Frequently Asked Questions

Hi! I’m Carissa Thurman and I am running for Lake Mountain School Board Seat 3 in Eagle Mountain. I’ve taken the time to answer some frequently asked questions. If you have other questions, I’d love to hear from you: please email me at cthur.man@yahoo.com.

Rooted Here. Focused Forward.

What Experience do to you have in Education?

I have had various experiences in Education over the last 15 years. Most recently I served on my oldest daughter’s Elementary school’s School Community Council. This has enabled me to assist in making budgeting decisions, counsel with other stake holders, and advocate for our children’s academic and other needs based on research and data. In recent years, I have also met with PTA presidents and Principals in the area where I shared my work to link community members with local resources and educational opportunities. I have also rubbed shoulders within the community and collaborated with alternative educational entities, including charter school staff, home school parents, home school co-ops, and microschools in their work to accommodate students and families who have chosen have their education separate from the school district. I have also worked side by side with teachers and other staff of Alpine School District to evaluate and advocate for my two kids who currently attend schools in the district to access services and resources that best fit their needs.

Additionally, I have worked as a social worker for over 10 years. While providing therapy in schools has not been my primary setting, many times I have had the privilege of counseling students within their school settings regarding their mental health, family struggles and trauma. Prior to that, I also worked an aid in a special education classroom for preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum within the Alpine School District. Lastly, before I finished my degrees I also volunteered with TOPS (Tutor Outreach in Provo Schools) where I supported students with special needs.

How do you feel about Alpine School District?

I have appreciated the employees and administrators that I have interacted with as a parent and those that have helped create environments for our students to thrive. I felt they did a good job trying to meet various needs of students through programs such as advanced learning lab, special education and sharing resources for supporting families. I believe voters saw that the needs of different areas of the district were diverging, and thus impacting the district’s ability to effectively address the needs of the students and schools. As such I am excited to have the opportunity to work to create systems for success within the new school district and take the strengths from Alpine’s strong record of caring for the students and educators it has strove to support.

How will we attract and retain the best teachers?

In my ideal world I would love to advocate for a living–if not a thriving wage for educators. I recognize there are budgetary constraints which impact this becoming a reality, but I believe educators deserve to be able to afford where they live, and to thrive in doing the work to help our kids. Where changes to pay scales are feasible, I want to advocate for those changes to be made and support teachers in their efforts to advocate for themselves through unions and organizing.

Will you prioritize continuing to fund Extracurriculars, such as fine arts, sports, clubs, etc.?

Yes! Education is not just about academics and we all need balance in our lives. Additionally, there are many ways of being intelligent and learning, and children and youth need to be able to experience these opportunities especially through public education. ASD has done a great job providing these activities for our kids and I will prioritize continuing the relationships they have built that have enabled that. I also believe there are opportunities for further public-private partnerships to expand and support the ways these activities are available to our children and the rest of the community as well.

With the ASD splitting into smaller districts, how will we accommodate for the loss of economies of scale?

One of the main compensating and accommodating factors for the economies of scale will be the increased growth of taxpayer funds due to our area’s growth coupled with the ability to target our area’s needs specific to that growth, rather than having to split funds with paying for rebuilding older schools in areas with less population expansion. That said, there will be areas where creative solutions such as, partnerships with local businesses, or among our newly split districts would help accommodate for the areas most strongly impacted by this loss of scale. I will work to preserve district administrative positions that teachers deem necessary and advocate for preserving their pay, and look for long term opportunities to create solutions for the warehousing and printing needs for the district. If possible, I would look for solutions that uplift the community and local businesses as well as serve the needs of the district.

How will we provide Special Ed Services?

With funding cuts at both the federal and state level, we must work hard to maintain inclusion programs for those who need them. Prioritizing children being able to attend the school closest to them while still receiving an appropriate and free education will be a priority for me. While consolidating services would provide some financial benefits, I believe the strain on families (especially if they have multiple children with various needs) and the lack of consistency for children needing to changes schools make these unacceptable long term solutions. Community partnerships with agencies providing services across multiple schools can provide an avenue for accessing needed services across the whole district and providing these services where the children with inclusion needs are.

How will we provide for Gifted/ Advanced Services?

I intend to advocate for continued opportunities for extension and accelerated programs, and gifted services. I will work to collaborate with school administration, teachers, and families for the best routes for providing these programs including expanding them where needed, so students ideally do no need to change schools to access an education that is engaging, catered and needed for their success and growth.

Do you believe teachers are professionals who should be trusted to make their own decisions in the classroom?

