Jim McEvoy

Candidate Name: Jim McEvoy
Age: 42
Candidate for [Elected Position]: East Lansing School Board
Candidate Website: https://www.jimforelsb.org
Candidate Contact for Public: Jim McEvoy, jimforelsb@gmail.com
Are you registered with any party? If so, please share your party affiliation:
I am registered with the Ingham County Democratic Party.
Please share all your social media accounts:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JimForELSB
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JimForELSB

Please include a high quality photo of the candidate.
1. What motivated you to run for the position you are seeking election to?
I’m running for the School Board because I would be proud to continue building upon the
values that inspired my family to move to East Lansing. Supporting a district that values
creating citizens of the world, and strives for equity and achievement for all students, is
both noble and laborious. If I can play any part in empowering teachers and students to
further those goals, I would be honored.
My top priority is continuing to build out mental health supports to close the mental
health and education gaps that widened during COVID. This process will include
incorporating student and family voices to identify where mental health needs are most
acute and using data to improve mental health outcomes.
Being married to a teacher in the district, I will also fight for teachers to be able to teach
in the way that works best for them and the students they serve. Finally, we moved to
East Lansing because we felt we could be a part of a district that values Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion and I want to be a part of building on the fantastic work the district has
done there.
2. What is your vision for the public body you want to serve on?

The ELPS School Board has been a positive force for change for kids, teachers, and the
community for decades by ensuring that the administrative team is operating based on
the community’s values. I view it as our role to make sure that the educational needs of
students are met as well as working to ensure that students have access to food and
other basic needs. I also believe that we have a responsibility to promote equity by
supporting all of our kids as they pursue academic excellence.
Lastly, as outlined above, I certainly bring a set of personal values to the table, but I will
work to make sure that ELPS community members are heard irrespective of whether I
agree with them on everything.
3. How does your vision differ from that of your opponents?
I haven’t had a chance to hear the vision and experience of all my opponents yet so I’m
going to refrain from answering this. My job is to lay out the clearest vision possible for
my own campaign so residents can judge for themselves what I will bring to the table.
4. Funding for schools has been a consistent concern for nearly three decades.
Proposal 1, passed in the 90s was supposed to level the playing field in funding
assuring that districts with distressed property values would receive comparable
per pupil funding. That has not been the case. If elected, how will you address the
under funding of schools?
I support Governor Whitmer’s actions to not only finally equalize the base per-pupil
foundation allowance for all school district in the state for this past school year, but also
to begin recognizing and funding the higher educational needs of students with special
education needs and students with at-risk factors like low income. There’s more work to
be done at the state level, but we also need to make sure ELPS is spending this funding
as effectively and equitably as possible.
5. Has school choice, which allows students and parents to apply for and attend a
different school district than the one they live in, been a success? Why or why
not?
That’s a complex statewide policy issue. As a core principle, I am supportive of students
finding the right learning environment for them. That might not always happen in their
home district, in some cases because financial resources have been diverted away by
past state policy makers. If students want to come to ELPS from other districts I am
supportive of that. It’s a great district!
6. Proposals in Michigan have long sought to use public dollars to pay for private
school tuition and costs. Do you support vouchers for private schools? Why or
why not?

I do not support vouchers for private schools. Private schools don’t have public oversight
or public accountability. They shouldn’t get public dollars.
7. If vouchers are approved, public schools may see a decline in enrollment. How
would you close the funding gap by a reduction in per pupil funding?
We will work with our state legislators and partner advocacy organizations like the
Michigan Educational Association (MEA) and Michigan Association of School Boards
(MASB) to get the message out to legislators that significant budget cuts would be
disastrous for kids across the state prior to the implementation of any policy like the one
outlined above. We need to be diligent in letting state policy makers know that ensuring
adequate financial resources for our kids to be successful academically should be their
top budget priority.

8. Educators have been under scrutiny over LGBT youth support, LGBT history, the
American history of communities of color and more. In addition, school libraries
are pulling books off of shelves in public school libraries and public libraries.
a. Please share your perspective as you pertains to providing safe schools
and education for LGBT youth.
I am supportive of any policy and actions that allow a kid to be their authentic
selves. Specifically, I support policies that teach LBGTQ history and provide
LBGTQ-specific professional development delivered to teachers and
administrative staff.
b. Please share your perspective about integrating the history of communities
of color into curriculums in the public schools.
History is often told from only the perspective of the people in power at the time
of the event. I am proud of the work ELPS has done to make sure that history is
told from multiple perspectives. It’s fundamental to helping kids to understand
that humanity is a community and that we need to work toward a world where
everyone is given a real chance to succeed.
c. Do you support the removal of books some find objectionable from public
school shelves and public libraries? Why or why not?
I do not support the removal of books from public school shelves or libraries.
Freedom to explore new ideas is critical for our kids and our nation.
d. If you support such removals, at what point does the purge of
objectionable books stop? When it is the Quran? When it is the Torah? The

Nag Hamadi? The Bible? What policies will you put in place to monitor and
assess removal of books?
This is fundamental to why I don’t support book removals.
e. If you do not support the removal of objectionable books, what policies will

you support to stop the removal of books from public school libraries?
I will never support a vote to ban books. I will work with our Librarians and
Curriculum Director to make sure they have adequate resources to make a
variety of reading materials available to kids. Specifically, I will work to support
policies like the “Library Bill of Rights” supported by the American Library
Association.

