Team EPSD

www.teamepsd.com

Description

OUR GOALS and PRINCIPLES
Inclusion & Outreach: It is our intent to work with fellow board members in a
civilized manner in order to change the public’s perception of the School Board.
Parents, teachers, and taxpayers alike should be provided the opportunity
participate in policy making that affects them. To that end, we will propose
procedural changes that would allow for increased public commentary during
relevant discussions and mandate follow up responses from Board Members to
concerned citizens. These proposed changes would help increase public
participation in the operation of our school system.1
 
Accountability: The position of school board director carries with it a tremendous
responsibility to public and to the students. We will hold ourselves accountable
for our actions, decisions, and performance as Directors. Members of the Board
must lead by example when it comes to ethics, conduct, and behavior. They must recognize that elected officials’ actions and statements are held to a much
higher standard than those of the general public.2

Stewardship:
School Board Directors must always remember that they are the guardians of the taxpayer’s money3. To that end, we will scrutinize district spending to maximize our investment in our children’s education. We will work hand in hand with the administration to make sure that the dollars we are given are focused on the academic achievement of our student body first and foremost. We intend to assist the administration finding innovative and creative ways to reduce the operating overhead of the district so that valuable resources can be used to further the quality of our academic programs.

Cooperation:
Serving on an elected body or committee requires civility and compromise in
order to achieve progress. Board members actively participate in the planning,
policy making, and evaluation of District performance4. In that capacity, there
are bound to be differences of opinion regarding policy. To that end, we pledge
to conduct ourselves professionally, with understanding and respect for each
other in all matters keeping in mind that personal feelings and personality
conflicts should not enter the decision making process5.

Legislation:
One of the burdens placed on the taxpayers is the number of unfunded mandates created by Harrisburg that come down on the shoulders of the School Board and the District to “find a way to pay for”. This is one of the drivers of the
constant and never-ending increase in real estate taxes. In the past, our School
Board Directors were content to simply point out the problem and proceed with
more tax increases. We intend to work together with our State Reps. Ryan
MacKenzie and Justin Simmons to identify wasteful pork spending in the state
budget and create public and political pressure to re-direct these misused funds
to increasing state funding of public schools without the need for any more tax
increases6.