Ken Eigenberg, Candidate For Parkway School Board

Biographical Informaiton

• Name, Age, Address: Dr. Ken Eigenberg, age 58, 1739 Warmington Ct., Ballwin, MO 63021
• Occupation: parent and community volunteer, retired
• Education:  Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, B.S. Nebraska Wesleyan University
• Family:  Wife, Tann; two children, a daughter at Northeastern University majoring in business administration and a son who is a Junior at Parkway South HS
• Years lived in the Parkway School District:  30 years

Brief Background 

• Thirty-year resident of Parkway
• Education: Ph.D. Caltech and B.S Nebraska Wesleyan University
• Career in science and engineering at Monsanto
• Special School District Board of Education
• Public Review Committee, Co-chair
• Cooperating School Districts Legislative Committee
• Art/science/gifted classroom volunteer
• Science Fair mentor and judge
• Parkway textbook selection committees (K-8 math, Pre-calculus, elementary art)
• Parkway math curriculum advisory committee
• Parkway PACCD Steering Committee
• SSD Parent Advisory Committee, President
• Parkway Coalition for Healthy Communities
• State-appointed Educational Surrogate Parent
• Court Appointed Special Advocate in Family Drug Court

Reasons for Running

My family benefits from living where strong community schools attract good neighbors, increase property values, and most importantly prepare our children for success.  I want to ‘pay it forward’ by drawing on my experience as a parent, volunteer, and nine years service on Special School District’s Board of Education.  My priorities include:  All students have opportunities to become capable, curious and confident learners prepared for personal paths to success; All teachers and staff are highly qualified and motivated, using safe, well-maintained facilities; All taxpayer dollars are expended solely for those purposes based on transparent plans and efficient, publicly accountable budgets.

Questions

• What qualifies you to be a Parkway School Board member?

As a thirty-year Parkway resident working and raising kids while serving education and child services organizations, I recognize our community’s education issues. Having served nine years as Parkway’s representative on Special School District’s Board of Education, I understand all aspects of effective board governance and have experience directly applicable to the Parkway Board.  Collaboration between Parkway and SSD is essential, and I am in a unique position to facilitate that partnership. Through participating in support and leadership roles in Parkway schools and district committees, I appreciate the specific needs and unique character of our district.  Endorsed by the Parkway NEA, I respect the important collaboration between teachers, parents and the community, and listen to all those voices for guidance.

• Do you feel Parkway schools are as reasonably safe as they can be in the wake of the Newtown school shooting?  What is the most important thing you would like to see the district do differently with respect to school security moving forward?

Schools are trusted every day to keep students in their charge safe from harm.  School-related homicides (including school events and traveling to and from school) have been about 1 percent of all homicides for the 5-18 age group (Boston Globe, December 18, 2012) and have dropped by 50% since the late-1980's.  So, schools do a pretty good job of keeping our students safe. However, recent tragic events painfully remind us that we must do even better to protect students and staff.

Recently, St. Louis County superintendents in consultation with Cooperating School Districts issued recommendations, which I support. Their recommendations include: armed security should be in the hands of trained police professionals and not staff or volunteers; local school districts should have authority for school safety and security; government agencies should allocate additional money to our highest priority of keeping students safe; improvements in preventative mental health systems are even more important than added security; the status quo is unacceptable.

In Parkway, my specific recommendations for improving school safety would include limiting access and entry to schools, increased monitored with security cameras, training of staff in crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques, expansion of the the School Resource Officer program for protection and situational awareness, investigating the feasibility of automated lock-down systems and alarms as recently deployed in some area schools.  These solutions are admittedly costly, but not in consideration of the value of protecting our most precious asset -- students and staff.

• Identify the most significant area where you disagreed with the majority decision made by the Board of Education over the past two years and tell us why?

