Meet Michael Orlicky for Shasta County Board of Education

Michael Orlicky, a teacher, is running for a four-year seat in Area 1. He’s one of two candidates competing for that position. Candidates responded to seven questions that were curated and paraphrased for this format. Four candidates for the SCOE Board declined to interview with Shasta Scout about their run, including Richard Gallardo, Michele Renee Tyson, Teresa Roberts, and Jackie LaBarbera.

Scout: Describe your background and what motivated you to run for the SCOE Board. 

I’ve decided to run for the Shasta County Board of Education because I see that there’s a real need for things like improved literacy and math education. I think one of the Board’s missions right now is improving literacy county-wide, and another is trying to keep vaping out of schools. I’ve seen how devastating vaping can be to kids. I really want to focus on keeping harmful substances out of schools and work to make schools safe for everyone that goes there. I also believe that schools work best when there’s a partnership among the schools, students,  parents, and all the other community stakeholders.

Scout: What is the Shasta County Office of Education responsible for? 

SCOE helps with curriculum decisions for the educational programs they run. They also provide final approval for local school district budgets. The SCOE Board also takes leadership roles in different areas,like r ight now they’re taking leadership roles in the areas of literacy and substance abuse initiatives. So those are some of their big things that they do. As a teacher, I’ve always thought curriculum was important. I was also a union negotiator for a couple of my districts, so I know how important budgeting is, and how important it is to make sure that schools can meet their financial obligations.

Scout: What oversight does SCOE have over individual school districts? 

The individual school district budgets have to go to SCOE for approval. The Board also approves policies, regulations, and curriculum for the schools and educational programs that are directly operated by SCOE. The Board sets the SCOE superintendent’s salary. They help with property and leasing  for SCOE programs. They oversee school district boundaries. And they handle appeals for expulsions—if a student is expelled from a school, they can appeal to the Board. The Board does not directly govern school districts; school districts have their own boards for that.

Scout: How do the Board’s responsibilities differ from individual school boards? 

A regular school district board would govern that school district. So the Redding School District Board oversees all the schools in the Redding school district—they set their budgeting, their collective bargaining agreement, their individual board policy for the district, all of that is approved by the local school board. And if there’s a personnel issue, that would be resolved at the local level as well.

Scout: Have you received donations of over $1,000 and if so from what groups or organizations? 

I have not received a donation of over $1,000. The donations I’ve received are very much from friends and family supporting me with whatever they can.

This is a nonpartisan office, so I am not aligned with either of the major political parties. I have not been endorsed by any political party at this point, nor have I been endorsed by any organization. If funds were to be offered to me, I would want to have a meeting with whoever it was to make sure they understand this is a nonpartisan office. I want to focus on students, teachers, parents and the schools. I don’t want to focus on partisan issues.

Editor’s note: Shasta Scout reviewed Orlicky’s campaign finances via the Shasta County Elections Office and found no contributions documented as of October 13.

Scout: Discuss your thoughts on public education in Shasta County. 

I’ve worked in public schools for over 15 years. So I support public education. I don’t know how you would educate students without having that as an option for people. Not everyone can afford private schools, or if they have to work and can’t homeschool. 

Scout: What are your thoughts on “Parents’ Rights?”

I believe parents and schools—which means teachers,administration, and students—should all be working together. I view it kind of like a stool. There’s three legs of the education system: teachers, parents, and students. If they’re not all working together, the school is not going to stand. So we have to involve parents. They need to be involved in their kids’ education. As a teacher, I have involved parents. I’ve talked to them, called them on the phone. I tried to communicate as much as possible. Hopefully it was mainly about good things. But occasionally we had a call about their child not doing well. Without parent support, it’s going to be really hard in the classroom, because if the student knows that the teacher and the parent aren’t communicating, they don’t have as much motivation to do well.

Parents and teachers are partners in the education process. Parents rely on the teachers to communicate with them because they’re busy, they have to work and earn money. As a teacher, I also would send home parent surveys at the beginning of the year, so the parents could tell me about their child because they know them best. They know how their kids learn. They know what subjects they struggle in. I wanted to know that from the parent perspective, because that helps me to teach their child. 

I think there is a misunderstanding with the SAFETY Act. Parents still have access to their child’s records. Any parent can go into any school office and ask to see their child’s folder and everything that’s in there, they can go through and they can look at it, as a parent, right? So there’s no disintegration of “parents’ rights” at all. FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) is federally guaranteed—and that gives parents access to their child’s records. 

I’m not saying this doesn’t happen, but I’ve worked almost 20 years with students and I’ve never had someone come to me wanting to change how they were being referred to. And it’s a teacher’s job to make every environment one where every child can learn. 

I think school board races have become too politicized. This is a nonpartisan office, right? The SAFETY Act is not something the Shasta County Board of Education even has authority over. This is something the local school boards need to somewhat decide. And bottom line, if you get elected to a school board position, you swear to uphold the California Constitution and the United States Constitution, so you have to follow the law. And if you don’t follow the law, why run for a position in the state?

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