Response to Journal News Questions

By Evan M. Eisland

My wife, Jane, and I have lived in Irvington since 1998. We have two children in the school system, Jake is in Eighth Grade and Scott is in Fifth Grade. I have been active in the community coaching soccer, basketball and baseball and helping to run the AYSO and Club Soccer programs. I believe that it is important to be involved in the community.

While I enjoy coaching and playing with my children and their friends, I am also deeply committed to their education. I have made it my business to be involved in my children's education -- to meet and speak to every one of my children's teachers and principals, to attend parent/teacher conferences, bagel breakfasts, literary readings, concerts and plays, and to know what my children are learning and understand what is expected of them. From this I have gained a great deal of insight into the workings of the Irvington school system.

I am a lawyer with almost nineteen years of experience, primarily in the areas of commercial litigation and construction I am also an experienced mediator of commercial and construction related disputes. In addition, I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and was employed as an engineer for the Consolidated Edison Company of New York from 1983 through 1986.

I believe that my education, my involvement in the district, and my legal, engineering and mediation experience give me the tools I need to make a positive difference on the school board. My strong desire to make the Irvington school district the best it can be for our children will provide me with the energy to do the work necessary to achieve this goal. I will involve the community, make rational, fact-based decisions, and keep a sharp eye on costs.

2. What do you see as the top three challenges facing your school district?

i. Education vs. Rising Taxes: Our taxes are rising at a rate that for many is unsustainable. This is a very serious issue for everyone in our district. Still, our goal must be to provide the best education possible to every student, from Kindergarten through 12th Grade, based on the resources available to us. We need to evaluate every program from a cost/benefit standpoint. Where existing programs are falling short, we need to make tough choices between supplementing or replacing those programs. We must balance the value of offering new programs with both the monetary costs and the cost to our children of pulling teachers out of classes to learn the new programs. Our fields are in poor condition and in need of repair, yet there are serious cost implications there too. The challenge here is to achieve academic excellence and remain competitive athletically while finding alternative sources of revenue and closely monitoring costs.

ii. Curriculum: Curriculum is a major topic within the Irvington School District. Issues involving the Trailblazers math program, tracking, honors and AP classes, World Languages and English Language Arts come up in every conversation about our schools and there are many differing views. The community also has issues with the high turnover rate at the administrative level as well as the quality of some teachers. We must continue to address all of these issue. The challenge here is to focus our resources on addressing these curriculum issues and to create an atmosphere that attracts the best and brightest of educators.

iii. Communication: There is a sense among many in the community that important decisions are being made without meaningful public input and involvement and that the school district and the Village are not working together. This can and must be addressed through television broadcasting of board meetings, regular district newsletters, informal community gatherings with board members and village officials, and encouraging community participation through committees.

3. With respect to school finances, are there any specific initiatives you would pursue to save money or reduce costs?

As mentioned above, this is a very tough issue. We absolutely need to control costs and spending, but without sacrificing the quality of education that our children deserve. We need to carefully evaluate existing programs as well as proposed new programs to ensure that we are spending our money wisely and that our children our getting value for our dollar. There are many in our community with expertise in finance and accounting and I would look to form a committee from within our community to assist the board in looking for creative ways to cut costs and increase revenues. We also need to consider alternative funding sources such as grants, fund raising and corporate sponsorships to supplement the districts revenue. I would work closely with the PTSA and the IEF in this regard.

4. What changes would you make on the academic front?

-- We need to take a hard look at the Trailblazers math program for K-5 students. At the very least, this program must be supplemented. Trailblazers is not addressing the needs of the lower and higher performing children and it falls short on teaching basic math facts.

-- We need to make learning to write a priority. This is an area that the administration has been focusing on and I have noticed serious improvement in the writing program. This is something that must continue.

-- We need to evaluate teacher performance and elevate the levels of the lower performing teachers. We also need to limit the amount of time that teachers are pulled out of classes for curriculum development and training.

-- We need to get the community more involved in the process. I would advocate televising board meetings, regular district newsletters, informal community gatherings with board members, and encouraging participation through committees.