Stacey Whomsley Is Challenger For Region 3 WCASD Board Seat

Pennsylvania's Primary Election is May 18. Stacey Whomsley is running in West Chester Area School District in Region 3 as School Director. Whomsely said she decided to run when she learned — through the WCASD Families for Brick & Mortar Facebook page — of parents struggling.

Whomsley explained why she is running for election.

Stacey Whomsley

Age: 43

Position Sought: School Director for Region 3 in the West Chester Area School District, covering Chester and Delaware counties in East Bradford, Thornbury, West Goshen, and Westtown townships.

Party Affiliation: Republican

Family: Stacey and her family reside in East Bradford Township. Stacey and her husband are parents to two elementary-aged sons, both with special education needs.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?: No

Education: Stacey is a graduate of Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Occupation: Stacey is a Director at Pfizer where she has worked the last 16 years, and currently serves as a Digital Technology Client Partner supporting Human Resources. Stacey has 22-plus years of information technology industry experience and has worked in corporate consulting (Accenture), medical device and health records management (Siemens Medical Solutions), and life sciences (Pfizer). She has been an internationally certified Project Management Professional (PMP) since 2005 and has worked on multiple transformational programs impacting 100,000-plus colleagues and contractors.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: None

Why are you seeking elective office?: Being more involved, and running for School Director, has always been on my horizon but various life circumstances kept me from pursuing it. Then COVID happened and life as we all knew it changed. Some for the better — I got more quality time with my kids than I ever thought I would as a working parent and made memories that I will forever cherish. Some for the worse — my kids both struggled emotionally and academically with remote learning and nothing we did seem to make it “OK” for them.
As the weeks turned into months, I became concerned not just for my children who were struggling, but for all students in the District. I participated in the district parent committees. I joined multiple parent Facebook groups. And when our need to talk about the crisis for in-person education became polarizing, we set out to have our own Facebook group with the specific intent for respectful and constructive dialogue.
As more parents joined our WCASD Families for Brick & Mortar Facebook page, I heard countless stories about the struggles of children and their families. As we learned about the increase in mental health issues and the decrease in child abuse reporting, I began to advocate for ALL students and families who wanted a full in-person instruction experience.
As we tried to understand what was happening for our students, we learned that our minority and low-income students were being disproportionately impacted by school closures. We learned that hybrid was a nightmare for teachers and causing them to work far more hours than what they were compensated to do. And many were burning out from the extra hours spent knowing that hybrid was not working for everyone.
We also started seeing some of the cracks in the district that were not noticeable prior to the closures. COVID, our district's response to it, revealed inefficiencies and problems that might not have surfaced absent the crisis of closures.
All of these issues led me to the decision that I wanted to affect positive change. I did not want to simply complain about our current School Board members, rather I wanted to do something about the most pressing challenge that our Board has ever faced.

The single most pressing issue facing our school district is: The pandemic has been tough on students and families, and we have a lot of work to do to get kids back on track after the educational losses that resulted from schools being closed. Per the district data, remote learning has disproportionately affected black and brown children, deepening educational inequalities. I am committed to educational equity — making sure that all children have the access to school choice, and access to the tools they need to succeed — regardless of their race, gender, or economic status. Public education is a fundamental right and, as the only Region 3 candidate endorsed by the bipartisan Keeping Kids In School PAC, I am committed to upholding it.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?: Children of all ages should always have an OPTION for in-person instruction. They should also have an OPTION for remote learning if that is the right choice for them and their family. I believe in science. I believe in safety. And I believe that the first thing we need to protect in our community is our youth and their access to the free and public education that is afforded to them, via our PA State Constitution.
Education is not a privilege, education is a right, and as a school board member, I will do everything within my power to protect that right, provide choice for our children and their families, and support our teachers as we navigate getting back on track in our post-pandemic world.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the district.: I have two opponents who are current School Directors in Region 3. The current president has previously served two terms and is now seeking a third, which would extend his tenure to 12 years. In my corporate experience, it is unusual for any person to stay in a role for 8 years, let alone 12. Future growth and success are always best served when fresh perspectives are brought to the table.
Meanwhile, when faced with a crisis unlike any we have ever seen, my opponents voted repeatedly against five-day in-person education even when our county COVID levels were deemed low. Instead, yielding to public pressure and scrutiny of the significant decline in academic achievement across all grades, reopening for five days in-person when community numbers were triple what they were in August 2020.
Currently, at least two-thirds of the board have served 2 terms, and one is serving her third. During their tenure, there has been growth in academic performance, but there have also been exponential increases in operational expenses. In just two years the WCASD budget will exceed $300 million, which is a 50 percent increase in just ten years, from $200 million. Yet our district has not grown 50 percent in those same ten years, and we have a significant number of residents who live on fixed incomes that cannot continue to absorb the annual tax increases that have become routine for our district.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform: While the WCASD is well-regarded, pandemic learning has exposed the cracks in our foundation. From insufficient technology infrastructure allowing students of all ages access to unrestricted internet content, the lack of creativity and boldness to offer an option for five days in person, the increasing education equity gap in our community, and our ability to reward and retain top teaching talent are just a few examples of what needs to be addressed.
I have spent the last 10 months working with and around the public education system as necessary, and it is time to begin fixing it from the inside out. I have been a proactive advocate for my own children and am willing to do the same for all children in our school community. Actions speak louder than words and my recent work to build a community of advocacy for in-person education, along with my recent petition to develop a unique charter institution by introducing the micro-school model to our district, are just a few examples of what I am willing to invest on behalf of the children in our community.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?: I have developed leadership skills throughout my career in technology, especially when bridging the gap between my business-facing clients and our internal technology teams. It is a role that requires adaptability and to be “multi-lingual” both in business and technology. I have learned how to assimilate and adapt in my corporate role and would bring those skills to the table as a board member, working to bridge the gap between our community, our school administrators, and our teachers.

The best advice ever shared with me was: “There is not one type of engineer…it takes all kinds, and you bring something unique to it.”
This was advice from a college professor during my sophomore year when I was struggling with my courses and questioning if I should continue to study engineering. He helped me see what I specifically brought to the discipline and define my own path of success. Fast forward 2-plus years later, he was the interim dean of our college and presided over our diploma ceremony. While we had kept in touch over the years, I was still surprised when he leaned in as he handed me my diploma and said, “I always knew you could do it.”
I reflect on that advice often, especially when faced with adversity or difficulty. Sometimes the path forward is not to follow the footsteps of those before you, but to make your own path.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?: When I underwent a prophylactic double mastectomy four years ago, I faced it with some fear and trepidation, but I kept my mind and body focused on all the positive things to come. That positivity became contagious and it was the outpouring of support from my family, friends, and co-workers that helped me understand that objects of the same polarity can come together. I am channeling the same positive focus for this election and believe that those who recognize that the district needs to meet the needs of all learners — whether that is for cyber/remote learning or in-person education — will choose to vote for school directors who support education choice.

Stacey Whomley's campaign website can be viewed here.

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