About me
I am an Orthodox Jew with a nursing and clinical leadership background. I am dedicated to addressing antisemitism, promoting fiscal responsibility, and enhancing special education support in Lower Merion School District. My commitment to my community drives my advocacy for positive change and inclusive policies.
Deena Pack's Story
My priority is my family. My husband Kevin and I have been married for 19 years and are the very proud parents of three children: Aliyah, Shirah, and Ayliyahu. Aliyah is in 11th grade at Lower Merion High School. Shirah is in 8th grade at Caskey Torah Academy, and Ayliyahu is in 5th grade at Main Line Classical Academy.
I come from a diverse background. Half of my family, including three of my siblings, are not Jewish, and the other half are Orthodox Jews, so I have a unique perspective. My faith mandates me to respect others, serve the community to ensure our mutual success, and stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves.
Why I'm Running
1
Address Antisemitism
Our district has made enormous investments to address racism and inequality. It's time to extend those protections to our Jewish students. We need to track incidents of antisemitism and racism in our schools and address these issues with measures that can be evaluated quarterly for their success. LMSD needs to do better to address these incidents head-on and educate our other students when they occur. Children best understand consequences when they are immediate and best receive constructive criticism towards changing behaviors when these behaviors are addressed up front and in real-time. If elected to the School Board, I will immediately advocate for all students to be safe from hate at school.
2
Fiscal Transparency
The Lower Merion School District has an annual budget of 316,631,173 million dollars. With those funds, we should be able to afford enough bus drivers and hire more special instruction teachers. The LMSD budget needs a thorough review to establish if our spending is responsible. Every program we, the taxpayers, fund should be evaluated with measurable metrics to ensure we spend only on programs and policies that work. The School Board should transparently answer the taxpayers and present these audits quarterly. If elected to the School Board, I will advocate for an open and transparent budget audit and focused spending on programs that work for our students.
3
Increase Special Education Supports
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of students ages 3-21 who received special education was around 15% of all public school students. This growing demographic needs our investment and support to be considered to have been provided Free and Equal Public Education. Our district is not doing enough to support these students. Though the average spend is $40,000 per student, our district continues to face lawsuits and pay out settlements to families of children with special needs instead of investing the time and energy necessary to provide for them. If elected to the School Board, I will advocate for our most at-risk students and work to improve special education services across the district.