In run for Grosse Pointe school board, Roeske says he's a 'Boy Scout'

Dan Roeske, 49, says he hopes to bring a “Boy Scout demeanor” to the Grosse Pointe Board of Education. Roeske, left, who has lived in Grosse Pointe for just over 20 years and has three children in the public schools, enjoys racing sailboats, skiing with his family and giving back to the community through participation in Boy Scouts and PTOs.

What do you think is your most important qualification for the school board?

I think that the biggest thing I would bring to the board is a sense of working collaboratively. I’ve been a board observer, and I think that the board can work without being divisive. And I hope that the ability to be collaborative and work together in a cohesive manner – to make sure that we’re all kind of lining up our arrows pointing the right way – is what I’ll bring.

Why you for school board?

Why not me? I think I can represent the community. I have experience in the schools so I have that take, but more importantly, I think that I can fairly represent everybody that lives in Grosse Pointe. If you’re a homeowner, or if you’re a business person or you had kids in the schools but they’ve since gone and moved away and they’re out of college or in college, you’re a constituent, you’re a stakeholder. I believe that I can represent all the stakeholders in Grosse Pointe and I can do it fairly and I can do it with that Boy Scout demeanor.

If there’s one thing you could change about the community, what would it be?

I don’t know that I would change anything in the community. I think if there’s one thing I would try to enhance is more community involvement. There are a lot of people who get involved, but it’s always the same five parents. So let’s get more people involved.

How are you going to encourage more people to get involved?

I think the biggest opportunity is communications. The district sends out a newsletter and they do a lot of posting on the website. But you know, not everyone goes to the website.

Where would you like see the school community in five years?

I think that we need to do a better job of integrating technology in the classrooms. In Grosse Pointe we do a very good job of buying technology, and we do a pretty good job of getting software like Blackboard, which is a software application for virtual classrooms. Where I think we have a better opportunity over the next few years is to help our teachers integrate that technology into the classroom so they enhance the learning experience for the students.

Any other goals?

I think that we have some opportunities to really zero in on trying to bridge some of our performance gaps for our kids and help our at-risk students. We do an okay job for our students with special needs, and we do a pretty good job at the other end for our students in the advanced programs. Where I think we have an opportunity is with those kids in the middle. How do we engage them and make sure that we’re helping to close those performance gaps?

You are against schools of choice, correct?

I am against mandated schools of choice.

Can you explain your views on that?

If the state were to mandate choice, it’s taking away local control for our district, and that’s really what it’s about. We don’t want to lose local control. In Grosse Pointe, we think we know what’s best for our children, and I think that’s proven when we look at our MEAP scores and our ratings.

What are your views on the Head Start program?

Head Start is a federal program to help children in preschool programs. At Poupard Elementary School, the parents asked the principal to help them to bring in a program like Head Start to help their preschool kids, to uplift them and upskill them and get them ready for entry into elementary school. The principal did the research, did the paperwork and got the grant from the Head Start program. So we had a grant, we had a need, we had a classroom and the board voted against putting Head Start into Poupard school. I would have voted for Head Start at Poupard. And there’s an example of meeting the needs of the community. And if the goal is to help our children, everything else is just a detail.

What’s something interesting about you that people may not know?

My wife and I really believe in community service, and I look at serving on the school board as an extension of that belief. So one of the things we teach in our family is community service. And one of the ways that I’ve done that is with the Boy Scouts. People have different opinions about the Boy Scouts, but I’ll tell you that as a parent, it’s been one of the best experiences to be with my son and do things with him, but also to watch young men mature and still have that Boy Scout connection.

What challenges do you foresee for the school board?

I suspect that Head Start or a program like Head Start is going to come up again, because the need to do some sort of preschool intervention for our children has not gone away. I also think funding is an issue. School funding is always going to be an issue when it’s given to us by the state. And so I think that an opportunity — and this is probably the No. 1 thing we need to be doing in the district — is to look for other avenues of funding, whether that’s through partnerships with businesses, or universities, or through grants.

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