Opinion
Lower Merion School Board – $288mm Budget, 11-Minute Interview
For many Lower Merion and Narberth homeowners, the single largest check they write every year, is for their school taxes. The Lower Merion School Board, which approved a 2020-2021 budget of $288,029,065, is the governing body that determines how large the budget will be, and how large your tax bill will be.
This is an election year for School Board. Theoretically, voters will choose four members who will join the five members that were elected in 2019, on the nine-member School Board.
I say theoretically, because if they do what they have nearly always done, on Tuesday night, the Democratic Committee of Lower Merion Narberth (DCLMN) will endorse four candidates for School Board. And those four candidates are virtually assured of winning the May 18 Democratic Primary, and the general election in November.
Click here to watch the School Board Candidates Forum
Nine candidates presented themselves to the Committee asking for their endorsement in the School Board Primary. Laurie Actman is the only incumbent among the candidates seeking endorsement.
Actman was first elected to the board in 2013, so she at least has a body work that the Committee members, if they have paid attention to such things, can use to decide whether or not she is worthy of a third term.
If Committee members decide to follow precedent, and endorse candidates on Tuesday, what will they know about the other eight candidates that will inform their decisions?
A Resume, Written Answers To Eight Questions (Not More Than A Total of Two Pages) , Some Emails That Candidates Sent To Committee Members And 11 Minutes To Speak At The Official Candidates Forum
The eight written questions were:
- Why are you seeking election to the school board? What do you see as the major role of a school board director?
- What is your vision for public education for Lower Merion and Narberth
- What are the biggest issues facing public education in Lower Merion? What solutions to these issues do you propose?
- How well does the LMSD serve special education students? If there are areas for improvement, what ideas/suggestions do you have?
- What skills do you bring to the governing board?
The Rogue Forum
One DCLMN member thought that the two-minute introductions, the two minutes to answer each of four questions and the one-minute closing statements, did not provide enough contact with the candidates for Committee members to make an informed choice about whom to endorse.
That same DCLMN member also expressed concern that there was no opportunity for the candidates to directly address each other, members of the Committee or the public.
So she attempted to organize another forum, not under the auspices of the DCLMN.
Committee leadership declared that the second candidates event was a Rogue Forum. They not only questioned the fairness of that forum, but also the motives of the Committee member who was attempting to organize that forum.
No Rogue Forum
Although several of the School Board Candidates had previously accepted the invitation to participate in the Rogue Forum, it appears now that they have all changed their minds.
We’ll find out on Tuesday night if DCLMN rank and file agree with Leadership, that the 11 minutes of non-interactive conversations with the candidates was sufficient for them to make an informed choice as to who will oversee the School District’s nearly $300mm budget.
There is a possibility that rather than cutting off the conversation among the nine candidates by endorsing four of them on Tuesday night, that DCLMN members will instead choose to have an Open Primary – which would give all nine candidates, instead of 11 minutes, 11 more weeks to convince the public, rather the Committee, why they should be elected to the Lower Merion School Board.
Disclosure – The author is a member of DCLMN
The members of the Committee to have the opportunity to reach out to each candidate and ask questions, but i agree that the forum lacks enough substance to make any informed decision.