Campaign email: kaylaforBOE@gmail.com
Website: www.Kayla4KidsofHarford.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kayla-Mariskanish-for-Harford-County-BOE-District-C-104985158765881
Age: 40
Employment: Yes, I am a financial reconciliation specialist
Education: Technical school – Received multiple certifications in Medical Billing and Coding, Finance, HIPPA and Emergency Medical Tech.
Why are you running for the school board?
Over the last four years I have observed fundamental changes happening in our schools, without any regard to parental rights or the wellbeing of our children. The new administration has created a toxic environment that is a complete distraction from actual academic content and represents a radical departure from teaching the basics. During virtual learning, parents were able to get a glimpse of how serious the problem was. After observing the poor education of many children, including my own, I felt compelled to get more involved. They are setting our youth up for failure.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
Over last two years I have been advocating for parental rights and for the proper education of our kids. Through the Public Information Act, I have exposed many documents showing how the new policies/curriculum have negatively affected students. Politics, activism, CRT, sexually explicit books, and inappropriate curriculum have NO place in our schools. I see a direct correlation between the increase in violence, sexual assault and division and the policies, procedures, and curriculum being pushed from our local/state administration. I will stand against these policies and work to restore schools to a place that will provide students with a quality education and give them the skills they need to succeed in life.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
I admire George Washington because he led this nation away from British tyranny and helped establish our great constitutional republic.
What is the most important issue facing your school board, and what would you do about it if elected?
Our children are not learning or getting a quality education. We need to eliminate critical race theory, social and emotion learning and sexually inappropriate material in our schools. We need to implement policies at a local level that do not allow politics or activism of any kind to take place inside public schools. Teaching should focus on actual academics that will give our children the skills they need to succeed in life. Parents also have a right to know what public schools are teaching their children. The school needs a process to post all curriculum for parents to review. Transparency is a must to restore the relationship between the parents and the administration.
How concerned are you about school safety, and what if anything should be done to improve it?
I am very concerned. We need an officer in EVERY school. Parents entrust their greatest assets to the public school system, their children. Public schools should have an armed officer in every school protecting and watching over our children. I was very upset to find out HCPS does not have an SRO in every school. I think this is something that should always be accounted for in the yearly school budget. We need to address this immediately and work with the local sheriff’s department to place an officer in every one of our schools. The safety of our children should never be in question.
Do you have any concerns about the way history is taught in your district’s schools, and if so, what are they?
Yes. The new content being taught insists on seeing all of American history through the frame of racial oppression. This new content is deceitful and divisive. The lessons being taught are demoralizing white students and give the picture to other students that their race has always been oppressed and they can never be more. These lessons don’t allow students to do independent thinking, but rather steer them to conclusions. These history lessons have moved the students from learning actual FACTS to seeing all versions of history purely as narrative.
Do you think there are circumstances when books should be removed from school libraries, and if so, what kind of books should be removed?
School libraries should not have any books that contain inappropriate content for children. This would include books with comprehensive sex education topics, pornographic pictures, adult sexual content, CRT and racially divisive topics. School must be a neutral place for ALL families to send their children. There are many religions and cultures that believe different things. It is not a school staff’s place to teach these topics to any child. Public schools are not parents and these are topics that ONLY parents should be introducing to their children when they deem appropriate. Books like this are highly inappropriate for children and have no place in a SCHOOL library funded by taxpayers.
