Leticia Flores DeWilde thinks she brings a number of assets to the table in her bid for school board director. She is currently serving on the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board representing Region C as the interim replacement for Frank Murphy, who stepped down in June, and is running for the seat in her own name. She is facing Carolyn Daniels in the Nov. 5 election.
“I think I bring some really good qualities and qualifications to the position,” Flores DeWilde said.
She stayed home with her children, but when Murphy announced in the spring that he’d be leaving the board, it was at a time when she was looking ahead to the fall when her youngest would be starting school fulltime.
“I was thinking, what’s my next move and I thought this was a good fit for me,” the 41-year-old Pennsbury Township resident said.
She previously worked as an attorney and policy analyst and thought that background would be a benefit to the board.
“A lot of the documents that we review, contracts, policy documents and financial statements are all documents that I’m used to reviewing,” she said. “It’s useful to have that kind of skill set.
Flores DeWilde said she would be the only person on the board with elementary school-aged children and thinks that provides a unique perspective. However, it’s her status as a naturalized U.S. citizen — she and her family emigrated from Mexico when she was 6 years old — that she thinks is key.
“I came with my family as a young child. My father was a factory worker, he worked nights and my mom did garment work in the garage. For us, education was very important. I learned early on that I needed to do really well in school and work very hard. I value public education very much and that part of me is why I feel very strongly that I want to give back to my community now,” Flores DeWilde said.
She added that it was primarily her father who emphasized that education was the key to success.
As for goals she would like to achieve if elected, she said there needs to be an examination of the district’s homework policy. Homework needs to be relevant, age-appropriate and allow “kids to be kids.”
Parents are telling her that students in the middle and high schools have too much homework and that there’s only so much time to be allotted to homework and extra-curricular activities.
“In the end, we need to have a balance. We really need to have them be kids,” she said. “I really don’t know if we have too much homework in the district. The reason we’re looking at this is because we are getting concerns from parents…There might not be a reason to get that much.”
She is also interested in teacher evaluations.
“Research shows that teachers are the most important in-school element for children to learn. If we have quality teachers, the kids are more likely to learn what they need to learn,” she said.
Flores DeWilde also would like to see U-CF work more closely with the Kennett Consolidated School District. The district has instituted some areas where the two work together, but she simply wants to see that expanded.
“There are a lot of opportunities there. Especially for me, as a Mexican immigrant, I think a closer relationship with Kennett would be a good idea. Not only would it create opportunity for both districts, it would create a sense of community,” she said.
At the close of the interview, Flores DeWilde said that the voters in Region C — in Chadds Ford and Pennsbury townships — should simply vote for the “best qualified candidate that brings the skill set and qualities necessary to make sound and fair decisions.”
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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