Meet Your Candidates: Sandy Schiff

Name:  Sandy Schiff
Age: 65
Occupation: Retired teacher
Length of time living in your municipality: 23 years
 
What organizations and activities are you involved with locally?

Coalition for Voting Integrity, Bucks Beautiful Kitchen & Garden Tours
 
Why do you want to serve on the Central Bucks School Board? 

Any organization regularly needs fresh input and to be looked at with fresh eyes.  I will bring the fresh eyes and input, both as a resident of the Central Bucks District and as a retired teacher, that is needed.
   
Like schools around Pennsylvania, Central Bucks faces hard financial times. To cope with this year’s budget gap, the board raised taxes, cut programs like middle school German, pulled from the district’s reserve fund, outsourced some bus drivers, and laid off teachers and support staff. Do you agree with those moves? If you oppose them, explain why, and explain what you would have done differently.

I can't really speak to your examples. I don't know the numbers, in dollars and cents, that the cuts and their costs were. What I can say is that my focus would be to maintain the academic programs and focus any needed cuts away from the classroom if possible.
 
What role should athletics and extracurricular activities play in Central Bucks schools in the years to come? In your view, are sports, plays and music programs worth the investment of taxpayers’ dollars?

Athletics and other extracurricular activities are important in a well rounded school system. In this economic climate our community will have to choose which programs they consider important and if they want to financially support them.
 
Central Bucks students consistently score well on state tests and routinely go to top colleges. Still, there is always room for improvement. What one thing do you think would improve education in the district and how would you implement it? 

Our community is fortunate to be home to many individuals who have experience in many fields such as business, science, the arts, politics, education, journalism.  We need to bring these people into our schools to share their experiences and their real-world knowledge. Our students can see that there are real-world possibilities no mater where their interests lie.
 
What other issues would you like to see come to the forefront if you are elected to the board? 

I would like to see more communication between the Board and the community. I think the Board should keep the community informed about issues before it and encourage community input. I would urge local media, newspaper and electronic media, to aid in this effort.