It’s time for new faces on Rose Tree Media board

To the Editor: Does a good employer want an employee who makes rash decisions? One who ignores constructive criticism and disregards customers? No.

A good employer wants an employee who can be counted on to carefully examine every situation, to consult appropriate sources before making a decision, and to provide excellent customer service even under difficult circumstances.

Chick-Fil-A’s employee handbook stresses that employees must “always double-check” meal orders for accuracy, and “treat every customer (and all individuals) with honor, dignity and respect.”

As residents of Rose Tree-Media School District, shouldn’t we be able to expect the same level of due diligence and respect from our school directors as we do from the employees of a fast-food chain?

Over the past few years the members of the RTM School Board have shown a consistent pattern of acting first and asking questions later. As a licensed attorney, mediator, and conflict resolution trainer, I understand the importance of process and deliberation.

In March 2016 the Board voted to grant Sunoco an easement allowing the Mariner East 2 pipeline carrying “natural gas liquids” (butane, propane and ethane) to be installed only 650 feet behind our Glenwood Elementary School without public investigation or a public airing of this decision. And it took Sunoco’s first offer of only $50,000 in exchange for this easement!

Then, nearly one year later in February 2017, the current board revealed the district faced a $9.5 million budget gap. This gap did not happen overnight, yet the board members failed to explain why this was allowed to happen.

The public recently learned the RTM Board of School Directors had continually borrowed from the district’s formerly hefty General Fund Account for years. It was only in February 2017 that the School Board held several community forums. At the forum I attended, University of Pennsylvania professor and forum facilitator Harris Sokoloff admitted to one concerned resident that the forums were too little too late.

It is one thing to face a difficult situation, thoroughly examine it, and ultimately make a controversial decision. Tough decisions are a fact of public service. But, it is an entirely different thing to skip the deliberation process and just vote.

As we say in mediation, a rushed agreement is an unworkable agreement. And as someone dedicated to public education and who will receive her Master’s of Education this August from Villanova University, I am particularly disheartened to see fiscal and safety concerns so summarily discounted by my school directors.

Rose Tree Media deserves a school board that treats every matter carefully and thoughtfully; a school board that publicly deliberates before every vote and practices due diligence. To paraphrase Chick-FilA, we deserve a board that treats all individuals – and their concerns – with honor, dignity and respect.

I am running for a seat on the RTM Board of School Directors. My running mates and I are committed to administering the school board with openness and transparency and to building respectful, thoughtful relationships with all of our residents.

“I am particularly disheartened to see fiscal and safety concerns so summarily discounted by my school directors.” — Susan Henderson-Utis