With all of the hubbub over the last year surrounding masks in schools and in-person versus remote learning, school board races this fall are highly contested. We had a chance to sit down last week to talk with Cyndi Shain, who is running for School Director in Palisades School District.
Shain holds a master’s degree in education from Lehigh University. She has spent the last 25 years as an educator, mostly teaching in private schools, and currently works for a charter school outside of Allentown. Her son, a 2020 graduate of Palisades SD, currently attends Northampton Community College.
When we sat down with the candidate, one of our first questions was, of course, what spurred her on to run for school board. Her answer was exactly the answer one would hope to hear from a future elected official: She saw a place where there was a need she believed she could fulfill. As the COVID situation was unfolding, Shain had been communicating with school board members. While some responded, some didn’t even acknowledge that she had sent them an email.
“I think that if you’re an elected official, and a constituent reach reaches out to you, you have a responsibility to respond, even if it’s a form letter,” says Shain. She talked to community members and friends who urged her to run, and thought to herself, “Well, I’m complaining an awful lot. I guess I should just do it. So here I am.”
As the campaign has progressed, not surprisingly, the current spate of conservative talking points have come to, in many ways, define the political season, and touch the campaigns of nearly everyone running for political office right now. Not least among them are Critical Race Theory and SEL (Social Emotional Learning). As a para educator, her focus is explaining how SEL relates to schools.
“I work in inclusion. I mean, I work with Special Ed children. And, and when you’re talking about diversity, equity and inclusion, that’s the big big chunk of who you’re talking about. And so I think people don’t understand.”
“In our school, one of the things that I always thought Palisades was really good at, that I was really impressed by is that, you know, children who are different, who have different abilities, they really try to find ways to include them in the community, and allow them to be full participants in the community.”
“We’re talking about equity. We’re talking about ramps to get into school buildings. We’re talking about, you know, graphic organizers for kids who are dyslexic. These are the things that we’re talking about; this is what you’re trying to take away.”
There’s a connection Shain posits that the disconnect between the current conservative outrage and the realities of what kids need may in fact be a matter that schools could get ahead of in their communications.
“This has always been a community that really cared about each other. It’s always been a community that, you know, people may disagree, but everybody loves Palisades. We all love our kids.
What would I change?
I do think our communication could be better. I mean, I think that especially between the board and the community, just because there’s not a lot of opportunity really to interact. We could do better.”
Throughout the rest of our conversation, we went through what Shane is looking to accomplish, if she gets elected.
“Educational excellence,” she said. “Continuing to improve resources, continuing our anti-bullying initiative, and supporting teachers and administration.”
Throughout the conversation, Shain appeared as a counterpoint to the current climate around schools: Reasonable, responsible and thoughtful. with many many years of experience. She’s driven most by the sense what school boards were originally (and still) intended to do: Support all of the children in the school district.
For more on Cyndi Shain: www.shainforpalisades.com
