The Game Plan:
How We Can Break the Carlynton Status Quo
Don’t Feed the Kids Slop!
The food is terrible, lacks nutritional value, and isn’t enough for growing students
The Food served in our schools is unappetizing, and even if our students wanted to eat it, it lacks the nutritional value they need to grow and develop. Nutritional food is integral to the success of our students, without it they become tired, can’t pay attention in class, and have worse educational outcomes. I believe we need to serve our students better food, as a first step in setting them up for success in life.
I'm not certain of the best way to achieve this yet, as it would require robust discussion with our food service provider and an evaluation of our contract with them.
Greater Transparency and Communication
The School Board makes too many decisions behind closed doors
Right now, every school board decision is decided behind closed doors, and they always march in unison. Everything put on the agenda passes unanimously, without any substantive discussion. This would be impossible unless everything is decided out of the view of the public. This clearly violates the spirit of the sunshine laws, which are meant to inform constituents of the board’s deliberations. By the time something is on the agenda, it is too late to provide feedback.
I will change this by forcing us to talk about issues before we vote on it; which I will be able to do because a vote on a motion cannot happen until no one has any more discussion, or someone moves to close debate.
Community members need time to organize opposition or support for actions taken by the board, so it is my intention to give members of the public notice of motions sooner than the 24 hours provided by the board, or move to postpone items until proceeding meetings.
I think the way the board currently operates shows a lack of leadership, and a lack of trust in our community members. I have a great deal of trust in our community members and would like to encourage their greater participation in the decisions of the school board, as they have a wide range of experiences in the district, which will enable us to craft effective policies and goals.
As well, we should begin livestreaming school board meetings, so those with busy schedules are still able to listen and know what is going on.
No More Tax Increases!
We Cannot Raise Taxes forever
The Board continues to raise our taxes, and when confronted about it they say they have no problem raising taxes indefinitely! We have to stop raising taxes at some point, you can’t raise them forever. These tax increases steal money from people, and are a large burden for our community members living paycheck to paycheck or on fixed incomes.
Where Does this money even go? Right now the budget is missing from the district website. Have we experienced better educational outcomes? A higher graduation rate? Do our students get better jobs? Are they healthier, either physically or mentally? We have to think more critically about our spending. Not only did we hire an assistant superintendent, a position we hadn’t needed for at least the past three decades, but then we immediately hired a secretary for him.
As a School Board member I would also seek to publish our audit results, allowing every member of the public to see that the money is spent correctly.
Keep the Athletic Field!
I support keeping the Crafton Athletic Field (Linden Avenue Field) as a field and greenspace; It is an incredibly valuable resource for our kids to use. The School District should either keep the field or sell it to the Borough of Crafton, who are interested in acquiring it to keep it a greenspace. I would Prefer to sell it to Crafton, as I think they are more likely to preserve it than the School District.
Additionally, I oppose district efforts to discreetly sell the property outside of channels which require public feedback, as this is clearly a tactic to ignore the will of the public.
Bring Back Bus Evacuation Drills
We need to resume mandatory bus evacuation reviews. A bus will become fully engulfed in flames within 4 minutes from initially catching fire, and students will need to evacuate to 100 feet for diesel busses, and 200 feet for propane busses. Making sure our students know how to properly evacuate busses is important for their safety. As well, the state mandates students participate in 2 reviews per year; one within the first week of school, and one in March. Ask your children, do they know what to do when the bus catches fire?