Central Bucks School Board Primary Election: Aarati Martino, Region 6

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 — Aarati Martino is running as a cross-filed candidate for an open four-year-seat on the Central Bucks School Board in Region 6. She is running against Rick Haring.

Biographical Information

Name: Aarati Martino
Age: 48
Town of residence: Doylestown
Position sought: Central Bucks School Director, Region Six
Are you an incumbent? No
What Towns Does Your Position Cover? Doylestown, but also parts of Furlong, New Britain and Warrington.
Party affiliation: Republican, but I am also a fan of pizza and birthday parties.
Family: Paul, my husband; two kids, one in eighth grade at Lenape and another in sixth grade at Doyle Elementary; and a rabbit named Toothless
Education: Ph.D., M.S in computer science from Stanford University and M.Eng, B.S. in EECS from MIT
Occupation: Mom first, staff software engineer second

Questions

1. Why are you running?

I love our schools and I want to see all of our kids thrive and succeed. CBSD has been successful because we have a winning combination of thoughtful administrators, great teachers, and involved parents. I’ve been attending the committee meetings and am struck by how constantly the administrators analyze the students’ well being and performance and then work to improve upon it. I would love to be part of this equation and preserve and defend the principles that made this district attract so many families in the first place.

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

• Learning loss due to school shutdowns - use this as an opportunity to revamp our curriculum to leapfrog to what will make kids successful the next 20 years
• Getting the kids ready for a digital age - see below
• How to retain and attract the best teachers and staff having to compete with high wages. I’d like to apply to CBSD the same rigorous analytical approach to morale that we used at Google to make it one of the top places to work.

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

I have 38 years of experience in technology, which I would love to harness to further extend our STEAM programs. The FAB Lab, for example, has cool equipment like robots and 3D printers and really amazing staff. I know exactly the next steps needed to attract and integrate more kids and make this program a magnet beyond the county. While I love tech, I also realize that it is not the only game in town. Our local community is a gold mine of talent, skill, and wisdom in many areas. I want to promote mentorships between kids and all of the accomplished people that live here.