance and as I mentioned before there are many barriers to attendance. Another is bullying. If there are problematic policies that are preventing LGBTQ students from succeeding, then those need to be addressed. Think about the number of hours a day a child spends at school. If they don’t feel welcome or like they belong, or if there are systems that are preventing them from succeeding, that’s tragic. 

Shasta County serves numerous special education students. How would you work to uphold state and federal special education law and ensure the needs of special education students are met? 

In rural schools special education is an issue that’s especially important. I would try to make sure that the smaller schools get the support they need for students with IEPs or special needs, and then keep a close eye on the California dashboard and see how our special education students are doing. Are they coming to school? What’s their achievement level? What’s their suspension rate? The data will tell us if we’re not meeting their needs. 

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