Meet Your School Board Candidate: Rosemarie Eller

White Plains will vote on the 2011-12 school budget on May 17, as well as for two school board members.

Click for information on the school budget.

If you missed Thursday's candidate's forum, no worries! You can learn about your school board candidates here: below is our interview with Board President Rosemarie Eller. Also check out our interviews with incumbent , and parent .

Candidate Name: Rosemarie Eller

Age: 40s

Neighborhood: Highlands, has lived in White Plains for 15 years

Career: Associate Director at Pzifer pharmaceutical company

Education: Adelphi University—major biology, minor in education

Family: Eller is married to Eric Eller a vice president at HSBC, they have two sons who graduated from White Plains High School: Joshua Eller, 21, and Zachary Eller, 19

Other: Eller has been president of the Education Club of, where she is a Sunday school teacher. She was a past member of the Board of Directors of Happy Harbor Child Care Center in Hastings on Hudson. Eller is the school board’s liaison to the city’s youth bureau and the PTA, she also serves on the board’s personnell and special education committees. She received a certificate of recognition for development of youth from the White Plains Youth Bureau.

White Plains School Board President Rosemarie Eller was elected in 2005 and wants to continue her work on the board for the next three years to craft the next strategic plan for the district, as well as help expand the use of technology in schools.

“I want to make a difference in the educational life of our students,” said Eller. “I’m committed to being fiscally responsibly, and I’m also committed to the shaping of the strategic plan that governs what we want our kids to achieve, and how.”

Eller helped create the district’s first strategic plan, and says creating a new one—since the plan is re-done every five years—is crucial, especially with the state’s changes on standardized test scores that raises the achievement bar for students.

“Our kids were meeting expectations, and now they are not meeting expectations [because of the change in scoring],” explained Eller. “We have to find creative ways to respond to the need of raising our kids' achievement levels. I know we can do it!”

Eller said the district is already working doing this with great programs to help students who are struggling or to encourage students to make higher goals for themselves—even in light of declining revenues. She sees technology as a way to help enhance these efforts.

“I want to see us go further with technology,” said Eller.

“It’s a way we can provide more choices for remediation and enrichment of students. A child struggling with a math concept can use electronic tools that offer exercises and drills to do in that specific area, and it gives you feedback. That additional boost of information could be done in setting away from the child’s peers to help him gain confidence. Of course, our teachers are valuable and nothing replaces that human touch.”

Eller said that she was pleased with this year’s budget process, and thinks the proposed budget is “well balanced and fisically responsible and senstive to the needs of taxpayers.”

“It’s not perfect, but it serves the entire district,” said Eller. “The budget is a testament to the board’s commitement to the students and citizens of White Plains. We are meeting the needs of all the students despite the challenging economic times.”

Eller says her expertise in her line of work will allow her to objectively evaluate school programs to see what is working, what isn’t, what money should be spent on and what it shouldn’t be spent on. She looks forward to helping the high school find a new principal for White Plains High School when Diana Knight retires after the next school year, in addition to assisting the community in becoming engaged with the school district.

“I’d like to see more of the community come out for these sessions [board meetings and budget forums],” said Eller. “It’s really important everyone has a say. I want everyone to be heard and feel like they’ve had an opportunity to contribute. I want everyone to feel like I’ve heard them.”

Eller said she has spent the last six years committing herself to the district and wants to continue to do so.

“I’ve spent countless hours attending workshops, meetings—external and internal—and school district functions because I want to do this,” said Eller. “ When I look back on my life, I can say I did make a difference. Coupling my love for education in this way has been very satisfying to me. I’d love to keep doing it, I have the energy, the passion  and the commitment.”

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