Schools

School Board Candidate Q&A: Joe Tatalovich

The St. Louis Park School Board election is Nov. 8.

Editor's Note: This week, we will introduce you to the five school board candidates with Q&A articles. Look for a new article every morning through Friday. The school board election is on Nov. 8 and four seats are up for grabs.

St. Louis Park Patch: Why did you decide to run?

Joe Tatalovich: I want to make sure that the strong schools that we have today continue into the future. My kids are 2 and a half and 11 months, so I want to get involved early. And I’ve been involved in a lot of committees in leadership roles. I just want to be more involved in policy discussions. I think I offer a perspective that’s different from the other candidates and the current board, in that a lot of the current board has had kids go all the way through the schools. I think in one respect, having someone with kids who are just going into school is of value. And I thought my perspective as an engineer is also something that is valuable, to have kind of a technical background.

Find out what's happening in St. Louis Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

St. Louis Park Patch: And you ran before, right?

Tatalovich: Yes, I ran four years ago. Back then—and you can do the math—I didn’t have any kids yet (laughing). But I was involved in the schools, and interested in running and being more involved.

Find out what's happening in St. Louis Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

St. Louis Park Patch: What do you think are some of the big issues facing St. Louis Park schools right now?

Tatalovich: There are probably three things that are most important. No. 1 is the state funding. We’ve had all sorts of cuts within the last decade, so we’re constantly deciding what programs we want to keep, what programs we want to cut or potentially fund through other sources, like grants. That’s always going to be an issue … Another big issue I think is the aftermath of the . You had all these schools going from the K-3, 4-6 paired system to having now four K-5 schools and the sixth grade going into the . That created some growing pains last year, and it was difficult for a lot of people to adjust to it. And in the sixth grade, there’s the disparity in class sizes between the immersion classes and the non-immersion classes. That caused some tension. So there is some “us versus them.” I think that’s a big issue, a challenge that we’ve got, is kind of building communities both within the schools … and more importantly (across the district) … And the last (issue) is something that affects every school, and that’s the achievement gap. We need to work to reduce the achievement gap and really focus … on the transitions, especially that early-childhood to kindergarten transition. The research shows that having kids read by third grade is very important … We’ve got programs in place that are great, but we don’t do that great a job of (identifying) at-risk students, and making sure their families know these programs are available.

St. Louis Park Patch: What are some of your specific policy goals?

Tatalovich: On the building community side, there’s been some resistance to doing things jointly, and I think that’s something we can set at the district level. You know, that we’re going to do some more things, and share funds and redirect funds more equitably. Another thing I think is important is making the more like the rest of the district. The Spanish immersion school has fewer students that qualify for free-or-reduced lunch, and a lower diversity. This past year was the first time they instituted a new admissions policy setting aside spots for underrepresented students at that school. And it seems to have helped, and that number has gone up, but it’s still not mirroring the rest of the district … As a member of the school board, I would continue to push for that and make tweaks where necessary … (Also) I’d make sure we’re sticking to our strategic plan. I was on the strategic planning committee, and we did a lot of work to try to set goals … I think we can do things at the district level that say, “These are the initiatives we want to focus on.”

St. Louis Park Patch: What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of how the district operates now?

Tatalovich: I think there a lot of strengths. I think we have good administration, our teachers are phenomenal, we have great, involved families. And we have a great senior program and early childhood program. When we go out for levies and referendums, they pass with flying colors … This sense that education is important is a major strength for us. On the weaknesses side, like I mentioned before, I think there is some “us versus them” mentality, both within the schools and among the schools. I think that’s one of the things we need to get past.

St. Louis Park Patch: How has campaigning gone so far, and what strategies have you used?

Tatalovich: I think it’s gone pretty well so far.  I’ve been doing a bunch of everything. There are really no trade secrets. It’s been (about) getting mailings set up, and obviously raising some money and setting up a website … I’ve (also) started to do some door-knocking in the last couple of weeks. It’s good to get out there, so people can place a face with a name.

St. Louis Park Patch: What makes you a good fit for this role?

Tatalovich: I think I offer a newer, fresh perspective in terms of being a parent of young kids. My technical background also gives me a good perspective. But probably most important has been my track record here in the last few years of being very involved. Not just on committees or setting policy and discussing things, but actually being out there and providing some type of action on things for kids in our district. Namely, being a math tutor in the schools … And through SLP ICARE, the district’s legislative action committee, I was able to send out email updates to the group and say, “This is what was going on at the last legislative session” … And also arranging trips to the Capitol … That action piece, I think, is very important, and I think it makes me a good fit.

St. Louis Park Patch: What has been your experience in the education field?

Tatalovich: Ever since moving to St. Louis Park (eight years ago), I’ve been involved in the schools, kind of starting out as being a tutor. That’s been fun, and a good experience. I then became involved in the Community Education Advisory Council, which is appointed by the City Council. That gave me a good idea of what was going on in general … From there, I became more involved in leadership positions with CEAC and was the chair of that the last couple years. When Pam Rykken was elected to school board four years ago, she left being the lead of SLP ICARE, so I took over that. And then there was the referendum effort (in 2008) … A lot of things just kind of popped up … (I joined) the strategic planning committee in 2009, and that was a painstaking process … I’ve been really involved in a lot (of groups) … I think all of these are a good grounding for school board.

St. Louis Park Patch: Tell me a bit more about what you do professionally.

Tatalovich: I’m a medical device engineer … I work for a company called ev3 … I design stents. Basically, my company designs products that will either clear out your vessels or get blockages out of the way so blood can flow … A lot of technical work there. I don’t have any patents yet (laughing)—I’m on four applications, so I’m waiting. That will be cool when that happens.

St. Louis Park Patch: What do you like most about living in St. Louis Park?

Tatalovich: I guess there’s so much I like about it. I’m originally from Ohio. My wife is from this area—she grew up in a different suburb, a mile south of here (laughing). She really wanted to move (back) to Minnesota, and I don’t mind cold weather, so we decided to give it a shot. When we were looking for a place to live, we wanted to go to a place that had good schools. We knew we liked this area because of the lakes and the proximity to (Minneapolis). And then we wanted some diversity as well. We both thought St. Louis Park was kind of the perfect blend of all of those things. So that doesn’t really answer your question—I guess there a lot of things that go into it. The sense of community, the diversity, the proximity to all these things is what drew us here.

St. Louis Park Patch: Tell me a little bit about yourself outside of work and campaigning. What are your hobbies and interests? And tell me about your family.

Tatalovich: My son is 2 and a half, my daughter is 11 months, so there’s a lot of focus on family. It is really fun, and just a total rollercoaster … Literally, you can have a 10 to 15 second difference between something that just drives you nuts to something that’s like, “Oh my gosh, I love being a parent” … Basically all of my time outside of work and campaigning is spent with my family. But if we go back to a time three years ago (laughing), I always enjoyed sports and politics. Growing up, I played basically everything except football, because I was never all that large. I played soccer, tennis, golf, baseball, basketball. Another thing, and I don’t want to mention this, but I grew up in Ohio, so I did not play hockey … I still try to follow (sports and politics) as much as I can, but I gave up on fantasy football for this campaign season. It just draws you in too much.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here