Lisa A. Roth
30-Year Parkland Resident & Dedicated School Board Member for 14 Years
For those of you who don’t already know me, my name is Lisa Roth and I’ve been a Parkland resident for just over 30 years. My 4 boys attended PSD Kindergarten thru 12th grade, and I also started volunteering with the Fogelsville PTO, Springhouse Partnership and PHS Parent Forums. Prior to that, my husband Troy and I volunteered for South Parkland Youth Association coaching soccer, baseball and basketball. I was also an SPYA board member for 5 years. When my oldest was in 8th grade and getting ready to enter the high school, I saw an ad in the PSD Newsletter for the Parkland Community Advisory Council and started attending those meetings. It was there that I met Mrs. Roberta Marcus, then one of the school board directors. Roberta truly inspired me to want to learn more about the district and kick my volunteering up a notch by joining the board. In 2009 there was an opportunity to nominate for a vacated seat on the Parkland School Board and I was very fortunate to be chosen. Fourteen years later and I am still very honored to be representing my community in this capacity and would love that to continue for 4 more years.
I graduated from Allentown Central Catholic in 1981 and obtained an Associate Degree from Allentown Business School in 1983. I worked at Lehigh Valley Farms on MacArthur Road in Whitehall for 2 years and left for an opportunity at Air Products. This month I celebrated my 38th anniversary at work, and during that time, acquired skills/experience in the Financial Accounting, Corp Policies, Customer Service, Logistics and Capital Projects departments. I also run the Air Products Hydrogen Car Network program, and have taken our hydrogen car to many schools and community events over the past 8 years to demo that technology.
In my 14 years on the Parkland School Board, I have served on many other boards, committees, and special event teams. Just to name a few:
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LCTI Joint Operating Commission (11 years)
Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit #21 (2 years)
Parkland Community Library Board (3 years – currently President)
PSD Board Building & Grounds Committee (8 years – current Chairperson)
PSD Board Personnel & Finance Committee (4 years)
PSD Board Academics, Arts & Athletics Committee (2 years)
PHS Festival of the Arts coordinator for Silent Auction Basket Raffle (8 years)
PSD Community Advisory Council (member 16 years, Co-President 4 years, School Board Liaison 3 years)
PSBA Delegate Assembly (one of PSD’s 3 voting delegates for 10 years)
Friends of the Parkland Library (member and PCL board liaison)
Miscellaneous community events like UMT National Night Out, SWT Trunk or Treat, Schnecksville Fair, Parkland Library Touch-a-Truck, and PSD Professional Development courses
In the little spare time that I have, I enjoy traveling, yoga, listening to my favorite music, finding new restaurants and am a HUGE movie buff. I like all kinds of movies, but my particular favorites are the comedies.
FAQs
1. Why are you running for school board?
I am running for re-election this year – have been on the Parkland School Board for the past 14 years.
Have enjoyed every minute of my time on the board and take this responsibility very seriously. I feel that I have consistently done my due diligence researching and understanding every single item that has required my vote, and continue to take pride in representing students, families, staff and all taxpayers in this district.
2. What are the most important issues facing your district?
Currently, Parkland’s expected enrollment growth within the next 3-5 years requires us to plan for more room at both our middle and high school levels. Potentially having a need to enlarge and/or plan for new buildings will require a hard look at projected enrollment, our current budget, tax rates and how these projects could affect our debt service. Keeping all this in mind along with an understanding of our taxpayers’ financial situations is key to this fiscal responsibility.
3. What is your professional background/experience? What skills would you bring to the board?
I have worked at Air Products for 38 years – in the Customer Service/Logistics area, in our Corp. Policies department, and the past 3 years has been in Capital Projects. Have also been volunteering in Parkland SD for over 30 years (PTO/PTA officer in my children’s schools, PSD Community Advisory Council, PSD Strategic Plan community member, and local youth sports coaching). My customer service skills and understanding of policies/procedures at Air Products have definitely enhanced my community engagement within the school district, and my work in Capital Projects has provided me with a solid understanding of building renovations and new construction proposals.
4. Have you run for political office previously? Have you been politically active?
As mentioned above, I am seeking my 4th four-year term within Parkland. Have never run for any other office previously, and do not consider myself “politically active”, with the exceptions of making sure I understand the PA School Code, follow all Senate & House bills pertaining to education, and advocate with our local representatives on certain legislative topics (e.g public school & special ed funding, cyber charter schools funding, school choice, etc).
5. What is the most important role of the school board in your opinion?
Back in 2009 when I was first nominated by the Parkland Board to fill the 2 year remainder of someone’s term, one of my mentors told me that the 2 most important things we do as school board directors is to 1) Hire and consistently evaluate the district’s superintendent and, 2) Be educated and fiscally responsible for the district’s budget. The only thing I would add to that piece of advice is to know the importance of 2-way communication – get out there and BE part of the community you represent.
“I really have felt as though I’ve made a difference. I’m supporting my community here, the whole Parkland community, and it’s not just students, parents, staff of Parkland. It’s the whole community.”