R-IV School Board: Sandy Garber

Saundra "Sandy" Garber, 65, has been a Lake Saint Louis resident for 35 years. Her two children attended , and one of her seven grandchildren graduated from Holt while another attends Frontier Middle School.

A Realtor since 1998 with in Wentzville, Garber was the recipient of the "Five Star Best in Client Satisfaction Real Estate Agent” from Five Star Professional in 2008 and 2011.

Garber currently serves as the Republican Central Committeewoman for Lake Saint Louis. She is a former member of the St. Charles Business Network International and the Lake Saint Louis Architectural Control Committee.

District Finances

In an email questionnaire, Garber said that if elected, she "would strive to make sure that our education system is the best in the world. . . and will demand the fiscal responsibility needed so that our schools no longer need to rely on government funding and stimulus money with 'strings attached'  or tax increases for all Wentzville citizens as has been done in the past . . ." 

Garber said that she would like to research and review the district's current policies and guidelines and "improve them, if need be, to remove any waste and inefficiency."

Garber is against the for the Wentzville School District.

"When cities, states, school boards, businesses and nations are out of money, you either go out of business, or you think 'outside of the box,' innovatively creating an effective and responsible way to do even more for less!" Garber said in her questionnaire.

In a campaign flyer produced by Garber and fellow candidate and paid for by Garber, the two candidates state, "we're worried about the take over of our education system by the federal government, tax proposals that we cannot afford, NEA teachers' union and support unions leadership demands for unsustainable retirement and pension funds paid for by us, the taxpayers."

Core Standards and Text Books

In a phone interview, Garber said that she did not approve of the government "forcing common core standards down our throats." She said she believed that they are unrealistic and that most teachers don't agree with them either. Garber did not elaborate on any particular set of standards, but said that she wants to spend more time researching the issue.

"There's a lot to be learned," Garber said. "If I'm elected, there are some things I'll find out after the fact."

Another issue that concerns Garber is the choice of school textbooks.

"I would demand that the text books approved and used by our students are not 'progressive propaganda' that eliminate any of our true history  for the sake of being politically correct, thus distorting the facts and indoctrinating our students to a particular philosophy or  ideology.

Again, Garber did not elaborate on what propaganda she was referring to and what philosophy or ideology she believed students could be indoctrinated with.

Candidate Statement

"I am a citizen who is extremely concerned about the education system in all of America for our future leaders. I believe in local control of our school boards and in fiscal accountability and responsibility as they spend the hard earned tax dollars from all of the taxpayers," Garber said. "I am a conservative who will bring my business experience and conservative principles and values to the table for all residents."