Get to Know Janice Singer, Candidate for School Board

WISSAHICKON

Ambler Patch: How would you balance the district budget? Would you use to help balance the budget?

Janice Singer: The first step in balancing the budget is always to look for waste and redundancies. Once those are eliminated we look to see if we can defer or scale back any of the components. After weeding out anything that does not directly relate to student achievement and safety, we make the decision to either raise taxes, use fund balance or a combination of both if the budget is still not balanced. We are very judicious in choosing an amount to spend. We have the largest fund balance by far in the area and we have no intention of frittering it away.

AP: One of the Board goals is to support a “.” How would you help support this goal?

JS: The 21st century learner must be able to use technology with the ease and seamlessness with which we use language. Technology is the language of this information age and so our children need complete immersion in the tools required to function in the 21st Century. Our children must also be comfortable working in groups, a skill that will be invaluable in this century. Problem solving is another huge area in which our children will need to excel.

All of the above requires a change in the way we teach and deliver information and a change in paradigm by parents, teachers and administrators. Not surprisingly, this comes from learning: professional development for teachers and administrators.

AP: This year the Wissahickon School District encountered issues with its . How would you remedy this problem so it doesn’t happen in the future?

JS: That’s a big question. First, all the routes have been reworked thanks to our tireless staff and administrators. If we find the 3rd party company hired to administer this consortium of 5 neighboring school districts is incapable of delivering on their promises, we have the option to withdraw from the group at the end of this school year. There may be more options regarding this incident that we are currently exploring.

AP: Student Achievement is one of the Board’s goals. How would you support this as a board member?

JS: Student achievement is always a top priority. We have reteaching initiatives for struggling students, enrichment and AP courses for high achievers. We expect our teachers to constantly be learning themselves through college courses, conferences and our staff developers. Student achievement is fluid and changing through the years. We all keep up with the latest achievements of other schools, listen to parent ideas and read publications for educators. We also keep abreast of what employers and colleges are looking for.

AP: Transparency and Accountability is important to the residents of the Wissahickon School District. What do Transparency and Responsibility mean to you?

JS: Transparency is something we are very aware of and in fact sunshine laws make it impossible for us to do anything in secret. Everything not governed by HIPPA laws or involving personnel is public knowledge. We post on our website, advertise meetings, make new classroom materials available for public inspection. The only thing we don’t do is personally call every community member. All the information is available but community members have to reach out for it by watching the Wissahickon television station and/or checking the district website. Attending meetings is another way community members can keep abreast of happenings in the district. All meetings are open to the public.

Accountability I believe is the ability to share decisions with the public and stand by them. We are each accountable for every choice we make in our daily lives. The same is true for board members. I stand by every decision I have made in the past 4 years.

Responsibility: We have a dual responsibility. We have a responsibility to the taxpayers to keep taxes low while keeping achievement high. We have a responsibility to use all funds in the best possible way. At the same time, we are a school board. We have a huge responsibility to give our children the best possible education while keeping them safe.