Reconnect students and expand opportunity
Separate demographic change from avoidable student loss, understand where students disconnect, and act earlier when there is something Centennial can influence.
Rudie Watzig
Centennial parent, public-sector technology leader, and member of the district’s Budget and Facilities Advisory committees.
Students first. Student-focused decisions.
Put students at the center. Ask what the results require next.
Every major decision should connect clearly to student learning, opportunity, connection, educator support, safety, or long-term benefit. Centennial has dedicated employees and meaningful programs; good governance respects that work while asking whether our choices are producing the results students need.
Build pathways for life after school
Connect middle-school exploration to CHS, CAL, dual credit, credentials, apprenticeships, college, skilled trades, and careers.
Protect services through sustainable finances
Use multiyear forecasts, protect prudent reserves, examine tradeoffs, and support educators while moving recurring spending toward recurring revenue.
Support educators and plan learning spaces
Respect teacher expertise and working conditions while weighing facility condition, access, educational suitability, capacity, and lifecycle costs.
How I would govern
A report should start a Board conversation, not end one.
Too often in public organizations, a report is presented, the work is acknowledged, and everyone moves on. I believe the Board has a responsibility to go one step further: What was the goal? What changed? Did students actually benefit? What did not work? What should change? And when will we see the result again?
Asking those questions is not criticism of staff. It is the Board doing its job.
Respect the work.
Recognize the expertise and effort of teachers, classified employees, administrators, and other staff. Honest follow-up questions are not a rejection of their work.
Ask the next question.
What was the goal? What changed? Did students actually benefit? What did not work? What should change, and when will the Board see the result again?
Follow through.
Reports should inform budgets, superintendent goals, program review, facilities priorities, and the next decision—not become informational dead ends.
Public data
See Centennial for yourself.
Enrollment. Budgets. Attendance. Facilities. Outcomes. School-level information. I built the Centennial Data Explorer to make public information easier to understand, trace back to its source, and use in the conversation about what comes next.
Explore the data
Open data.rudie.org ↗
About Rudie
A Portland native raising three sons in Centennial schools.
Rudie studied physics and geography at the University of Oregon and has spent more than two decades serving Oregonians through public-sector technology and infrastructure work.
More about RudieSupport the campaign