9. There has been a split on how COVID was responded to by schools, and other
government bodies. Please answer the following questions:
a. Did you support the shut down of schools during the COVID-19 crisis? Why
or why not?
Yes, I supported the suspension of in-person learning during the COVID-19 crisis
through the time that vaccines became widely available (early 2021).
b. There has been a marked loss of educational gain as a result of the shut
down. How will you address this problem?
As a board member, it’s my responsibility to support the needs of teachers and
administrative leadership on this topic because they do the work in the classroom
daily. However, there are still funding streams available at the state and federal
level designed to close the educational gaps created by COVID. We need to
ensure those resources are targeted to the kids who need them the most.
c. Did you support face masks? Why or why not?
I still support face masks for those who choose to wear them. Face masks were
critical earlier in the pandemic, prior to the availability of vaccines for kids.
d. Do you support the COVID-19 vaccine? Why or why not?
Yes, I support the COVID vaccine.
e. Do you support vaccination for all students in public schools? Why or why
not?
Yes, I support vaccination for all students in public schools.

f. There has been a growing mental health crisis among our youth. It was
present before the pandemic, but experts warn it has gotten worse since
the pandemic. If elected, how will you address the mental health needs of
our students?
I want to make sure that ELPS is taking the best advantage of the funding that the
federal and state governments have made available for additional mental health
support. Last year, I participated in the East Lansing Mental Health Advisory Board
and I want to use that as a forum for continued community collaboration with the
administrative team as they work to preventing, identify, and treat mental health in
schools.

10. There have been a number of school shootings, with deeply tragic consequences
for students, teachers and administrators alike – as well as communities. If
elected, what will you do to address the school violence crisis, including school
shootings?
ELPS has established a safety committee which is community-led and provides input to
the board. It’s important that all solutions developed to improve safety are evidence-
based to improve safety without disproportionately impacting demographic groups in the
student body. These solutions will require collaboration between the community and the
administrative and teaching staff. I look forward to working with this committee. Our kids
need to feel as safe as possible as they go about their school days.
11. Elections have become a serious concern for some voters. Please answer the
following questions:
a. If you lose your election, will you accept the results? Why or why not?
Yes. I believe in our electoral process.
b. If your election is close and you chose to pay for a recount, will you accept
the result of a recount? Why or why not?
Yes, I would accept the results of a recount. However, it’s extremely unlikely I
would ask for one.
c. Much has been made about the 2020 election. Do you believe Donald
Trump won the election? Why or why not?
No. Donald Trump did not win the election.
d. Do you believe there was widespread election fraud? Why or why not?

No. There was not widespread voter fraud.
e. Do you believe leaders in Washington are involved in a secret pedophilia
ring? Why or why not?
No. Leaders in Washington are not involved in a secret pedophilia ring.
f. Do you believe the Jan. 6 Capitol incident was appropriate in light of the
election? Why or why not?
No. It was an attempted coup over a legitimately held election with a legitimate
result.

12. Are you a member, or have you ever been a member or donated to any of the
following organizations:
a. Socialist party
b. Rock the Vote
c. The Democratic Party
d. Any Democratic Candidate for Office
e. The Republican Party
f. Any Republican Candidate for Office
g. The American Taxpayers Party
h. Any American Taxpayer Party Candidate for Office
i. The Heritage Foundation
j. People for the American Way
k. III Percenters
l. Proud Boys
I have donated to numerous Democratic candidates at the national, state and local levels. I
also have donated to a few people in this school board race and other non-partisan
candidates at the local level.
13. Please share with readers and voters your qualifications for the position you seek.
As a member of the East Lansing community, I have heard the perspectives of many others
in the district. I am a soccer coach, school volunteer and participant in East Lansing’s
Mental Health Advisory Board. Recently, I agreed to be the Treasurer of the East Lansing
High School Community Council. My wife, Carin, is a music teacher at Donley elementary
school and I have three kids in the district at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
We love the East Lansing schools so much we are hosting a German exchange student to
stay with us and participate in the educational community.

In my day job, I support state governments in administering their Medicaid programs with a
specific expertise in helping expand access and measure the quality of care of behavioral
health initiatives and health equity initiatives.
I believe the combination of these experiences have prepared me well to make sure that the
board and school district are supporting the needs of kids, teachers and the community. We
can work together as a board to make sure that the education kids are receiving is world-
class and equitably focused, preparing students to live their authentic life after school.