Ott, Rupp facing off for two-year term
Candidates vying to fill remaining term of board member who passed away last year
Two candidates are running for a two-year term on the North Penn School Board, to fill the rest of what would have been the term of Democrat Carolyn Murphy, who passed away in December 2016.
Democrat Jenna Ott is running on the “North Penn Neighbors for Progress” ticket against Republican Michelle Rupp. Both have cross-filed and will appear on both Democrat and Republican primary ballots, and both were asked the following questions:
JENNA OTT
I grew up in Pipersville, PA, with my parents and two younger siblings. My dad is a project manager with an audio-visual company and my mom is a physical therapist. My parents encouraged my siblings and me to take an interest in our community, our government, and the people around us. I embraced these interests while attending school in the Central Bucks School District. As a C.B. student, I taught French to elementary school students, volunteered with special needs students and classes, as well as a local equestrian therapy organization, and participated in student government.
A unique opportunity to take a television production class in high school led me to pursue a communications major at Ithaca College. Throughout college, I filled my schedule with anthropology, sociology and politics classes, and spent my free time volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, American Cancer Society, and Make-A-Wish Foundation.
During my senior year of college, I had an opportunity to study and intern in Los Angeles, California. As my semester was coming to a close, I was asked to stay on at my internship. Taking the remainder of my classes remotely while working full time, I was able to graduate with honors and begin my career.
Your professional and political background
My early career was spent in television production. Working my way up from intern to production coordinator and co-producer, I spent eight years working for companies that included Warner Bros, Disney and NBC Universal. Taking an interest in social media, and how it could be harnessed to engage audiences, I began managing social media marketing efforts for productions that I worked on.
I greatly enjoyed my time and experiences in Los Angeles, but I missed being close to family and moved back to the Philadelphia area in 2012. I worked as a freelance social media marketer, offering my services to local non-profits and small businesses. I also worked at a media planning and buying advertising agency, which allowed me to transition from television to marketing. I went on to work for a local inbound marketing agency for two years. I have since worked as the director of marketing for a Fort Washington-based finance and accounting firm that provides outsourced and on-demand CTO and accounting services to local entrepreneurs and growing companies. I enjoy being able to work with my community and the people in my community.
Why are you running for the position on the North Penn School Board?
As a relatively new resident of Montgomery Township, I feel that I have found the community that I want to settle down in and one day raise a family. For that reason, I wanted to find a way to serve my community. After the appointment of Betsy DeVos as the Secretary of Education, I became increasingly concerned for the future of public education in the United States. I have personally benefitted greatly from the opportunities a good public education provided to me, so I believe strongly that we need to support and protect our public schools. That belief is what ultimately drove me to make the decision to run for North Penn School Board.
I was raised to stand up for what I believe and help those that need it. I hope to serve the North Penn community by fighting for the rights of all students and ensuring that the district continues to be one of the best districts in the state of Pennsylvania. I know how important it is to promote transparency and honesty, support great educators and staff, and think critically about the education and opportunities available to students. It is my hope to serve the North Penn School District through innovation and progress.
How would you address the ongoing budget crunch for the district? What would be your top priorities?
I would address the ongoing budget crunch by first advocating for transparency. I believe that the community, parents, students, educators, administrators, and taxpayers have a right to know what resources are available to the public schools and how the money is being spent.
I would also expect the district to require competitive bids from ALL outside contractors vying for work
within the schools. Work should be awarded on a basis of quality and cost efficiency, not on what companies contributed to a campaign or in exchange for a favor.
Another step that I would take would be to develop strong relationships with educators, administrators, and the staff that serves our schools. In doing so, I believe that we will have a better opportunity to work together and find common ground when it comes to contract negotiations and budget restrictions.
MICHELLE RUPP Describe your personal background and biography
I grew up solidly middle class in a small farming community in Western Pennsylvania and attended a local public school. When my daughter was born in 2005, we learned that she had an uncommon developmental disability. At that time I began to step away from my career to focus
on supporting her development and eventually advocating for her access to education. Today she is fully included in the general education curriculum and developing more independent skills, which has allowed me to begin reclaiming my career and civic responsibilities. Involvement as a school director will give me another way to set an example for my daughter to learn and serve her community as a responsible citizen.
I graduated in 1992, from Penn State with a B.S. in Animal Bioscience and a minor in Microbiology, then worked as a unionized biotechnician at Merck until late 1993. In 1997, I graduated from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Veterinary Medicine. I have worked for the past twenty years as a veterinarian in industry, academia, private practice and low cost vaccine clinics; spending ten years in laboratory animal medicine with increasing levels of management responsibility across Merck, University of Pennsylvania
and Charles River Laboratories. I have owned my own small veterinary practice which now focuses on acupuncture and rehabilitative medicine since 1999. I never had political aspirations before, but I feel compelled to find more ways to serve my community, so what better way than in supporting quality education?
I am a proponent of quality education for all children and the mother of a 12-year-old daughter with learning differences. We have phenomenal academic programs in our district and I want to make sure that they continue to remain available to every student within our district. I also want to make sure we remain cognizant of the costs of providing a quality education and how it impacts the taxpayers in our community.
The biggest challenge is that a large portion of the budget is tied up in salaries, benefits, and pension costs. Unfortunately we have no control over pension costs and are at the mercy of the state legislature. We need to push our state representatives
to revisit the pension issues and give us options to better control those rising costs. My focus on will be to reduce costs without removing anything from our students. We must find ways to reduce non-educational spending and to eliminate any waste. We must
be creative with financing long-term maintenance, technology, and transportation costs. These measures will help us maintain the quality of education while protecting our students and taxpayers.