Leigh Beth Freberg

My name is Leigh Beth Freberg. I am running for the Marquette Area Public Schools Board of Education.

My purpose in running is to represent the MAPS key stakeholders in the areas of overall learning, educators (both experienced and incoming), strategic partnerships and the systemic infrastructure that supports it all.

Those stakeholders are students, parents, educators, community members, the MAPS Board of Education and the Michigan Department of Education.

MAPS schools’ graduation rate ranks in the top third in the nation. However, our reading and math proficiency ranks in the bottom half both on the state and the national level.

Marquette Senior High School proficiency for reading is 72% of our students and only 46% are proficient in math.

Even moreso, only 43.3% of our underserved students and 62.7% of our non-underserved students are proficient in math and reading.

Compared to the number one high school in the state, MSHS proficiency in math is nearly half of the state’s top school and two-thirds of the state’s top school in reading proficiency.

At MSHS, 24% of our students are considered economically disadvantaged and receive free or reduced lunches as a result. We know that nutritous foods and meals provide the fuel necessary for the developing brains of our communities’ children.

There is considerable evidence to show that childrens’ participation in meal programs combat hunger and improve learning as a whole.

Additional evidence exists to show that kids are more likely to eat fruits, vegetables and whole grains as well as healthier rounded meals when they are provided by school programs.

So, if there is a plethora of evidence to show nothing but benefits to school meals, why aren’t we offering free meals to all students regardless of socioeconomic status?

We can do better. We need to do better. I want to do better.

We talk about making Marquette Area Public Schools a “destination district.” Michigan, in and of itself, is not even a premier education state, but we want to be. We want to be both a premier state and a premier district.

We don’t want to always be striving to get to the top. We want to be at the top.

The MDE recently announced a 10-year plan that puts the state’s education system in the top 10 in the nation. This is where we want to be. I want to be part of the group that takes us there.

I am a mother to two boys and a foster mother to 11. I sit on the board for Teaching Family Homes of Upper Michigan and was part of the group that developed the home campus in Marquette.

Kids have been my passion for many, many years. I know how to handle tough situations. I know how to stick it out in tough times. I know how to make things happen. I am an RN by education and experience in the emergency department, ICU and Corrections.

These are all difficult areas that require fast thinking and accurate execution.

Please join me in getting MAPS to the top 10 in the state and lead Michigan into the top 10 in the nation.

Editor’s note: Leigh Beth Freberg is a resident of the Marquette school district.