Candidate for
Director; Methacton School District; Democratic, Republican Party

Key Items Effecting the Methacton School District

Budget: The Methacton School District and School Board continue to struggle with the ever decreasing revenue from the state. The current state budget will result in a $1,256,221 decrease in state revenue. This does not include the $383,000 decrease in state transportation subsidies. It would require approximately a 2.7% tax increase to make up for the loss of this state revenue. If our state revenues had remained flat this year, the board would have had the possibility of holding taxes in check for this year. We need to work with our state legislators to balance the needs of our students with the continuing decrease in state funding.

Pennsylvania School Employee Retirement System (PSERS): PSERS needs to, and must, be reformed. In the coming years, our PSERS contribution will be the line item with the biggest percentage increase in the budget. The total employer contribution rate will increase from 5.64% to 23.66% in the next 5 years. That is over a 320% increase. PSERS is legislated at the state level and can only be changed by the state. We must work with our state legislators to have PSERS restructured in order to reduce the burden on our district and taxpayers.

Transportation: By state law, Methacton must provide transportation for all students living in Methacton School District boundaries. This includes students attending private schools that are no more than 10 miles from school district's boundaries. Transporting students not attending Methacton schools equates to 40 - 50% of Methacton's transportation budget. We need to work with other area school districts to gain efficiencies and combine resources to reduce transportation costs while meeting our student's needs.

Quality Education: The above items all talk about monetary restrictions. Methacton has a great reputation of providing a quality education for our students. Methacton is 5th in Montgomery County for advanced math PSSA scores (top 4% of school districts in the state) and 6th in Montgomery County for advanced reading PSSA scores (top 6% of school districts in the state). The leaders of tomorrow walk through the doors of Methacton every day. We need to continue to build upon the successes that we have had and create new opportunities for our children and grandchildren to be successful in their education.

Technology: Technology should be an integral part of the curriculum. I believe it should be second nature in the delivery of education. Since I have been on the board, for example, we have increased the use of video conference technologies. This expands the classroom beyond the four walls of our buildings for distance learning and exposes students to experiences that would not be readily available through field trips. We have also implemented Parent Web Portal during my time on the school board. Parents are now able to access student grades to allow for greater insight into their student's progress. All members of the Methacton educational community need to be accountable and measured with regards to technology. As chair of the Technology Advisory Committee, I will continue to work with the administration to further enhance the district's technology capabilities.