Candidate for
Director; Methacton School District

Key Items Effecting the Methacton School District

Quality Education: 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.

Facilities: Methacton has made an investment in many of its buildings throughout the years. One of the areas that have not been kept up is the outside facilities. We have an opportunity to upgrade our fields and outside facilities at the high school without raising additional taxes to complete this project. This would include upgrading 2 fields to turf, a new concession stand, and restrooms. I fully support the district moving forward with this project. The condition of our athletic fields at the high school is not something that we have been talking about just in the last days, weeks, or months. The deteriorating condition of our fields has been something that we have been discussing for years. We have to take into account the safety of our students using fields that are not in good condition. There have been times that fields have not been able to be used due to the conditions of the fields. Also, we have to realize that these fields are not only used by the teams and the band - they are used by every student for physical education classes. These fields have been, and continue to be a problem that is only getting worse. I believe this is something that we need to figure out how to do. I support this effort. If we do not do something now, then I ask when? I believe the time is now for both our students and our community.

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.

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.