MY PLATFORM
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
Downingtown Area School District raised your taxes 5% in the past two years, approved a 3.5% tax increase for the 2023/24 school year and plans to raise your taxes 3.5% per year over the following 5 years. This will be a 29% compounded tax increase over 8 years. I am fully committed to reducing this tax burden by cutting wasteful expenditures in areas that do not negatively impact the quality of education.
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I believe there are places in both the capital budget and operating budget that can be cut. The district can cut back on some administrative positions without affecting the district’s educational standards. These positions are costly to the district as administrators generally make 2-4X that of teachers depending on the position. Anytime one of these positions is added to the district the board needs to consider if this position is necessary and if there is a more cost-effective way to address the need.
QUALITY EDUCATION
A quality education starts with developing a strong foundation in reading, writing, math, and science in the early years. I will thoroughly review all curricula to make sure they are strong in the basic foundations.
The district’s rankings and standardized test scores have been plummeting while taxes and costs per student have been increasing. This is a terrible return on DASD taxpayers’ investment. If this trend continues it will have a negative impact on home values.
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DASD’s 2023 State ranking published by the Philadelphia Business Journal slide 6 spots from 13th to 19th. The Niche publication also downgraded DASD’s 2023 State ranking 7 spots from 23rd to 30th. Only 40% of the district’s middle schoolers scored proficient in math on the PSSA. 5 out of the 10 district’s elementary schools had 20% or more of their students scoring bellow proficiency in English Langue Arts. This data indicates that the district has been distracted from its main purpose of providing all students with the foundations they need for success.
LIONVILLE STATION FARM SALE
I am opposed to the mega warehouse development of Lionville Station Farm because it would negatively impact the DASD community. DASD currently owns this land and is under contract to sell it for $96M. There is a large, organized community effort to stop this sale. If the sale does fall through, if elected I will conduct a thorough due diligence of all future buyers.
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I am very concerned if the sale does fall through that the burden of the $96M deficit in funds for capital projects scheduled will egregiously fall on the taxpayers. If the sales does fall through, I suggest the district slow down on capital projects and get their operational spending under control.
TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
I believe it is more important than ever for the DASD school board and administration to re-establish trust with parents, staff, and community members. Trust is achieved by creating a culture of transparency and accountability.
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I am committed to prioritizing and establishing policies and procedures that promote transparency and accountability. Once policies are approved, they must be consistently enforced.
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The community should have easy access to the district’s expenditures on both an aggregate and detailed level.
The board should update their Parent Review Policies to provide digital access to parents to review all instruction materials including any additional supplemental materials a teacher presents to students that are not part of the approved curriculum.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
Decades of research show the one key factor above all others that determines a student’s academic success is parental involvement. Parental involvement not only enhances academic outcomes but also has a positive influence on behavior and attitude. It is vital that the district builds better partnerships with parents. If elected I will actively listen to and engage with DASD parents to ensure that all decisions the district makes prioritizes the best interests of our students. I believe in open, transparent, and effective channels of communication between the school board and parents.
TEACHERS
Teachers are vital to the success of the district and DASD should aggressively hire only those with outstanding credentials. I also strongly believe DASD needs to improve its work environment to retain great teachers.
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Teachers and schools should play a formative role in student development not a performative one. Teachers should shape students into young adults that can think both creatively and critically to grow into responsible citizens. Teachers should not push their personal or ideological agendas on students.
Why Duanne For DASD?
I decided to run because I believe in public education and I want to bring academic excellence back to the district while protecting taxpayers’ money. As a resident of Downingtown for 30 years, I understand the social, ethical, and economic impact of education to our community.
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I am an army veteran, a husband of 33 years and a father of two sons that graduated from Downingtown. Professionally, I work in management for a contracted food service company and volunteer with the Chester County Food Bank. I have also been an umpire for the Lionville Youth Association and PIAA for over 20 years.
The skills I have acquired working in management will enable me to bring fresh ideas and positive solutions to the problems the district is facing.