Phoenixville Letter To The Editor: Lisa Longo's Strategic Vision For The School Board

Editor’s note: this is a letter to the editor. The opinions herein do not reflect the views of Patch or its reporters. If you would like to submit a letter to the editor in advance of the November 3 elections, please email justin.heinze@patch.com.

By LISA LONGO for Patch

Why Am I running for School Board?

What is important? What do we value? Do we want to outsource and privatize? Do we want better lunches? Are we okay spending millions on some extra-curricular activities but almost nothing on others? Are we truly balancing our budget? What is our strategic vision and how do we implement it? How can we do better for our students while protecting taxpayers? Why do we have so many consultants in the budget? Where can we save money?

These are some of the questions I ask myself. And they are why I decided to run for school board.

I don’t believe we have a truly balanced budget. I think we can and must do better. I absolutely think we can save money by implementing strategic policies. I think we can and must do better with supporting our female athletes equally with our male athletes. I don’t think children should ever be viewed as a profit-center. And I certainly don’t think we should be paying consultants unless absolutely necessary. I believe our local public tax dollars need to stay in our local economy and create local jobs whenever possible.

I believe it is up to us to do what is best for our students and taxpayers and that being elected is a public trust and promise to protect that interest.

There have been some big issues I have been excited to work with the current Board and Administration on. The most recent include the decision on geothermal at the new Early Learning Center and Elementary School. This was a big one and I spent many hours doing research and speaking to Board members, Administrative staff and taxpayers. By constructing with geothermal we protect taxpayers against future increases in the cost of energy and we provide a role model for our community on sustainable practices. It is also a small step toward actual energy independence.

In addition I’ve worked with Administrators at our high school on anti-bullying programs, rework policy for students, and class curriculum issues. I have been involved with discussions on improving the lunch program, scheduling, AP testing and how we budget for our student activities. I have brought up issues of inequity of our funding and imbalance in our spending and will continue to work to provide solutions for both.

I believe that our public education system is one of the most important institutions in providing long-term economic stability and protecting our standard of living and way of life.

I would love to hear your thoughts, please email me, I’m happy to meet for coffee any time, lisa@consultcts.com