About the Candidate
Tell us about you: (Such
as your family, children, are they CASD graduates, etc.)
My name is Rob Marshall. I was born and raised in Coatesville,
PA., and attended CASD schools my entire years K-12. I attended Rainbow, South
Brandywine, Scott, and also a graduate of CASH. I played multiple sports all
through school and was co-captain of the Soccer and Basketball Teams my senior
year. I was selected to the All- Ches-Mont Soccer team in both my junior and
senior year, attaining First Team All Ches-Mont as a senior. I received my
undergraduate degree from Widener University and received my Masters of
Divinity Degree from Biblical Theological Seminary, where I am currently
pursuing my Doctorate of Ministry Degree.
I am
an Ordained Pastor at New Life In Christ Fellowship in Coatesville. I am
married to my wife Ava and we have three children, Robby, Chelsey, and Mar and
three grandsons.
Tell us about what you do for a living:
In my full-time occupation, I
have served as a Corporate Executive for more than 30 years in the Contact
Center & Business Process Outsourcing industry, where I have managed some
of the world’s largest brand companies. In addition, I am the Founder and CEO of
RightWay Solutions, LLC, a Professional services Outsourcing Company serving
the Contact Industry.
Public Service:
I am a veteran of the United States Air Force.
I am also Founder and CEO of a 501c3 organization, Citizens Who S.E.E.,
which provides FREE advocacy for families and students in the CASD with
expertise in Special Education/IEP process (www.citizenswhosee.org).
Additionally, I am on the Board of Directors for the Movement Community
Development Corporation (MCDC) in Coatesville, a nonprofit, 501c3 organization
working for the betterment of Coatesville Communities.
Campaign Website: None
What motivated you to run for the school board?
As a lifelong member of the CASD community, I found myself witnessing what was certainly an erosion of what I believed our school district and city of Coatesville had come to stand for over time. Coatesville had always been a city that was proud of its people, businesses, and reputation we had as a tough but loving community, especially towards our kids and students. In 2013-2014 as I began to look at the things that were tearing apart our families and communities, I found myself migrating toward a school system that was in need of fixing. I realized students and their rightful education needs were being neglected, especially in the area of special education, so I had to figure out what my calling was in this area. Through much research, and even more prayer, I decided to found Citizens Who S.E.E. in order to help families who are in struggling and did not know the rules of how to navigate the Special Education paradigm. I started the organization and surrounded myself with people and partner organizations that are experts in the field of public education and specifically Special Education. I was trained on the nuances and practices as well as regulations of this area. I began to work with families and consulting them during IEP meetings with the district. I realized that in order to move things forward it was necessary to form relationships both inside and outside the school so that during the meetings, everyone understood that we were all working on behalf of the student and all we did was in that direction. We did not approach this from an adversarial position as advocates, but rather as partners working for the children.
When a seat opened up on the CASD school board for region 3 in Jan/Feb 2018, I submitted my name and was ultimately appointed. My eyes were immediately opened to many things, including a process that is highly regulated. I have gained invaluable experience through the first year of the appointment, and now I must run for the seat for the next four years. I believe I am ideally suited to fulfill the obligations with the real-world practical experience both in starting and participating as an advocate, as well as utilizing the experience I have gained as an appointee on the board in 2018. I came on the board very discouraged by the lack of communication between the district and the community and all the negativity that existed. And although it still exists, I see changes that I was intentional about making with regards to increased communication during Board meetings, and an increased willingness of both sides to at least talk more. We are many miles from where we need to be but I am prepared to move us forward with my ability to collaborate with colleagues on the board, and the authentic relationships and trust I have developed with those inside the district, both administrators and teachers.
What skills or experiences do you have that makes you different
from the current board members or those running?
My ability to work well with others is at the top of my skill set. It can be challenging to have cordial discussions with parties of vastly different opinions, and it is important to be able to have amenable, productive dialog bringing people together on common ground. I can do that and I have done it. This, combined with the many years of working inside global national and local Boards of Directors provides me a level needed to reach consensus to help move important processes and policies to a successful conclusion. I have gained the real experience of working on the CASD School Board. It is a lot of learning as well as relationship building to move an agenda and/or idea forward and I have experience doing that. My real experience with Citizens Who S.E.E. allows me to understand what families and students are encountering and what they need.
Do you primarily see yourself as a representative of the community
or as a representative of the school system?
Community | School System
Please Explain:
What type of opportunities/strengths do you feel CASD has and how
do we accomplish them?
CASD is poised to make a big comeback like so many outside the district (as well as inside) do not believe we can do it. I know we have the internal fortitude and it is evidenced by the passion with which the discussions take place in audiences like the school board meetings, as well as in the marketplace and social settings where I encounter people all the time. With all that is on the cusp with the revitalization in our city, which will attract business and people to the area, as well as more families moving this direction, when we fix the problems in our district, we will be the vibrant growing community we once were.
I believe the opportunities that come through
STEM and STEAM initiatives, which our school MUST have, represents a chance to
put our students on the front pages with those other schools that we look at
with envy today. With the changing demographics of the population as it relates
to race and ethnicity all across this country at this time, we have diversity
that is unmatched in our region. This is a strength as our children and
students get to interact from birth with people that look like the real world
beyond Coatesville. This prepares them so they are not experiencing culture
shock when they get old enough to leave home and travel/live in other
communities. Inside our schools, our teachers are second to none, especially we
give them the support and resources, they need to be successful.
