School Board Candidate - Brian Krajewski
“The wonderful thing that I really appreciate about Lowell was giving my kids the opportunity to be a part of many different things, from academics, to the arts, to athletics,” Krajewski said.
By Justin Tiemeyer
Contributing Writer
Brian Krajewski has served on the Lowell Area Schools Board of Education for over twelve years, and he has served as the board’s president since previous board president, Jim Turner, retired in 2020.
“The wonderful thing that I really appreciate about Lowell was giving my kids the opportunity to be a part of many different things, from academics, to the arts, to athletics,” Krajewski said.
Krajewski and his family moved from Grand Rapids’ west side to the Lowell Area Schools district in 1999, and his kids graduated from Lowell High School in 2014 and 2015. Nine years later, he is still running for the school board.
Krajewski’s background is in manufacturing and engineering, and when he first ran for the position he believed he could apply his experience in operational leadership to the board.
“Engineers and leaders look at data and leverage data to make decisions that improve how things operate,” Krajewski said. “I think education has an opportunity to continue to move in that path.”
The data-driven perspective Krajewski espouses has worked well for him. Even as the political center of the board has moved, Krajewski has been reappointed as president unanimously every single year.
“It’s been a privilege to be the president of the school board,” Krajewski said. “I’ve worked along many good people who have all had the focus and goal that our students are our number one priority.”
One thing that Krajewski’s data-driven approach has provided is a means of making the most of the limited funds provided to public education institutions.
“From the highest level from the state, potentially even the federal level; they operate at 40,000 feet, at the highest altitude, but they have the purse strings,” Krajewski said. “The funding mechanisms are the key components in their influence on the school system. Policy is at the highest level.”
Krajewski wants the public to know that this money is not being spent frivolously. He spends a lot of time determining what the data says about programs that can be enhanced, and in some situations, programs that have to be replaced, all toward providing the best possible educational value for every dollar spent.
While the school has pushed for increases in funding and changes to the way that money is allocated, Krajewski understands that the students need high-quality education, and they need consistency, regardless of whether or not the money is pouring into the school’s financial coffers.
Krajewski was a seasoned board member in 2020, when the COVID pandemic struck and made it clear that education had to be done differently, if it was to be done at all. As experienced as he was, nobody had ever dealt with anything like this, and that left two options: (1) check out and let somebody else figure it out, or (2) lean in and figure out how to adapt, adopt, and try new things. For Krajewski, it was not a real choice. He knew he could not check out, so he leaned in.
The district was already focused on mental health prior to the pandemic, but during the pandemic, Krajewski found it all the more important to support the entire student, mind and body. With the pandemic came new sources of funding for schools, but everyone knew that funding would not last forever. What has stuck around is the concept of “piloting”, of trying new things, evaluating their effectiveness, and determining whether or not to apply these new practices permanently.
Over the summer, the Department of Education updated Title IX regulations to be more explicit in their prohibition of discrimination, on the basis of sex in education programs, or activities receiving federal financial assistance. Shortly after its announcement, U.S. District Judge John Broomes of Kansas, in response to a lawsuit filed by activist group Moms for Liberty, issued an injunction blocking wording intended to protect LGBTQ students, and experts expect that there may be a ripple effect in other states. Krajewski commented on the lawsuit.
“That one is still playing out in the courts,” Krajewski said. “I believe that all of our classrooms and teachers strive to be inclusive and provide safety and security for our students. When we look at the change, and this has been a conversation we’ve had as recently as the last board workshop, as policy changes, you need to see if it has an impact on how you operate. At this point, our procedures on how we work don’t appear to be changing.”
After twelve years on the board, Krajewski believes that this election is different. There have been more interviews and more engagement with the public. School board meetings are the board’s opportunity to display to the public what is going on in the schools, and for a while, the public did not show up, but now they do. “I think it’s good that the people are interested in the school,” Krajewski said.
Brian Krajewski is one of five candidates running for four seats on the Lowell Area Schools Board of Education. The official ballot for the Tuesday, November 5, 2024 election also lists Parker Liu, but Liu suspended his campaign on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, citing family obligations. Of the remaining five, there are two challengers, and Krajewski is one of three incumbents. In-person voting can be done on the Tuesday of the election, or prior, during Michigan’s early voting period, and many residents have already received their absentee ballots.
