Parents Ask School Board Candidates About Fiscal Responsibility, Challenges

Wissahickon Parents held a second candidates forum on Wednesday night at the , with a much larger turn out of parents than during their first forum.

However, as similar to their , only Burunda Prince-Jones and Ron Stoloff attended.

Carmina Taylor, who organized the event, said Barbara Ullery and Gene Murphy had responded to her invitations noting they had scheduling conflicts during both forums. The rest of the candidates did not respond to her invitations.

“I have earnestly…faithfully reached out to the candidates in out school community,” said Taylor in the beginning of Wednesday night’s event.

In a shortly before the forum, the candidates stated, “While we have great respect for the parents and teachers of the Wissahickon School District we do not believe Ms. Taylor is neutral or nonpartisan in this election and we do not believe participating in an event organized by her would yield a productive dialogue.”

Taylor said to the parents gathered, “I sincerely hope you will leave here informed enough to talk to your neighbors about [what’s going on in the] Wissahickon School Board elections.”

Candidates Prince-Jones and Stoloff answered questions from the community that mattered most to them.

What do you envision as future challenges for the school district and school board and how to intend to face them?

PRINCE-JONES: The budget and the economy – how do we get more out of less? She also cited attracting the best teachers to Wissahickon and retaining the good teachers the districts already has. She also mentioned legislation, redistricting and the aging facilities. She said as with every challenge she will approach it and learn as much about it, learn from experts and make a decision that the district can implement.

STOLOFF: No Child Left Behind mandates that every student be proficient by 2014, even students who are qualified as learning disabled. Unless the state asks for waivers, Stoloff said it will be difficult for schools to make adequate yearly progress.

He also cited the budget and taxes. He said the board has to keep quality schools to attract new residents to the district, while at the same time not driving people out with high taxes.

Wissahickon spends $20,000 per student, higher than the Pennsylvania average and nearly double private school tuition. How is the money being spent and what is the budget outlook for 2012-13?

PRINCE-JONES: Prince-Jones said she believes in “spend[ing] money smarter” and sees every penny spent as an investment in the students and in the community. She said the board is looking at ways to creatively cut spending. She did say that 80 percent of the district’s budget is spent on teacher salaries and benefits. However, she said that there are two main things that affect learning, quality teachers and classroom sizes.

STOLOFF: Ron said from his experience, a low paying salary won’t produce the good teachers that WIssahickon is looking for, if the teachers are found at all. He said that studies have shown that a classroom size in the upper 20s is the most effective. He also cited plans like the transportation consortium as ways to save money in other places, while working with other districts.

Ron, fiscal responsibility is not one of your top goals [on your flyer], why?

STOLOFF: Stoloff said that all of the “top goals” are student-based items. He said he doesn’t know anyone on the Board, who is for fiscal irresponsibility, and he is not for wasting money, he pays taxes, too. “We want bang for our buck,” he said. “Every dollar we waste is a dollar that is not going to our students.”

PRINCE-JONES: Prince-Jones said she looks at the $20,000 per student as “an investment…for our children’s education.”