Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
7 seek 4 open seats on Spring-Ford School Board
There are four open seats on the Spring-Ford Area School Board, whose seats are distributed among three regions in a district that straddles the county line between Montgomery and Chester counties.
Two incumbents are running for reelection and one of them, Clinton Jackson, is unopposed for his Region 2 seat. Region 2 is comprised of portions of Limerick and portions of Upper Providence townships.
The other incumbent is Thomas DiBello. He and three other candidates are vying for a total of two open seats in Region 3. Christina Melton, whose term expires this year, is not seeking reelection.
The other three candidates in the Region 3 race are Abby Deardorff, Erica
Hermans and Tom McMonigle. All four candidates are seeking both the Republican and Democratic ballot lines on May 18.
There is one open seat in Spring-Ford’s Region 1, where incumbent Linda Fazzini is not seeking reelection.
Two candidates, Karen Weingarten and Heidi Goldsmith are both seeking the seat.
Region 1 is comprised of a portion of Upper Providence Township.
What follows are the candidate’s responses to The Mercury’s online questionnaire, organized by region, in the order they were received. Goldsmith did not respond to the questionnaire.
Region 3 Tom McMonigle
McMonigle, 36, is a director of accounting who has never before held public office.
“I am running to ensure the best possible future for Spring-Ford students,” he wrote in his response to The Mercury’s online candidate questionnaire.
“The board needs qualified members who have experience dealing with complex organizations and I feel I bring a lot of that experience to the table. I have an extensive professional background in accounting and finance including prior experience auditing the financial statements of multiple PA school districts. I am an invested community member and I believe this is my opportunity to give back and serve the wonderful Spring-Ford school district,” he wrote.
McMonigle wrote that he feels the most important issue facing Spring-Ford is “providing parents choice in a variety of learning options, including in-person learning, while also providing the necessary support for the effects of the prior year including learning loss and social/emotional/mental issues. I will make sure the district is doing all it can to account for the effects of COVID and get all students back on track and moving forward.”
Abby Deardorff
Deardorff, 41, is a registered nurse who has never held elected office before.
She is running, she wrote, because “Covid-19 opened my eyes to how school districts are run. I, along with many others in my community were not satisfied with the manner in which the current school board conducted itself this past year. For real progress to be made, changes are needed. Change does not occur from sharing and commenting on social media posts. Change comes from taking action. I believe I am more than qualified and look forward to serving Spring-Ford.”
Deardorff wrote that the most important issue facing the district is “trust. Trust that all members of the community are being represented and advocated for. I believe many are looking for change in politics locally and nationally. I admittedly am not a career politician, however I know there is value that I will bring to Spring-Ford, also paving the way for others who historically have been disregarded, underrepresented and silenced.”
Erica Hermans
Hermans, 41, is a corporate
training specialist within the financial services industry.
She has not previously held elected office.
Hermans wrote that she is “seeking office for three key reasons. First, I am seeking office because our students are entitled to a superior education that builds transferable life- and career-readiness skills and experiences. In order to ensure this continues to happen, school board directors need to have a pulse on modernizing programs and curriculums to effectively prepare our children for an increasingly competitive job market and a changing society. My experience as a learning and development professional has shown me the importance of developing and evolving programs for different learning styles and meeting learners where they are by transferring knowledge in alternative ways outside of traditional in-classroom discussions. I am running to ensure that the board has an eye on not just what has worked well in the past, but more importantly, a longerterm view of what is necessary to fuel our children’s success into the future.”
Secondly, Hermans wrote, “directors have a responsibility for shaping the well-being and reputation of the community in which they serve, and over the last year, relations between
communities and school districts have deteriorated. I am seeking office to enhance communication and transparency in decision-making to rebuild trust with the public. Individual school board directors, alone, have no authority. In the best of districts, boards work as a highly collaborative team of nine to bring diversity of thought and ideas to the table to enhance the livelihood of those in our communities. I see this as an opportunity at Spring-Ford. As a school board director, I will work with my peers on the board to effectively engage the entire community, not just a subset, to foster understanding and work to restore district-community relations.”
