New Hope-Solebury School Board candidate Sandy Heath Weisbrot (Photo: Charlie Sahner)
Sandy Heath Weisbrot is one of four Democrat/Republican candidates running for New Hope-Solebury School Board. She lives on Upper Mountain Road in Solebury with her husband, three kids (a pair of daughters and a son), and three dogs (a chocolate Lab, black Lab, and English springer spaniel). With a BS in exercise science, Weisbrot “works out at the gym to stay sane” in her spare time.
And what made her decide to run for office? “My father was on the school board for 11 years, and he’s now a supervisor,” she replied. “My family has been very dedicated to service and giving back to the community; I’ve always been taught that. I’ve coached, my father coached, my grandfather was at every event at the school videotaping…so that’s where I’ve come from. And I’ve spoken to my father many times about the school board, and he said, ‘Sandy, you’ve got to do it. I know it’s tough with three little kids, I get it,’ and I said ‘Okay, let me think about it.’ I talked to my husband and he was completely behind me, saying, ‘Let’s do this.'”
In terms of what she hopes to accomplish if elected, Weisbrot said, “I think that what I bring to the table is the sense of community in this area. There are no alumni on the board right now, my family has a deep history in this town, we are out in the community, we know the members, I know a lot of the teachers — some of them taught me, some of them taught my brother or sister — so there’s a lot of history there. And I want to bring that to the school, but I also want to bring moving forward in a fiscally responsible way, making sure the children get the best education — all of the kids: the gifted, the special needs, the average — all of them get the best education possible, better than I did.”
While acknowledging that much of the school district’s budget is fairly fixed, with large expenses like interest payments on debt relatively inflexible, Weisbrot believes that,”You need to make what you have work more efficiently.”
She also thinks that more harmonious relations between board members is a worthwhile and achievable goal. “I think you need to respect the opinions of everyone, and I think the respect and the trust between the school board and the community members needs to be brought back.
“Not to toot my father’s horn, but he was out in the community, he understood what the community wanted, and respected them, and respected the administration, and taught me you’ve got to get out into the community. I coach T-ball, soccer, basketball…I volunteer at the school every week for the lunch recess…I’m there all the time. I try to mingle with the kids and get to know them. Every time I go, I look around and think ‘this is why I’m doing it.’ It has nothing to do with me; it has everything to do with the kids and their future,” Weisbrot said.
“I think the teachers are great, and we kind of need to let them do their job, and make sure they’re able to do it to their best ability,” she continued. “And add more AP classes in the high school, giving them more of a challenge and helping them be better able to compete with surrounding schools and get into even better colleges.
“I feel like I’ve lived in this area my whole life, and I’ve walked through those hallways. I had a great experience. I hope my children and their friends have the same, if not better experience, and that’s the bottom line. I really love this school system, and that’s why I’m doing it.”
Throw in a copy of “Geography for Dummies”
Once again,rather than focus on the matter at hand which is the significant lack of skills by one slate as compared to the other slate, Robert A Boooey chooses to take the low road of personal attacks. By the way, this past Wednesday, the teacher’s union held a Q and A in the high school library for all eight candidates. While three of the four “old retired rich dudes” shown up, none, zero, zilch of the other slate shown up citing scheduling conflicts.Their absence speaks volumes as to how clueless they are in terms of what has to be done for the students to reach their maximum potential.
Can I have some action on Mr. Booey’s bet? As long as no none of Mel’s ex-teachers is running we’ll be OK.
Mel…the people of NHS who have skin (i.e., kids) in this game will surely see through your slate’s, and their lame-duck sponsors’ disingenuous campaign on the 5th. Let’s make it interesting. If my guys win you stop editorializing for the Education Industrial Complex, and if “Telluride Savin” et al win I will buy you a semester at an adult writing course of your choosing.
