Medical Lake School Board candidates highlight perspectives on military, special needs students

Thu., Sept. 19, 2019

By Jared Brown jaredb@spokesman.com (509) 459-5135

Medical Lake School District Director, position 3

Felicia Jensen

Age: 51

Education: Earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology from Southern Illinois University in 2000. Received a master’s degree in human resources from Troy University in 2007.

Political experience: Appointed to the Medical Lake School District board in 2013 and elected in 2015.

Work experience: Works at the Eastern Washington University College of Social Sciences as an executive assistant to the dean. Retired U.S. Air Force major. Worked at Fairchild Air Force Base for 26 1/2 years. Spent part of her career overseeing child and teen centers, the education center and dining facilities.

Family: Married to Christopher Jensen. They have two adult children.

Her pitch: Jensen said she has logistics and administration experience through her education and work experience. In her current role at EWU, she said she’s been able to develop a sense of how Medical Lake schools can better prepare students for college. And with her background in the Air Force, she said she understands the concerns of the large number of military families in Medical Lake. Jensen said the current school board works well together and has brought forth innovative changes. She said the board successfully advocated for a capital levy last year that paid for security and technology upgrades and won a Department of Defense grant to give each student a laptop.

Her words: “As a team we work very well together. We’re thoughtful when we have our discussions, and we all bring different perspectives. My perspective is from the military member side.”

Laura Parsons

Age: 58.

Education: Graduated from Cheney High School in 1979. Earned a bachelor’s degree in applied psychology in 1996 and a master’s degree in public administration in 2004 from Eastern Washington University.

Political experience: Has served on the Medical Lake City Council for 16 years and been a chairperson for each council committee. She was mayor pro tem for three years on the council.

Work experience: She has worked as a school bus driver for the past 11 years. Before that she worked as a Spokane Regional Health District social worker for 12 years and a certified nurse’s aid for 10 years.

Family: She has three adult children who attended Medical Lake schools and has two children currently attending schools in the district.

Her pitch: Parsons said her time as an elected official will make her a successful school board member. She said she’s helped manage Medical Lake city finances and advocated for combining the Medical Lake Fire Department with Spokane County Fire District 3. As a school board member, she said she’d advocate for special needs students and better pay for paraeducators.

Her words: “I’d like to help Medical Lake schools to keep being progressive, because I don’t want to see kids falling through gaps.”

The candidates vying for a Medical Lake school board position say the district is headed in the right direction and they’d like to serve it with their unique perspectives.

Incumbent Felicia Jensen, who was first appointed to the school board in 2013, said she understands the concerns of military families as a retired U.S. Air Force officer. And in her new role as an executive assistant to a dean at Eastern Washington University, she said she’s been able to gauge how well the school district is preparing students for college.

That experience has helped her examine what programs are working in the district and which may need fine tuning, Jensen said.

Challenger Laura Parsons, who has been a Medical Lake City Council member for 16 years, said her perspective comes from helping to manage the city budget and raising children who have special needs. She is not running for re-election to City Council.

“I’d like to help Medical Lake schools to keep being progressive because I don’t want to see kids falling through gaps,” Parsons said.

Jensen said she helped the district innovate by advocating for last year’s capital levy, which paid for technology and security upgrades, and helping apply for a Department of Defense grant that awarded each student a laptop.

Parsons said her first priority would be addressing the school district budget.

District administrators in July projected declining student enrollment and up to $600,000 in reserve spending for the 2019-20 budget.

Parsons said she’d also like to give paraeducators higher wages and increase resources for special needs students.

“Hopefully people will vote for me because I have a lot of experience and might have different ideas,” Parsons said.

Jensen said she wants to focus on college and career readiness if she is re-elected. She guided her own children through this, since her daughter chose to go to college and her son went into the work force.

“We’re laying that foundation for our students,” she said. “It’s important for school to prepare the kids for each path.”

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