Age: 38
Campaign Facebook Page: N/A
Website: N/A
Education: RN, BSN, MHA-IT
Family Life: Mom of 3 (18, 17, 11), married for 12 years.
Occupation & Background: RN in Philadelphia. Background in ER/Trauma and Pediatric trauma/ER. Now in leadership role.
Why are you running for the Board of Education? If elected, what will be your priorities?
I am running for the Board position because my district is currently without representation. I feel strongly that all districts must be represented in order for all of the children of our school district to be adequately served.
My priorities, if elected, will be advocating for our families in the district to ensure quality Special Education services, affordable before & after school programs to support working families and trying to find an acceptable solution (even if only temporary) for the school bus driver shortage.
In what ways have you served or currently serve our community?
I currently volunteer with several animal protection organizations in our community with my children (La Mancha & a privately owned farm who asked not to be named). We also participate in food drives, clothing drives and fundraising.
Is there a particular issue that motivates you to serve on the board of education?
There are several issues that motivate me, however I think the following are the top 3:
Children do not learn in a box. My dream scenario would be for more individualized educational experiences for all of our children. People learn differently and I don’t think anyone should be penalized because the way they learn may be different than the antiquated way of tracking level of teaching/learning success of the past through standardized testing. I think this has to be a “top-down” approach from school district administration, which would mean allowing the teachers the ability to innovate in their classrooms in addition to allowing families, teachers and children to brainstorm on new, fresh, innovative ways to learn and teach.
I feel there needs to be more/better options for working families and/or single parents in regards to before/after school programs. As a former single, working parent, I know the stress of finding a reputable program for my son and then the additional stress of trying to afford it. These options should extend into middle school and not end abruptly at the end of 5th grade.
Having had a child who utilized the Special Education system, I feel strongly about optimizing our Special Ed department and reinstating many services that were done away with by previous administrations. This can be done through various funding options, including grant writing. As a district with a history of financial struggles, we may have to get creative, however that is something that I do not shy away from.
The biggest issue that motivates me to serve could arguably be encouraging more collaboration between the District and our families.
What is the formula for a good educational experience for our youth?
I’m not sure that this is a question that can be easily answered, as I think the definition of “educational success” varies from child to child. Overall, I believe that a good educational experience consists of a safe place for them to learn, be themselves, learn to succeed and to fail, and a place our families feel supported. I think collaboration between the District, the Board and parents/families is critical for everyone’s success.
How will you engage the community to improve public schools in the district?
I don’t know what I don’t know. In the immediate I would like to become more knowledgeable about community events which are taking place with the intent of improving the district (any fundraising initiatives, webinars, continuing education opportunities for parents, etc). If there aren’t any events, then I would like to help organize some. In the long term - I would like to become more involved with policy writing/amending to help better fit our current student and family population.
What is your view of the role of charter schools in public education? What is your position on charter schools?
My understanding about charter schools in public education was they were initially started to break away from the traditional public school model to allow teachers to be more innovative and provide high-quality instruction. Charter school teachers were supposed to be able to have the autonomy to design a classroom that fits their students’ needs, increase the learning opportunities and increase student outcomes. However, this has not been my experience. My personal experience was with CCS. My daughter started @ CCS and after 3 very frustrating years, we returned to CASD. The charter schools in our area are understaffed with classrooms that are no smaller in student population than those of CASD, there are significantly less educational opportunities @ CCS, the special education program is virtually non-existent, and charter school students are still taking standardized tests, making the curriculum almost mirrored to that of our district.
How does a school board balance the need to provide a quality education with the need to respond to the local taxpayer burden?
I can only speak to what my opinion is regarding our school board. According to a recent study completed by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Coatesville Area School District has some of the highest school taxes in all of Chester County, having experienced a 20% increase over the last 6 years (the highest increase in the county). Continuing to raise property taxes to off-set a historically mismanaged budget is not the right answer. There has been a significant lack of trust in our CASD Board in the last 5-8 years which I feel comes from a lack of transparency. I feel very strongly that the Board needs to hire a truly independent firm, voted on & agreed to by all members of the Board, to audit the current budget and find cost-cutting, cost-saving opportunities. I also feel the Board needs to further explore other funding options, such as grant-writing and major fundraising events.
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