Sabrena Worthy, a long-time resident of Battle Ground, with years of experience as a social worker, home-educator and parent of two Battle Ground Public Schools (BGPS) graduates, has announced her candidacy for the Battle Ground School Board seat no. 3.
Worthy’s experience in her life roles gives her deep insight into how education intersects with mental health, family dynamics, and individual learning needs, according to a press release from her campaign.
“We’ve lived here for 11 years in Battle Ground, and I homeschooled my children up until 8th grade, but before that, I was a social worker,” Worthy told The Reflector. “I worked with adolescent girls to prevent teen pregnancy and also adults with disabilities who are living independently, and then homeless families, as well.”
She also assisted in home placement, ensuring that families with children were not left out of place. Her tenure as a social worker spanned over a decade. Worthy then focused on homeschooling her children, as her middle child had a disability.
“My kids decided they wanted to join Battle Ground Public Schools, so they started that in high school, and they both graduated from Battle Ground Public Schools,” she said. “One actually did the Running Start program. And the reason I decided to run for school board, when we had a double levy failure, that was an alarm for me.”
She added that her kids begged her, “They said, ‘The kids need your help, mom,’” Worthy recalled.
Even before that moment, Worthy said she had attended numerous school board meetings throughout the years.
“Part of the reason why is because when our district decided to end the sexual health programming for almost a year, they asked people in the community to come forward to help on committees to review the curriculum,” Worthy said. “And so I elected to do that. So that’s when I got involved, and then I continued to stay involved throughout the years.”
She believes real-world, relevant education — strong in the arts, sciences, and technology — empowers students to become confident problem-solvers and engaged citizens, the release stated. But beyond that, one of her main concerns is the mental health crisis in youth, citing a recent National School Board Association report. The report states that 82% of students report symptoms of anxiety, 68% struggled with social anxiety and loneliness, with 63% of students also experienced symptoms of depression.
“And 60 percent have difficulty coping with stress in healthy ways, and suicide now is the second leading cause of death among individuals aged 10 to 24,” Worthy said. “With rates among children having doubled in the past decade. So, part of what I want to see come forward for our district is more social and emotional learning programming.”
Worthy said the school board was set to vote on the Wayfinder curriculum on Monday, September 22. Results were unavailable at press time, but Worthy stated that the curriculum is expected to lead to a reduction in school violence. Worthy also said that the more social and emotional learning skills children have, the less violence they exhibit.
As Worthy has tried to be as involved as possible through attending school board meetings, she highly encourages all in the community to do the same.
“One thing I found out with our levy failure is that only 40 percent of parents voted during that time,” Worthy said. “So I would love for more parents to get involved in actual voting.”
Since a new levy proposal is inevitable following the double levy failure, Worthy hopes that all parents will become engaged and register to vote. She added that ultimately it is the kids of the BGPS district that levy failures hurt the most, and if another were to happen, Worthy is unsure of what the future of the district’s multitude of great offerings looks like.
When looking back at the double levy failure, Worthy cited significant political pressure.
“I think that there was a lot of misinformation during that time,” she said. “I think that there were political pressures that were happening, political influences that were happening, a lot of misinformation. I do know that the district was holding different events for the public to come and people didn’t come. So it’s almost as if they had decided something before they had gotten the information.”
If elected, Worthy’s top priorities would be to promote safe and supportive schools, mental health initiatives, and continued access to Battle Ground’s diverse and focused educational opportunities.
Worthy has been endorsed by the Washington Education Association (WEA). In the upcoming Nov. 4 ballot, Worthy is challenged by Chris Grewell for Seat 3 on the school board.
Worthy can be contacted by calling 360-518-8624 or by email at worthysabrena@gmail.com. Her campaign can also be found online at sabrenaworthy.com.
