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Jeff is a Navy Veteran of the submarine service as a nuclear mechanical engineer. He has been a Physical Therapist for over 27 years with extensive training in pain management, and is currently serving the well elderly community in Spokane. He and his wife have lived in the Spokane Valley for 31 years and raised their two kids in the CVSD.
Jeff hadn't planned on running for political office at this point in his life. He was happy with his Physical Therapy career and deeply enjoys helping his patients recover from injuries; however, after meeting with numerous parents and listening to their bitter dissatisfaction with how the school board has been running the district over the past several years, he felt that something needed to be done. The last straw was learning that there are sitting board members who have been there for more than 10 years, and one who has been on the board for 32 years. This is far too long for anyone. Creativity and fresh ideas have long faded into familiar administrative duties while the status quo and establishment politics have become the norm. Finally, after some soul searching, prayer, and consultation with family and friends, Jeff was convinced that change was necessary. Compelled to do something about it, he found it necessary to run for a school board position himself.
Issues
All need to be held responsible for their actions, and, decisions need to be done with full transparency. It's time to shift the focus of the school board from a reactive posture to a proactive one. We should be looking at problems from a parent and student perspective instead of from an internal administrative viewpoint. School board members must to work together to find the common ground parents and students need to be successful.
The Central Valley School Board is responsible for a nearly $250 million budget. This requires a comprehensive understanding of how to manage the available finances and allocate them appropriately without waste or abuse. Managing limited resources is something every household and successful business must do to survive. The school district is no different. Currently, Central Valley is not living within its means and wouldn't make it in the real world.
03.
This has been a topic on Jeff's heart for years. The level of education in this country as well as the district has plummeted. This is clearly seen in standardized testing. Central Valley currently ranks
55th* in academic performance in Washington State. We should be 1st! The response to Covid-19 pandemic only highlighted how weak our educational system is.
Jeff was born in the suburbs of Puyallup, WA, the oldest of three. Sadly, his parents divorced before he was two years old. His mother then remarried but it didn't last. Growing up, he was then tasked with assisting his now single mother to run the household and raise his two siblings. It was a job he didn't want and wasn't really ready for, but did it anyway because it was necessary. He took on several jobs to make ends meet including picking blueberries and picking up bottles and cans from the roadside to recycle. His early working years were spent in retail for regional men's clothing stores from Everett, WA to Eugene, OR. He soon realized that even though he graduated near the top of his class from Franklin Pierce High School, he didn't have a chance to improve his situation beyond store manager, and college was out of reach financially.
Researching the military as an option, he discovered that his academic skills allowed him to qualify for the Navy's Nuclear Power Program. In 1985 he enlisted in the US Navy and graduated second in his class from Naval Nuclear Power School in 1987.
Assigned to the special projects submarine, USS Richard B Russell, home-ported at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, he was deployed 4 times to perform sensitive and difficult missions critical to the security of the nation. Over the course of his career, he was honored with two Navy Unit Commendations and one Presidential Unit Citation, among others, and was promoted to First Class Petty Officer in 3 1/2 years. He was honorably discharged in 1991.
He married Kimberly soon after leaving the Navy and moved to Spokane Valley in 1992 to complete his formal education. He graduated in 1995 from EWU with a BS in Physical Therapy. His career has spanned the breadth of Physical Therapy from acute care hospital work, traumatic brain injury, Home Health Care, K-3 pediatric physical therapy, traveling regionally to area skilled nursing homes, and finally to acquiring the manual therapy skills to create and manage a successful outpatient department in a large retirement community in Spokane.
Jeff and Kimberly have been married for 32 years. She is the director of the quality control and oversight division of a biotech pharmaceutical company. Their children would have gone through the CV school system but both Jeff and Kimberly felt that the district was lacking the depth of instruction they were hoping for. Following private schools through 4th grade, Jeff and Kimberly choiced their kids into the West Valley School District. With smaller class sizes, WVHS was able to provide more in-depth instruction, but ultimately they were unable to challenge their kids at the level they needed. Their kids then enrolled in the Running Start Program for their last two years and both completed high school as Salutatorians. They excelled in the college environment and have both completed their degrees. Their daughter is an RN in the emergency department and their son uses his psychology degree to assist elderly memory care residents live better lives.
Jeff loves to hike and ski with his kids when he gets the chance. He and the family are great fans of the Spokane Indians and are season ticket holders. They are also fans of the Seattle Sounders soccer team and are very excited that Spokane may get a professional soccer team in the near future. Jeff enjoys car club events with Kimberly and the kids and has been a member of the same club for over 18 years. This year also marks the second time he has served as secretary of the club. He and Kimberly also foster puppies and dogs from the various shelters in the area. It has been a blessing to their lives to rescue helpless animals from terrible situations and love them back to health.
As a family, the Brooks' have been active church members for more than 30 years. And have volunteered for nearly everything possible, which has been great fun. They have also had the great opportunity to travel throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Europe, the South Pacific and the Middle East. It is incredible to meet and get to know people from all over the world and discover that they are just like us. They love their kids, their country and their culture, just like we do.
Jeff's personal journey has included a lifetime of fitness training including Pilates to the instructor level, over 20 years in karate training and now instructing, running multiple Bloomsday events and well as volunteering for medical and course safety assignments.
At 61 years old, he was not interested in running for political office. But after meeting with several parents, and reading about how school boards around the country were running their districts, he felt he had to do something. He wants to help parents and students have a better school experience, and if possible return to teaching children how to think and not what to think. Together, with the help of the school board members and parents of our Central Valley students, he believes this is possible.