Joe Scott
About Joe
" As a business owner, when you are losing customers [students] you find out why, make a plan, execute it, review results, make the necessary changes, and keep going until the problem is resolved. I don't see that happening in our school district. The topic of shrinking enrollment has not been a topic at any of the last 20 school board meetings."
-Joe Scott
Family Life
I've been a resident of District 112 and have been married for 41 Years. My wife Katie and I have two adult children who both attended our school district from kindergarten through graduation from Chaska High School. We are members of Westbrook Community Church, and I am actively involved in the praise and worship band.
Education
U of MN Graduate with a degree in Economics & Spanish
Graduate Work: Finance - St. Cloud State University & University of St. Thomas
I speak Spanish, which will be helpful in my role as a School Board Director, given our culturally-diverse student body.
Career Experience
I am currently the owner of Guitar Tech Luthier. I also have prior experience as a co-owner of a Digital Advertising Agency; Scott & Associates, Inc.
Volunteer Experience
Mentor: Chanhassen High School STRIVE Program
Member: District 112 Citizen’s Financial Advisory Committee
Member: Rotary Club of Chanhassen
Member: Victoria Business Owner's Association
Former President: CC United Soccer Club, Soccer Coach, and FIFA-Certified referee Former President: Chanhassen Chamber of Commerce
Past Chairman: Chanhassen Planning Commission
Shareholder: Island View Golf Club
Former Treasurer (2X): Island View Golf Club
Former President, VP, Treasurer: Upper Midwest Association of Promotional Professionals (10,000 Members)
Former Executive Vice President & Board Member: Promotional Products Association International (150,000 Members)
Why I'm Running
Our school district has poor academic achievement, which has caused declining enrollment, which has created an upcoming financial crisis.
A team from the school district spoke at our Rotary Club in the run-up to last year's referendum. One of the team members mentioned that our district's enrollment was down 350 students from the previous year, which, quite frankly, shocked me - I was under the impression that our district was growing. I then asked the team what they had learned from the parents who chose to take their students out of our district and the response was, "We didn't talk to any of the parents."
Declining Enrollment and the Impact to Students and Tax Payers
As I've mentioned above, our school board has been ignoring declining enrollment that, if unchecked, will cause our school district to be greatly weakened.
How so?
We lose $50,000,000 in State and Federal funding because less than 2/3 of the students who live in our district attend our public schools.
And who pays the difference? You and me. It doesn't matter if you have, had or never had students in the district, home school, or send your children to private schools - we all pay for declining enrollment.
Declining Performance in the Things that Really Matter
At least 1/3 of our students test below grade-level in reading, math, and/or science. This is a decade's-old trend.
Our school board does not talk about these critical topics and the impacts to our students and community in our public meetings. It is time to bring more transparency to these issues.
