Answering some of your challenging questions, because transparency is important!

• Civil Rights and LGBTQIA Protections

We believe deeply in civil rights for every person, including our LGBTQIA neighbors, friends, and family members. We have family members who are part of the LGBTQIA community, and we value and love them. Their right to live openly and safely is not up for debate. As school board members, we would not support removing or weakening any protections or programs for LGBTQIA students — or for any other student population. Every child deserves to feel safe, respected, and supported at school, and we will stand firmly by that principle.

• ⁠Book Banning

We do not support book banning. It is not the role of the school board to decide which books stay or go — that responsibility belongs to educators and librarians following established policies. Once a school board begins banning books, the question quickly becomes “who decides?” and “what’s next?” The idea that a board could decide to remove Night by Elie Wiesel because it might be considered “traumatizing” is deeply troubling. This is not a practice we agree with or would employ. We believe in ensuring students have access to a broad range of literature, with parents and educators working together to guide them in age-appropriate ways.

• Department of Education Changes

Like many people, we are still assessing the long-term impact of what’s happening at the federal level with the Department of Education. The truth is, no one fully knows yet how this will play out. What we do know is that our district only receives about 0.5% of its funding from the Department of Education, and all of that goes to special education. Our primary concern is protecting those students if federal funding is reduced or disappears.

We would not have advocated for dismantling the department of education, and we do not support a hasty elimination of federal jobs that serve important functions. That said, the federal government’s track record in education has not been perfect — student outcomes are slipping, student debt is growing, and we’ve seen little national improvement. Here at home, as candidates for Lower Merion School Board, our focus is ensuring that our district is prepared. The current board has known this change was possible for over a year, and we believe contingency plans should already have been put in place to safeguard our special education students if that funding is lost.

DEI

Our priority is to ensure every student in Lower Merion has the opportunity to succeed—academically, socially, and emotionally—regardless of their background, abilities, or circumstances. We believe students thrive when they feel respected, valued, and supported.

We do not support dismantling programs that help students overcome barriers to learning. However, we do believe every initiative—including DEI programs—should be evaluated regularly for effectiveness, transparency, and alignment with the needs of our students and community. We should have metrics reported to the Board every quarter to ensure we are meeting our goals as a school community. If a program is working, we will support it. If it is not improving outcomes, we will work to improve it.