Christopher Lewis

Candidate Name: Christopher Lewis, Ed.D.
Age: 47
Candidate for Williamston Community Schools Board of Education (6-year term):
Candidate Website: ChrisLewis4WCS.com
Candidate Contact for Public: clewis4wcs@gmail.com
Are you registered with any party? No
Please share all your social media accounts:
https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherLewisForWCS

Please include a high quality photo of the candidate.
1) What motivated you to run for the position you are seeking election to?
I’ve served the Williamston Schools in 2013-14 and over the last six years from 2017-2022.
I want to be re-elected to serve the school district where my children attend and to be a voice for
all of our students and community members.
I want to bring my 23+ years of experience in education back to the table to open doors, while
also providing perspective for the overall district. I also want to continue finding new ways to
expand our district communication to make sure that all in our community know about the
amazing things that our students and schools accomplish and use my 14+ years of working in
digital marketing and social media to assist with this.
During my time on the board, I’ve always put students, teachers and education first. I’ve worked
hard with the rest of our board members to make decisions for the good of ALL students and the
results are positive. Williamston schools continue to be recognized as exemplary, our fund
balance is in a positive place, and students are achieving at very high levels. I hope to continue
assisting the schools to meet future goals.
I’ve looked beyond our schools to bring best practices back to our Superintendent. Whether this
was meeting our goals on maintaining high quality learning opportunities or examining issues
like mental health and safety, the goal is and was always to find ways to enhance what we have
available within our schools.
I enjoy giving back to a school district that has given so much to my family. I’m passionate about
the education all kids receive and am impressed by the amazing learning opportunities our

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district offers and how much success students are finding in and beyond the confines of our
schools.

2) What is your vision for the public body you want to serve on?
I see our board representing the voices in our community while working to make sure that all
students are provided high quality learning opportunities and a safe place to learn free from
bullying or other issues that could inhibit learning.
I want our school board to continue to work as a cohesive board, creating attainable district
goals. At the same time, I want to continue to make sure we have a work environment that
recognizes the amazing staff we have and work to continue to retain our staff into the future.
One of our biggest roles is to build a strong relationship with our Superintendent and I feel that
our current board has done that. We have an amazing Superintendent and must continue
supporting and assisting him with attaining the goals that we have set.
Our schools continue to be recognized for the high-quality education that our students are
receiving and as a board, I see us continuing to challenge and support our Superintendent in
maintaining these standards.
I see a school board where members respect one another. We may not all agree on every
issue, however, we respect each other and always put the students first in the decisions that are
being made for the district. At the same time, I see a board where every member comes well
prepared to every meeting and works to self-educate themselves prior to the meeting so we can
have deep, meaningful conversations about issues that will impact students within our schools.
Finally, I have a vision for the board of providing quality communication to all constituents within
our area. We know that not everyone that lives within our district will have kids within the
schools, but they also need to be aware of the successes of our district.
3) How does your vision differ from that of your opponents?
I believe that my vision for the Williamston Board of Education is very similar to my fellow
incumbent school board member, Sarah Belanger. We both feel strongly about our schools and
the good work that we have been able to accomplish over the last six years.
Most of the other four candidates have never come to a school board meeting over the last six
years or, if they have attended, it was for single issue topics. At this time, these candidates have
yet to share their platforms and what they stand for, so it is hard for me to explain how my vision
differs from theirs.

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I will say that I have worked very hard over the past six years to become educated on the role of
a school board member, going through classes with the Michigan Association of School Boards
as well as pushing myself to go beyond the board room to make sure that I am the most
effective member that I can be. I feel that I have learned a lot and have worked well with the rest
of our board members to provide ALL students in our district a safe place to learn and prepare
themselves for the future success they want in their life.
I have a good understanding of what my role is as a school board member and what my role is
not. For anyone that has not been a school board member before, coming into a role like this
can be eye-opening regarding what you can and cannot change. Also, you must come into the
schools with a willingness to look holistically at all issues and be able to make decisions for the
betterment of all kids. If you have not done this before, you will have a lot to learn.
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?
As a member of a school board, one of your roles is to advocate for your schools. There have
been times over the last six years when I have personally reached out to legislators to talk to
them about the impact of funding on our district. Williamston has been one of the lesser funded
districts in Ingham County for some time and many times when I have spoken to newer
legislators, they are not always informed about this. I find that advocacy happens in many ways,
and it does not stop with only one conversation. You need to be willing to continue to talk to the
people that are making decisions that impact funding and not be afraid to ask for more funding.
Beyond conversations with legislators, you need to be willing to educate the community about
the impact of school funding and make sure that people understand what proposal A did and did
not do and how this impacts our schools, as again, not all understand these complex issues.
In the end, you have to always remember that you are representing yourself and not the board
in these conversations. You are only one member of a seven-member board and can only
represent your own voice.
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?
I believe that it has. Our district has become known as a district where many families want their
children to attend. I know that some families in our district have decided to have their child
attend another public school, but that is the power of offering school choice, as it allows for
parents to request and make decisions based on what their family feels is right when it comes to
the education of their child. While I would love for all of the children within our district to stay
within our district, I know that there is value in offering choice to families. We do have limits on