Thirdly, she wrote, “I am running to be a responsible steward of school tax dollars, using them wisely to enhance the lives of students and the community. School board directors have touted the elimination of wasteful spending and reducing district debt, and with that still, an ever-increasing burden continues to be borne onto local taxpayers. We need legislative reform on multiple fronts (fair funding, charter school reform, etc.), and I will work with our legislators to influence that. As a director, I will also bring a renewed scrutiny to how our tax dollars are being spent. I will ensure that spending provides equitable opportunities for every student in our district to the greatest extent possible and raise questions when it does not.”
Hermans wrote she believes “the most important issue facing Spring-Ford is how to stay on top of and tackle the many varied student needs coming out of 2020/2021 school year due to the pandemic. Learning loss is one issue that has to be looked at from multiple data points and on a frequent basis to ensure that the district is addressing the individual learning needs of our students, especially those with special needs, appropriately.”
She wrote that “there have been three waves of federal CARES Act/ ESSER Funds to help offset COVIDrelated expenditures. As a school board director, I will not only analyze how this infusion of federal money is best spent to address learning loss, but I will also be proactive with considering how the district sustains the necessary headcount, tools, and programs for the long-term.”
According to Hermans, “these issues won’t be resolved simply because the federal funding is gone. We also know that our students are more likely thrive academically and socially when provided a safe and supportive learning environment. This ties directly to the issue of school safety. Safety is more than securing adequate PPE and following cleaning protocols to ensure the physical health of everyone in our buildings. Safety is also about understanding and addressing the social, emotional and mental health needs of our students. Student safety is about providing continued and heightened social development support for every student. School districts need to focus on reconnecting with all students, hearing their stories and responding with empathy. As a school board director, I will model behaviors that promote a positive school culture and drive a safe and supportive learning environment. These are qualities like fairness, respect, and compassion. I will work to promote healthy peer interactions and normalize the sharing of experiences and emotions in a safe space. As a school board director, I will partner with school administrators and staff to understand the issues and make meaningful and actionable recommendations to enhance the social, emotional, and mental well-being of our students.”
Thomas DiBello
DiBello, 58, described his profession as CEO/President.
He has been a member of the Spring-Ford School Board for the past 11 years
DiBello wrote that he running for reelection to “continue to be a voice for our students, staff and community members providing the best and safe educational environment possible while being fiscally responsible keeping Spring-Ford with one of lowest tax millages in the county and surrounding areas.”
DiBello wrote that “my priority is to provide the necessary resources for our students deal with learning loss and social emotional and mental issues related the COVID pandemic as well as keeping spending in check.”
Region 1 Karen Weingarten
Weingarten, 48, described her profession as senior digital strategy and communications lead.
She wrote that he has “no previous elected experience,” but added, “I served eight years as the founder and chairperson of a Bloomsburg University alumni council.
Weingarten decided to seek office, she wrote, because
“this year showcased frustration in communication, planning, collaboration, and leadership. I want to see the board talk about long-term ideas, planning and strategy, not kneejerk reactions to issues of the day. My background in communications, project management, information architecture, and strategic planning will help the board become more deliberate instead of reactionary. I want to see enhanced communication with the public, dialogue with parents and teachers to better understand pain points and opportunities.”
She added, “I want to restore trust and make the board more approachable by clearly explaining how processes work, define where are we going, how will we get there, and how will we measure our progress along the way. I’ve spent years as a volunteer and alumni leader at Bloomsburg University and enjoy making an impact on the community. I am a sensible, rational, and thoughtful voice, capable of rebuilding trust, listening and advocating for families, our community, teachers and administrators.”
Regarding the most important issue facing SpringFord, Weingarten replied: “As we think about ‘returning to normal,’ parents and teachers want to know what this looks like. We’ve spent the last year navigating the complexities of COVID-19 by revising logistics, adjusting lessons, creating remote learning models, and enhancing buildings and classrooms to be as safe as possible during the pandemic. While the physical health of our teachers and students is still incredibly important, we now need to address the social, emotional, and learning loss impact of the last year and understand how to best spend the federal budget allocated to help the district recover, rebuild, and reignite.”
She concluded: “We need to equip teachers and administrators with the training, tools, and time necessary to decipher the impact of last year on students. I want to learn what resources are necessary to build equitable, accessible and flexible instruction plans, understand how to assess it, and time to adjust, revise, fill in the gaps. We’ll need time and programs that reintroduce students to buildings, activities, reconnect them to peers, and embrace new routines.”