Q&A: School board candidate Adam Schrader

Adam Schrader is a newcomer to politics, but not education. The MBA grad spent several years of his professional career in the education field and his hoping to apply his experience to the Maricopa Unified School District governing board. He is among five candidates vying for two seats.

Age: 33
Family: Wife Kacie; sons Austin, 8, and Kaleb, 3
Education: MBA
Occupation: Auto finance at Wells Fargo
School kids attend: Legacy Traditional
Hobbies: Football (watching and playing), coaching youth sports, movies with my boys and trying to stay fit at Copper Sky.
Community service: Youth sports coaching
Maricopa resident since: 2009

Why are you running? Very simply, my kids will be in school here and I don’t want to wish I had gotten involved during or after their time in middle and high school. My mom taught school for 30-plus years. Her work ethic despite being underpaid and underappreciated is something I hold onto every day.

What qualifies you for the position? I have spent the last two and a half years in the college readiness industry (planning, test preparation, school fit, etc.) along with 1½ years in higher education. From a business perspective, I have an MBA and have run operational budgets in the private sector. I am a big proponent of efficient spending no matter if that is my household budget, a business I am charged with operating, or my own business. This budget discipline will be one of my strongest attributes for MUSD.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term?
We don’t want good schools, we need great schools. I hope to work every day toward improving our schools especially in terms of getting our kids prepared and off to the best colleges and careers possible. Paramount of my goals will be to bring back the many high-achieving students who leave our district for school every day, both for academics and athletics.

How will you accomplish that?
My professional background gives me a network that is invaluable to achieving these goals. It also gives me the operational and marketing experience to benefit the district greatly. People are the cornerstone of greatness for any organization, finding ways to pay and appreciate our best teachers more and attract the best talent possible will be key. This cannot be accomplished by the school district alone; it must be done in concert with a willing community.

What are the three biggest challenges facing MUSD?
1) Complacency: The district has made great strides in my time living in Maricopa, but for our city to become what I know it can, we can’t settle; we must constantly improve. 2) Retaining our best: Not just keeping students in Maricopa, but keeping teachers and professionals here to live and work as well. 3) Perception: This walks hand in hand with No. 2. There is a wide perception that certain school districts are better; we need to constantly communicate our success and address our opportunities.

What will you do to overcome them?
Efficient use of the limited resources we have is absolutely key. We will have to make every penny count (that’s right, penny, not dollar). We must forge strong partnerships with community leaders and work in concert with our elected city leaders to promote the city and schools to organizations looking to move to or expand in Arizona. ***ADVERTISEMENT***

Do you support MUSD’s effort to pass a budget override? This is a tough question for me, as a taxpayer, I don’t support it, however, as a parent I do. The bottom line for my support or lack thereof must come as a businessman and in that regard, I have not done a full analysis of what all the override would entail and how it would benefit our schools (not to mention if the proposed use of the funds would properly be carried out). What I can comfortably say is that I don’t oppose additional funds if they are used efficiently. However, we must be absolutely sure we are using our existing budget in the most efficient manner possible.