I would favor lower class sizes at early grades K-3.  On June 13, 2012, the Board approved Policy JCB.BP setting target and maximum class sizes.  The maximums are set at 20 for kindergarten, 21-grade 1, 22-grade 2, 24-grades 3/4, 25-grade 5, and 26 for middle and high school. Target sizes are 2-3 students lower than the maximum. Administrators have stated that they do not consider class size to have a significant effect on student achievement except for extremely low class sizes, and that Parkway class sizes are already low compared to comparable districts. I respectfully disagree. National School Board Association’s Center for Public Education concluded from a review of 19 national studies that “research shows that when class size reduction programs are well-designed and implemented in the primary grades (K-3), student achievement rises as class size drops.”  Further, “A class size of no more than 18 students per teacher is required to produce the greatest benefits; A program spanning grades K-3 will produce more benefits than a program that reaches students in only one or two of the primary grades.” Benefits are higher for minority, low income and special education students, subgroups where Parkway’s achievement is lagging.  Parents and teachers both state small class sizes are an expected benefit of a Parkway education.  In view of the research and the expressed interest of stakeholders, I would advocate for lower class sizes at the early grades to boost student achievement. Early preparation of students for success has clear lasting benefits.

• Is there a program or area of the school district budget that should be more closely scrutinized when it comes to evaluating possible budget cuts in future years?

Parkway has implemented two rounds of budget cuts based on community input to balance the budget and stabilize financial reserves.  School budgets do not identify individual expenditures, but individual expenditures are approved by Board action.  I would scrutinize more carefully the category of program costs, including outside contractor services, speakers and consultants, travel, and extra duty budgets.  I would also advocate for continuing review of administrative staffing levels and salaries.  I would prioritize budget allocations for instruction and safety, reversing prior cuts made to school security and safety, and for maintaining small class sizes in grades K-3.

• Do you support the merger of continuing education classes and programs with the Rockwood School district?

Yes. I would encourage and support collaboration between school districts for community continuing education classes.  These classes are fee-based, do not use tax dollars, and offer enrichment opportunities for adults as well as students outside of school.  There are several advantages of collaboration:  programs could be offered in locations more convenient to participants; programs could be offered that would not otherwise be feasible because of limited enrollment in a single district; fees could be reduced from efficiencies of scale and reduced administrative costs.  Programs could be expanded to include before and after school child-care, club sports where not currently available or community choirs, bands and orchestras. Parkway could also explore additional partnerships to better support local communities with, for example, Pattonville, Valley Park, Kirkwood and Ladue.

• What is your process for establishing priorities when it comes to budget cuts which could impact student instruction?

My process for considering budget cuts is based on three principles.  First, budgets, plans, curricula and programs must align with and support the district mission and Project Parkway objectives and action plans.  Every dollar of taxpayer revenue should be efficiently directed to these purposes and only these purposes.  Second, stakeholders should be involved in establishing priorities.  To make difficult decisions about what must be cut, we must first know what the community values.  Third, there are budget components that cannot be compromised.  The District must meet its statutory obligations and contracts.  We must not compromise safety.  Moreover, we must always remember that our primary purpose is instruction.

• What do you desire to change in Parkway?

It would be beneficial to Parkway students to have greater awareness and opportunities for alternate career paths.  Our community has a focus on the objective of a four-year college and professional career track; this is appropriate for many, but not all, students.  Our community has a need for a trained workforce and there are many well paying jobs in vocational/technical careers. In Missouri, for every 100 high school freshman, only 22 will earn an associate’s or bachelor’s degree by their early 20s.  Many students would benefit from exploring a career technical or vocational path.  A second change would be to provide curriculums and class selections that better meets the needs of all students as envisioned in the Parkway mission.  As an example, teachers, parents and students are reporting that there is often not an appropriate math course to meet the needs of many high school students.  Finally, I would like to facilitate improved collaboration between Parkway and the Special School District, who jointly serve approximately 1 in 6 Parkway students.  The administrative structure is not always conducive to collaboration and efficient delivery of instructional services.  Expanded and more effective early intervention services could serve to get students on track to meet grade level expectations.