Jillian La Serna is not afraid of a challenge, and she is ready to bring change to Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools.
On Nov. 5, Jillian La Serna, Deon Temne and Ashton Powell were elected to serve their first terms on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools Board of Education. Returning member Rani Dasi was also reelected.
La Serna is confident that her experience in education will lead to success in her role on the board. She has worked on all levels of education, ranging from kindergarten to college. She received her doctorate in educational leadership from UNC-Chapel Hill and currently serves as an assistant professor of educational leadership at UNC-Charlotte.
“I hope to bring my expertise on education,” La Serna said. “I’m bringing that background knowledge to ask questions and to make data-based decisions for our district to try to improve education for every single student in the district.”
She cited the opportunity gap as a major issue she is ready to combat. A study run by the Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis found that Chapel Hill-Carrboro has the second-largest Black-white achievement gap in the United States of the schools it surveyed.
“I think that our primary concern continues to be the opportunity gap,” she said. “It has been an issue in the district for years and ensuring that when we make decisions, that everything that we are moving toward addresses that opportunity gap.”
In addition, she said she recognizes that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district has a lot of other concerns to address.
“I think there is a wide array of other things that will come before the board in the next several years ranging from paying a competitive wage for maintenance workers as well as our custodial crews, making sure our older buildings are well maintained and a whole gamut of other initiatives,” La Serna said.
She is not concerned that three of the four members elected Tuesday will be new to the school board this year, she said. She feels nothing but trust and confidence in her colleagues. During the campaign, she said she recognized that all of the other candidates shared a similar growth mindset and love for the students.
