Central Bucks School Board Primary Election: Dana Foley, Region 3

Candidates running in contested races in the May 16 primary election have been invited to provide background about themselves and their positions on the issues to voters in these profiles, which will run in Patch individually for each candidate.

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Dana Foley is running as a cross-filed candidate for an open four-year-seat on the Central Bucks School Board in Region 3. She is in a three-way race with Patricia Carman and Glenn Schloeffel.

Biographical Information

Name: Dana Foley

Age: 40

Town of residence: Buckingham

Position sought: Central Bucks School Board Director for Region 3

Are you an incumbent? No

What Towns Does Your Position Cover? Buckingham Township, the precincts of Lower 1 & 2, Middle 1 & 2, Upper 2

Party affiliation: Democratic

Family: I live in Buckingham with my husband, our three children, and our dog Asher.

Education: I have my MSN and am a board-certified nurse practitioner. I am also a certified yoga therapist.

Occupation: I am a nurse practitioner and also work part time as a yoga teacher.

Questions

1. Why are you running?

As a mother, I think it’s necessary to step up and step in to model to my children what it means to take part in building the world we believe we can and should have. I feel that the leadership running our school district has chosen to focus on inciting division in our schools while overlooking what our students, staff and families really need and deserve. I feel this has distracted our teachers and students, creating division and chaos in our community. I want us to work together to create a path back to stability and to find solutions to problems we are actually facing as a district. We should be working together to celebrate the value of a public education.

2. What are your top issues and how do you plan to address them?

The school staffing shortage is an issue in Central Bucks because without enough staff, any solution for any problem proposed will be challenging to execute. This will require further emphasis and expansion of our current recruitment and retention efforts for teachers, support staff and transportation employees. With plans for grade realignment and full day kindergarten on the horizon, ensuring we have sufficient resources and appropriate accommodations for all students and staff will be crucial for a seamless integration. Having a board that values fiscal responsibility will also be essential.

With a mental health crisis facing teens and increases in the severity of mental health disorders including anxiety and depression, we need to ensure there are enough counselors and mental health resources in schools so students feel supported to meet the demands we are facing.

Learning loss also needs to be addressed. We need to focus our efforts on getting children back up to speed on academics, while creating a positive learning environment that helps children to thrive. We also need to build more support for our special needs and English language learners.

It is also important to highlight that we cannot fix one issue without addressing the other. For example, addressing learning loss means addressing staffing issues in our district. We additionally cannot talk about learning loss without considering mental health in our children. If children are struggling with mental health issues, we cannot expect them to perform well academically.

3. Identify specific goals/ideas you have to enhance the district?

My first goal would be to foster a return to transparency about what is really going on in our schools and start using data to drive the decisions being made. I would aim to stop wasteful spending and encourage effective resource utilization because there are a number of issues that need our attention here in CBSD. I would advocate we identify mental health support needs in the district and provide additional resources where appropriate to ensure students have the foundation needed to perform academically. To address learning loss, I would advocate to address appropriate staffing for all classrooms and students. I would also want to ensure there is additional training for our staff to learn and implement effective teaching strategies to bridge gaps in knowledge for all students.

Enhancing our school district starts by addressing the actual issues we face that are being overlooked. It also means that all board members and administration should make every effort to remain nonpartisan and have a student-centric approach to their decision making. We need to start there as a district before any meaningful efforts are successfully implemented.