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the number of students we can accept based on grade level class sizes, however, being able to
allow kids from other districts to attend is and will always be positive. The diversity in learning
that comes from this also helps our district thrive.
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 have not been a proponent of vouchers for private schools. Public schools are offered for free
and are paid for through tax dollars within the state. Vouchers take scarce funding from students
in public schools and give those resources to private schools that are not held to the same
standard of educational scrutiny that public schools are held. Losing this money means that
public schools and students have less access to musical instruments and science equipment,
modern technology and textbooks, and after-school programs. 
Also, unlike public schools that are open to all students, private schools can limit their admission
based on whatever factors they choose such as race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and
any other number of factors. One other concern that I hold is that while vouchers have been
touted as covering the whole cost of a private education, vouchers may not cover the full tuition
of the private school, so families who may have thought that they were getting a better
education end up with a large bill. In turn, public schools are left without funding, which ends up
impacting all students that are left within the district.
In the end, when vouchers are used, we cannot access or directly influence these voucher
schools because of closed meetings, unelected leaders, and even the possibility of uncertified
teachers. There is no standard as to what is being taught in the school nothing is being
regulated by any outside educational body. Also, unlike public schools, private schools are not
held to the same quality of instruction that public schools are held to because of the tax dollars
that are being utilized to provide this education.
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?
If the use of vouchers were to pass, our schools and school board would have to look closely at
the overall budget to see what we could do to compensate for the missing funds in the schools.
Our district has been in tough fiscal times in the past and we were able to meet the needs of our
district without cutting any programming and it would be my hope that this would be the case in
the future. Ultimately, I would want to see us be as fiscally responsible as possible without
impacting the educational experience of our students.
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.

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a. Please share your perspective as you pertains to providing safe schools
and education for LGBT youth.
i. I have continually voted to make sure that ALL students, including
LGBTQIA+ students within our schools have rights and are safe. I believe
that every child deserves the right to an amazing education where they
can be who they are and can feel safe that they will be supported and
have the resources that they need to be themselves.

b. Please share your perspective about integrating the history of communities
of color into curriculums in the public schools.
i. I believe that our children should be educated about historical events as
they happened and be able to critically review this history to understand
not only the context and culture of the time but how that has impacted our
society throughout the years and today.

c. Do you support the removal of books some find objectionable from public
school shelves and public libraries? Why or why not?
i. I have never been in favor of removing books from our libraries or from
public school shelves. I believe that a family should have the right to have
their child not take part in checking out materials they are concerned
about, but in the end, the library and the school are public facilities and it
is not our role to censor these materials. I do believe that schools should

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?
i. Please see above. I do not support the removal of these books.
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. Removing books is against the first amendment as it is against free
expression and choice of consumable content. Students should be able to
read any book they want without restriction, especially in an environment
that’s supposed to foster creativity and discovery. With the removal of
books (for example those challenged due to race, culture, gender and
sexual orientation), students aren’t free to learn from their messages and
themes about identity and acceptance. At the same time, they also aren’t
able to become exposed to the voices of those who are already
underrepresented. 
With regards to policy, I have seen very little policy that school boards
have enacted as of date to safeguard against this. I am not against
looking at best practice in this regard, but I would have to do my due
diligence to understand the full ramifications of any policy decisions that

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we would potentially put into place. I am not against this type of
discussion, though, as I do feel strongly that it is not our role as a school
district to remove books from our libraries.

9) There has been a split on how COVID was responded to by schools, and other
government bodies. Please answer the following questions:

f. Did you support the shut down of schools during the COVID-19 crisis? Why
or why not?
i. I supported whatever means necessary that would keep all of our
students and staff safe. As a school board, we had to balance learning
goals with health and safety, listening to the health experts within our
county and state as well as to the CDC to make sure that we were not
only following the mandates, but also that we were doing whatever we
could to keep students and staff out of harm’s reach.

g. There has been a marked loss of educational gain as a result of the shut
down. How will you address this problem?
i. Our district has already put a lot of time and effort into plans to make sure
that students who are experiencing learning loss have supports available
to them. As a school board member, I will continue to support our
Superintendent in the creation and continuation of mitigation efforts to
help all kids to come back from any learning loss that happened during
COVID-19.

