Darcie Pierson

Si prefiere ver esta página en español, haga clic en "Language" en la barra de "Admin" en la parte superior de esta página y seleccione "Spanish."

Four-year Candidate: Darcie Pierson (incumbent)

Posted: October 2, 2023

Darcie PiersonWhy do you want to serve on the ISD 199 School Board?
As an Inver Grove Heights community member and an ISD 199 parent of two enrolled students, I see this as an opportunity to give back and use my time and talents to make more sound policies and well-thought-out personnel decisions and to set the administrators up for success. I feel strongly that policies can be a powerful tool to enable administrators to improve the school environment and hold them accountable to provide a quality and equitable education to all students. I believe this is a critical time for public education, and the challenges that our teachers, administrators, and students face are substantial. These challenges require a school board that is listening to the community, committed to increasing safety in our schools, and purposeful in crafting policies that will support administrators, teachers, and students.


What experience do you bring to this position?
My applicable work experience is in human resources management, college-level course instruction (adjunct faculty), and leadership development. In my current role as a senior human resources business partner, I am well-versed in reviewing and crafting policies to ensure they create the desired outcome and avoid pitfalls that may not be intended or noticed when initially written. As an HR practitioner, I am a seasoned listener and have developed a strength in conflict resolution and mediation. My experience instructing college-level courses as well as serving in substitute paraprofessional roles has provided me an understanding of curriculum development and the challenges that educators face.


What are the most important issues concerning the Inver Grove Heights School District and how would you address them?
1) Teacher retention. – The increasing stressors on student-facing staff (teachers, counselors, etc.) and the ability to retain these employees must be a priority of the district and a focus when setting policies. It’s important to remember that the school board position is one that sets policy and governance, and it is not operations management of the schools or the staff. With that said, I do believe there are ways our policies can support teachers and staff rather than limiting their ability to address issues. Some examples of policies that I see impacting teachers’ ability to be empowered in the classroom are: student discipline, student attendance, and curriculum and instruction goals.

2) The mental health of our student body and the negative influence this is having on our ability to provide education during the school day. – Our teachers are pulled from educating and instructing in order to tend to crisis situations and behavioral outbursts at a higher rate than ever before. I believe this is a result and a symptom of an increasing mental health crisis in our country but specifically within our schools. To address this, I believe we need to continue to educate students on mental health, as we have been in the middle and high school levels, and to approve funding of mental health or behavioral staff at any opportunity we have.