Now regarding the question of age which is brought up by Mr.Hein when he says,”four old dudes”.I recall a time when Ronald Reagan was running against a much younger Walter Mondale and said,”I will not exploit for political gain the question of age which is to bring up my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
REGARDING HAVING KIDS IN THE DISTRICT. Apparently,J Hein thinks that having kids/grandkids in the district should be a requirement for school board directors. If that is the case, then let him/her petition the state.The fact is that over the years there have been many board members who did not have kids/grandkids in the district who did a terrific job. And let me point out,HAVING kids in the district could be one huge negative in that the administration could use the kids as pawns in controlling the board members.And finally on this point-If people without kids/grandkids are not allowed to run and thus represent,in part, those in the community without kids such as myself, then those of my group should not be required to pay school taxes. No Taxation Without Representation. And let me just end this discourse by saying(1) if J Hein has any evidence about so-called unethical actions of some outgoing board members,then he/she should PUBLICLY state so and be real specfic. But I caution J Hein,if he/she decides to do so that there are laws against slander and libel which carry hefty fines and prison time.(2) Let’s get back to the matter at hand. We have a slate of four( that J Hein avoids talking about) who are running, but unfortunately, even though they are well meaning, lack a significant and compelling set of skills to right a ship that is rapidly sinking. Let’s not forget this fact when we go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5th.
Regarding J Hein’s comments.First of all,Howard Savin’s primary residency is in the Borough of New Hope, while the other three live in Solebury. Telluride is in Vermont, where Mr. Savin has a second home which IS NOT his primary residency. If J Hein has a problem with a person having a second home, then he/she should file a complaint with the Board of Elections.Secondly,it appears that J Hein has a problem with rich retired people.Perhaps if J Hein were in charge, nobody should be allowed to retire and all wealth should be shared. Hmmm. That’s a novel idea. Now once again, J Hein should get his facts straight. Niraj Patel and Howard Savin are NOT retired, while Mark Cowell just retired.TO BE CONTINUED, but first, rather than speak about the lack of necessary skills of the opposing slate, J Hein seeks comfort in attacking those who possess all the necessary skills needed for a successful return to promenance for this district
Melvin, since electioneering is apparently allowed on this forum, could you ask your 4 friends a couple questions? 1) where is your current residence? (we know from his Facebook page that Mr. Savin lives in Telluride), 2) do you have any kids/grandkids in the school district? 3) why didn’t you run in the Republican/Democrat primary a few months ago?, and 4) do you have any real ties at all to the Libertarian Party you’re running under, and if not…how is this not disingenuous at best (unethical at worst)?
Yes Melvin lets elect your 4 old dudes that have no ties to the school and don’t even live in New Hope. Savin’s Facebook lists his home as Telluride. 4 rich, bored, retired dudes on a vanity project…..And lets not forget how they got here, brought into the election as write-ins by the outgoing directors who were voted out by a community that got wise to their self-serving unethical actions as board members. How will your buddies use their positions to further their own personal interests, as their ousted sponsors obviously did?
It’s good to see that Mrs. Weisbrot recognizes the many challenges facing our school district.When she said,”You need to make what you have work more efficiently”, I immediately thought of Mark Cowell who is featured in the article,”New Hope Solebury School Board Candidate Mark Cowell Combines Skills of Educator and Business Administrator.”I am sure that Mrs. Weisbrot would agree with me that Mr.Cowell is the kind of person who would be a huge asset to the district.Likewise,I am sure she would agree that Mr. Howard Savin has the extraordinary skill set to accomplish her goal of ” making sure the children get the best education- all of them.” And furthermore,the proven innovations of Niraj Patel in technology, business and education along with Stan Marcus’experience in education, science, technology and law would give the district a formidable combination of skills to have our students realize their maximum potential.
Not sure what this means, but I find it offensive.. “all of the kids: the gifted, the special needs, the average — all of them get the best education possible, better than I did.”
Lots of logic in that comment! Something tells me you find A LOT of things offensive. Sorry dude.