Schools

Rosskopf Announces Candidacy for Pelham School Board

School board elections are scheduled for May 15.

Another candidate has emerged for the Pelham school board race in May.

Christine Rosskopf is running for one of two seats that are up for grabs on the school board this year. Rosskopf is the second person to announce they are running. . The elections will be held on May 15, the same day the community votes on the budget.

Board member Robert Eicher . The other seat that is up for grabs this year belongs to Doug Hearle.

Prospective school board candidates have until April 16 to get their nominating petitions to the clerk of Pelham schools.

“I’ve been attending the board meetings and I have been taken aback by the lack responsiveness,” Rosskopf said. “People bring concerns to the board and the response they get is off putting at times.”

Rosskopf has lived in the community for four years. She was a regulatory attorney, but is now a stay at home mom. She has two sons who attend . She is a member of the  PTA Council and Siwanoy Site-Based Council.

She is also a founding member of the Pelham Math Committee, a group that was formed in response to the district’s elementary school math curriculum.
 
One issue she’d like to see addressed is elementary school class sizes. Four elementary school teaching positions, including one teacher who took a leave of absence before resigning, are being cut in the district’s budget proposal 2012-2013.

The three other elementary school teachers would be cut from three sections in several grades with enrollments that were lower than projected this year.

Rosskopf said she wished the district would consider cutting more administrative positions and keeping more teachers so that class sizes would stay lower.

“I think there are a lot of places that should be looked at before they reach the classroom,” Rosskopf said.

Rosskopf believes the district needs to everything it can to maintain high standards during these tough economic times.

“I think it’s important that Pelham continues to strive for excellence,” Rosskopf said. “I’m concerned about some of the things I’ve seen—the lowering of expectations and the excuses.”

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