Sabrina Coone-Godfrey (D) - Board of Education At Large
Q: How important is it for the Board of Education to ensure children and families have access to healthy and affordable food? (1-5 scale)
A: 5
Q: How will you help combat rising food insecurity in Forsyth County and provide access to healthy, sustainable foods? (open-ended question)
A: First, we need to make it a priority to connect our schools to local agencies like Second Harvest Food Bank for our families in need. There needs to be a way for our families to demonstrate they have a need without feeling ashamed or embarrassed and for the school to help facilitate that connection. Continuing and expanding the Backpack program to combat food insecurities over the weekend or longer breaks is extremely important. Finally, we have been doing a good job of promoting our free and reduced lunch program but with all initiatives, there is always room for improvement to reach all of our families.
Q: How important is it for WS/FCS to integrate local environmental issues like climate change into school curriculum? (1-5 scale)
A: 5
Q: As a Board of Education member, how will you ensure we are teaching about vital environmental issues like climate change? (open-ended question)
A: Earth day is just one day out of the year but our schools operate 365 days. I would like to encourage our schools to have guest speakers talking about sustainability and how the students can be an active part in the future of our planet. I would like to see our schools institute their recycling plans with fidelity and students can be a part of that as monitors and caretakers of their school's program.
Q: How important is it for the Board of Education to ensure educational and administrative buildings are energy efficient? (1-5 scale)
A: 5
Q: As a Board of Education member, how will you promote renewable energy and energy efficiency within WS/FC schools? (open-ended question)
A: With each new building or remodel we can craft these plans around green building and sustainability.
Q: How important is it for the Board of Education to ensure equitable and sustainable school transportation? (1-5 scale)
A: 5
Q: When elected, will you support allocating funds to update school buses to electric models? (yes/no)
A: Yes
Q: The City of Winston-Salem is currently working on a NCDOT-funded Safe Routes to School project to increase the number of students who bicycle or walk to, from, or at school. Do you support the Safe Routes to School project? (yes/no)
A: Yes
Q: How important is it for the Board of Education to support environmental justice curricula and actively address environmental racism in schools? (1-5 scale)
A: 5
Q: As a Board of Education member, how will you promote environmental justice within the WS/FC school system? (open-ended question)
A: I think we need to lead our teachers in how to incorporate environmental justice into their curriculum. A natural tie in would be science or ELA but all teachers could weave this concept into their lessons if they are intentional about it. So, there could be professional development around this topic that teachers could attend. Then these teachers would bring this back to their schools and share with the rest of the staff.
Q: How important is it that the Board of Education implement more recycling and composting opportunities in school buildings? (1-5 scale)
A: 5
Q: As a Board of Education member, what will you do to increase school wide recycling and composting? (open-ended question)
A: We need to make sure that we have a person at each school that is handling the recycling program and that every school has the appropriate recycling bins and dumpsters to make the program work. Catchy posters for each classroom designating what can and cannot be recycled at school would also be helpful in making sure the proper materials end up in our recycling dumpster. Composting could be started at schools by simply teaching our students to sort their waste. Food products in one bin, recycling in a second and then everything else in a third. Teaching students and having them be responsible for the outcomes makes programs like these work better for all involved.