h. Did you support face masks? Why or why not?
i. Yes, from everything that I read and saw, face masks did help as a
deterrent in the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
i. Do you support the COVID-19 vaccine? Why or why not?
i. I do support the COVID-19 vaccine and believe that it has helped to lower
the number of cases within our district over the last few years. From
everything that I have read about the science behind this, the vaccine has
worked to mitigate the symptoms of the virus and for those that did still
get COVID-19, their symptoms were much less severe than for people
without the vaccine.

j. Do you support vaccination for all students in public schools? Why or why
not?
i. I support following the expert advice of our health department, CDC and
other experts. As all have said, they strongly recommend the vaccine for
all and I would echo this recommendation. I want all families to have

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access to the vaccine, but I also know that, in the end, it is a family choice
on whether they choose to get vaccinated or not.

k. 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. I will continue to support the efforts of our Superintendent in realizing the
goals that we have already set in place with regards to safety within our
schools. Over the last few years, we have put a lot of resources toward
supporting mental health. Instituting the be nice curriculum, hiring
additional school psychologists and social workers and more. All of these
efforts are working to help to make sure that we are addressing mental
health and safety directly. While I know there is still work to do, I plan to
continue to support these efforts and help all students and staff to have
the resources that they need.

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?

ii. This has been a board goal for a few years now and with the extension of
our sinking fund that now allows us to use sinking fund dollars for safety
measures, we have supported our Superintendent in his plan to make all
of our schools safer. From building infrastructure projects to new policies
and procedures, we have done much to help make sure that both our
students and staff remain safe. This also incorporates the mental health
measures that we have put in place as mentioned previously. With
regards to safety and security, we must continue to stay vigilant, watching
for best practices and remain nimble enough to make changes as needed
to continue to safeguard all into the future.

11) Elections have become a serious concern for some voters. Please answer the
following questions:

l. If you lose your election, will you accept the results? Why or why not?
Yes, I believe in our electoral system and know that our elections are a fair
process for all. It is our democratic right to elect people to serve our community
and after November 8 th , my community’s voice will be represented, and I hope to
continue serving our great schools.
m. 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, if the election was close and I chose to pay for a recount, I would accept the

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results. I trust the efforts of our hard-working election workers and know that they
will run a fair election for all.
n. Much has been made about the 2020 election. Do you believe Donald
Trump won the election? Why or why not?
I do not believe that he won the election and all investigation into these claims
have been proven false.
o. Do you believe there was widespread election fraud? Why or why not?
I do not believe that there was widespread election fraud and all investigation into
these claims have been proven false.
p. Do you believe leaders in Washington are involved in a secret pedophilia
ring? Why or why not?
I do not believe that leaders in Washington are involved in a secret pedophila
ring and all investigation into these claims have been proven false.
q. Do you believe the Jan. 6 Capitol incident was appropriate in light of the
election? Why or why not?
I believe in free speech, but I do not see the incident on January 6th as free
speech as it ended up turning into something more that attempted to overturn a
fair election, caused damage, death and more.

12) Are you a member, or have you ever been a member or donated to any of the
following organizations:
r. Socialist party
s. Rock the Vote
t. The Democratic Party
u. Any Democratic Candidate for Office
v. The Republican Party
w. Any Republican Candidate for Office
x. The American Taxpayers Party
y. Any American Taxpayer Party Candidate for Office
z. The Heritage Foundation
aa. People for the American Way
bb. III Percenters
cc. Proud Boys

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I am not a member of any of these parties and have not supported any of these candidates. A
school board position is a non-partisan position and thus I have not joined or supported any of
these parties or candidates due to this fact.
13) Please share with readers and voters your qualifications for the position you seek.
I have been a member of the Williamston Community Schools Board of Education over two
terms, 2013-14 and 2017-22. In these terms, I have brought my 23+ years of experience in
education to my role, as well as the knowledge that I have gained while receiving both a
Masters and Doctorate degree in Education.
I have two children that attend our schools and am a huge advocate for teachers in what they
do on a daily basis that allows our children to find success in school and in life. I support ALL
kids and I have voted consistently to create an environment that allows all kids to learn in a safe
environment.
Growing up in a family with parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins that all worked in
education, I have seen the dedication first-hand when it comes to the time and efforts that
teachers put in to help their kids. Also, my wife is a past teacher and librarian and, just like my
family, she worked diligently to provide her kids amazing experiences that both challenged and
supported them in their learning. All of this experience has made me a big advocate for our staff
and I continue to push to make sure that they are recognized for all of the amazing work that
they do.
I have worked in higher education for over 23 years and in digital media for over 14 years. I
work to use best practices to help the district to find success and to be able to think about things
and try new things to reach more constituents and to open more doors for our students.