CANDIDATE STATEMENT
Gina Scaletta-Nelson Candidate for Member of the Board of Education I’m a lifelong resident of Pleasantdale School District and have two children that attend the elementary school. I am proud of the education I received at Pleasantdale years ago, and want to ensure that all children in the district are given the same opportunity of well-balanced education. We have a very low tax rate, wonderful teachers and a supportive community, but we are not living up to our potential. I believe we should provide full day kindergarten to children as 86% of the districts in the state currently do. Our youngest learners are not being given the same wonderful opportunity for early education as their peers in neighboring districts. Rather than hoarding $15,000,000 in a fund balance, let’s use a small portion to educate our children. I believe in open and transparent government. Board meetings should be videotaped so that all the district’s residents can view how their tax dollars are being spent. The majority of our stakeholders have no children in our schools and we owe it to them to communicate openly and honestly by allowing them to view board meetings from the comfort of their homes if they so chose. Our optional preschool program lost $865,783 over the last four years and is expected to lose $1,081,768 in the next four years. Do our taxpayers realize they are shouldering this unnecessary burden? It’s wonderful that our district is financially sound and residents enjoy a low tax rate. However, Pleasantdale School District was recently fined $132,000 while the administration and school board chose to look the other way. Taxpayers work hard for their money, and to throw it away like that, with no accountability or repercussion is inexcusable.  Last year our special education subgroup did not make adequate yearly progress because money earmarked for special education was spent elsewhere, rather than on the kids that need it most. We need to move our focus beyond test scores and start concentrating on the district as a whole. A school board should provide a check and balance system for district administration and at Pleasantdale that’s not being done. We need a school board that can think freely, ask questions, weigh options and use common sense reasoning before approving recommendations brought before them, rather than blindly rubberstamping them. Is our school district in bad shape? No. Could we do better? Absolutely!  Pleasantdale talks the talk; it’s time to start walking the walk.