What are the most pressing issues facing the CASD and how would you
address them when you are on the school board?
Disciplinary issues continue to plague our schools. Additionally, special education needs, and providing meaningful services continues to be an issue. Increasing charter school enrollment not only takes CASD students away from the district, but it adds a significant financial burden. It is crucial that we prioritize getting these students back. At its core, we have to find ways to eliminate any unnecessary spending. Discipline and special education are the primary pressing issues to me, due to the immediate impact on the quality of education.
Please share your ideas on the challenge of balancing the budget,
while not cutting too many programs or jobs?
This is without question a HUGE challenge. In order to get as close as possible to balancing the budget, it requires some nontraditional thinking as far as generating revenues (since we don’t have the necessary commercial tax base at this time) and reducing costs without cutting student services. I think any non-essential activities/services must be looked at creatively. This must be done while minimizing the tax implications on the residents, so they are not forced to leave their homes. We need to prioritize bringing students who have left CASD to go to charter schools back to the district. However, I strongly believe that the only way to do anything that should be done has to be in full transparency of the community and the district. Everybody has a right to know what is going on and why. We have tough decisions to make. I am committed to doing that.
The hiring and retaining of highly qualified teachers and
administrators has become more and more challenging. How would you help CASD
address this issue?
All schools struggle to get the needed resources and national data supports this. However, it becomes increasingly more difficult when you have a reputation that precedes you, so before you get to speak to or approach the prospect, they already have an idea in their mind of what they encounter based on what they have heard or read. We have to work hard to change that. These are real challenges we have to deal with as we pursue the highly qualified folks because other districts without all the ‘noise’ are after them too. I know to address this and recruit them, we have to have intentional committees geared toward forming relationships where these people exist and begin to form a pipeline in advance of them getting to the point where we now have to compete with the other schools. We need to be ‘top of mind’ all across this region and country for people seeking educational employment and I know from my experience in the past 8 months, that we are not. I have begun to build these type relationships and I have proposed that I lead a process to further develop this intentional process. When elected, I will move forward and bring my contacts to bear and grow our network to attract people. You have to be personal and relational with people and most important in that is to be authentic. That’s who I am!
What are your thoughts on the current discipline problem and what
will you do to address it?
Discipline is our number one problem in my mind. It is the reason students are leaving and families are selling their homes and leaving the district. It’s the reason many young elementary families never give us a chance before putting their children in Charter or private school. We need to have programs and supports in our schools that foster safe and appropriate behavior. We need to more meaningfully engage our families in this process. We then can look at ways in which we can help support their efforts to help their child overcome any challenges. This is not the answer in totality, but it is a good place to think about starting something different. Some of the discipline challenges have some level of cause in the fact that there are students not getting the services they need and therefore this contributes to the issue. We have to address that. This is a question that will continually need to address.
What are some of your ideas for improving school safety and
significantly reducing bullying in our schools?
We need to establish and implement school-wide behavior programs, that create norms and rules, within our schools that result in a school climate of safety and respect. In a school-wide behavior program, students are taught and understand the “right way” to behave. Students who have greater needs will have their own individual plan in addition to the school plan. Having established rules and positive supports with creating a school culture that is safe, and reduces bullying/negative behaviors.
If a parent comes to you with a particular school issue, how do
you see your role as school board member to resolve that issue?
When a parent comes to me now, I start by having dialogue around the issue so that I understand what it is, and what has happened. Depending on the discussion, I will do one of two things. First, I will tell them how to follow the “process”, and ensure that they have exhausted all channels. This is a very complex process that varies from family to family. Second, while there might not be a direct intervention for each case, I take the information given and will utilize it in future discussions. For example, I have had many people come to me with concerns about disciplinary issues, which is why it is top of mind for areas of concern.
How transparent do you feel the district is now?
⭐⭐⭐✰✰
I wish I could say I felt better but there are still things I find out/learn after the fact. I think it is important to differentiate between transparency and communication. We certainly have room for improvement regarding transparency, meaning making the information available to the public. We have even more room to grow for communication, meaning HOW we make the information available. The public needs to be able to easily find and access information about the district, and at this point, we are not there.
Looking forward, what are your views on transparency and what
kinds of school-district information should be made public? (Excluding
information that pertains to student records and the particulars of personnel
records that would constitute an invasion of privacy.)
I believe all school district information, excluding any that pertain to student and family identification, personnel information, employee records, and those other areas identified in this question (those that are by law supposed to be private), should be made available. I cannot think of something that the public pays for that should be kept from them except the per the above statement.
Are you committed to a yearly survey of families, students,
graduates, community residents, faculty and staff about what they see as major
strengths and shortcomings of the district and its schools?
Are you committed to yearly surveys? ✔
Are you committed to publicly sharing the results? ✔
Why or why not?
Personally, I am on the board and running for the board to service
the constituents of Region 3 and the CASD district as a whole. Therefore,
anything I do related to this I have no problem sharing. If a survey is
meaningful and relevant, there is the potential that it can help our district.
Without sharing the information, we cannot accomplish all that we are hoping
to. Transparency and communication are crucial for the success of our district.
Have a
question for the candidate?
To ask your
question, enter your comment (in this blog) below
in the “Post a Comment” section. We will work diligently to get a
response.
Rob, thank you for deciding to participate in this blog. I have observed your openness in communicating with the audience during board meetings. More individuals feel heard. Thank you for your service.
ReplyDelete