Jennifer Aprea

I am the current Williamson County Schools, District 5 school board representative serving the East side of the county in the communities of Nolensville, Arrington, Triune, and College Grove. I have two kids currently attending 5th and 7th grade in our Williamson County Schools. Throughout their years in our schools, I have served as a room parent, on various PTO committees, and on the PTO board, starting with the EC program at Pearre Creek, then elementary at Trinity, and now middle school at Sunset.

I taught elementary school for 12 years before starting a business which my family and I grew from the ground up into the successful company it is today. Once my kids were in school full time and our business was thriving, I chose to start working for The Arc Tennessee so I could advocate for families and students with disabilities like my son. I have a passion for helping all students succeed and for serving our public schools, as I believe our schools are truly the backbone of our community!

• Although overall growth is leveling off in Williamson County, our northeastern corner continues to increase in size. During our last school rezoning in 2022, I worked with WCS staff to engage with families in the community early and frequently so they would be part of the planning process. This resulted in one of the smoothest rezonings to date. I'd love to continue this work of collaborating with families, educators, and WCS staff to proactively plan for the continued growth in our area.
• Transparency and open communication are high priorities for me as a board member. On issues from rezoning to the bus driver shortage, I have worked hard since 2020 to proactively collaborate with key stakeholders to ensure that we are anticipating needs, considering all possibilities, and communicating options in a transparent way. I've responded to over 3,500 emails in my first term and will continue to be responsive to the community if they come to me with questions or concerns.
• Over the last four years, I've had a big focus on increasing teacher pay and putting other policies in place that support our teachers, librarians, and administrators so we can continue to attract and retain the best professionals to serve our students. I would like to continue

I am personally passionate about providing the best possible education to ALL students, including those with disabilities, providing educators the best resources to help them improve student outcomes, and student safety.

Levelheadedness, the ability to bring people from all perspectives together to find common ground, empathy, transparency, and clear communication.

I am a former classroom teacher and a current parent, so I believe I possess many relevant experiences and perspectives that are important for any school board member to possess. I have a child with special needs and currently work at The Arc Tennessee so I understand the perspective of families with IEPs. My other child also has an IEP for giftedness, so I understand that perspective as well. I've served on a variety of committees at the state level to help implement policies that would help students succeed, including the TISA subcommittee for Unique Learning Needs and the TISA steering committee, so I understand how school funding works. But the most useful quality I possess in my opinion is being a problem solver. I think outside the box and work well with stakeholders to come up with logical solutions to the issues that most impact our schools.

The core responsibilities of a school board member are: creating district policies, approving the district budget (to be funded by the county commission), and hiring/evaluating the Superintendent. Aside from those duties, I feel it is important for a school board member to listen to all stakeholders in the community as they share comments or concerns and be proactive in responding to those issues.