I do. I don’t like being micromanaged, and when I’ve experienced it in the workplace, it’s contributed to feelings of burnout and toxic cultures. So how can we expect teachers to thrive in a system where they aren’t trusted to make decisions in their own classrooms? Teachers are professionals who bring unique strengths, values, and experiences that shape how they individually teach and connect with students. I believe classrooms should be spaces for developing critical thinking by engaging with different perspectives and learning how to evaluate and synthesize those viewpoints. That said, trust isn’t something we give blindly. It needs to be backed by safeguards—through curriculum, hiring practices, procedures, and ongoing performance evaluation using research-based standards and clear HR policies. Trust and accountability can—and should—work together. When we trust and support teachers as professionals, we create a healthier culture and better outcomes for students.

How can we protect our schools from vouchers and other attempts by the legislature to divert public funds from schools?

This will require a multifaceted approach, with strong relationships and advocacy at the legislative level at the forefront. Through those efforts, we can help lawmakers better align with the goal of preserving public funds for public schools. Another route I believe should be explored further is forming partnerships with alternative educational entities that are set to benefit from diverted public funds. By building mutually beneficial relationships, the community would gain greater access to diverse educational offerings, while schools and the district could be working to preserve existing funding, find ways to utilize any underutilized resources created by future planning for population growth, and while also creating new opportunities to supplement possible reductions in public school funding.
One example would be creating partnerships with charter schools, micro-schools, or homeschool co-ops to share access to district facilities, resources, or storage. This would allow those groups to benefit from district infrastructure to better serve the community, while also generating revenue for the district through ongoing lease, resource-sharing, or storage fees—essentially allowing a portion of their tuition or funding to cycle back into the public school system.

How do you feel about politically affiliated groups getting involved in school board elections?

When politics are divisive and create environments of hostility toward each other, I do not support politically affiliated groups involvement in school board elections or in our schools, as I believe it contributes to a lack of feelings of safety for the children and adults working in schools. Additionally I took an oath to be nonpartisan as part of my declaring my candidacy and am committed to fulfilling that responsibility. When politically affiliated groups however respect the nonpartisan nature of school board elections, and are there to help people who reflect their values to connect with their networks of constituents I believe they can be a useful tool. When values differ, I support when opportunities are made for productive discourse and dialogue toward common ground and mutual goals.

Do you believe our schools are adequately funded? How do you plan to advocate for adequate funding at the state level?

I do not believe our schools are adequately funded. Building strong, trusting relationships with lawmakers—and showing them the numbers—will be our most effective tool for state-level advocacy.

We need to show the numbers that prove how increased funding leads to better outcomes for students.
The numbers that project how our school populations are growing—and how fast.
The numbers that show the real cost of living in our communities.
The numbers that reveal what teachers earn compared to what they need to buy a home and support their families.
And the numbers forecasting how all of this will change with the rapid growth in our area and across the state.

Then we show the numbers that reflect what happens when we get this right—how well-funded schools, fairly paid teachers, and strong public investment benefit not just our students, but our economy, our communities, and our shared future.

How can we manage and get ahead of population (growth) changes our area is experiencing?

Solutions that serve long term growth projections and allow for scaling use is one way to manage and get ahead of population growth in Eagle Mountain and the surrounding areas. I have seen numbers of homes that have been approved through planning in Eagle Mountain and have not been finished ,as well as long term projections for the area. I have also seen statistics showing that as many as 21 new people move to Eagle Mountain a day right now. The growth will not slow down for a long while. Yet the city lags behind on infrastructures, commercial and retail buildings and has either crowded schools or places without schools close by. Expansive growth with regard to our schools, sooner rather than later, will be of benefit to current and future students. Then if excess space is created and available, finding alternative uses for facilities through partnerships with community agencies could also benefit the schools and community; through utilizing resources created by the school district, we will allow for economies of scale to be optimized and the growth to be something planned for, rather than continuing to play catch up now and in the future.

Where do you see the most urgent need for funding as we prepare to start up a new school district?

Funding new schools being built and raising salaries for teachers and staff are the most urgent needs that also have the greatest potential for long term impact on our schools and area. Teachers are the number one factor impacting student success in the classroom; if we can uplift and support teachers in the district by creating an ecosystem truly dedicated to their success– not just in the classroom– the benefits will trickle down to our students and impact the rest of the community as a whole. And by creating schools that are not over crowded, close to where kids live and able to accommodate the growth of the area, it will provide opportunities to not be playing catch up but ready for the future now.