Ivan Haskell, Education First Candidate for Lower Merion School Board Director

Website: www.VoteEducationFirst.org, Email: Candidates@VoteEducationFirst.org

My name is Ivan Haskell and I am a candidate for School Board

Director for the Lower Merion School District. I am a psychologist
and currently serve as the Director of the Children’s Clinical Services
Department of Resources for Human Development, Inc. I have a
Bachelor of Science degree from the Virginia Tech honors program
and a Ph.D. in Clinical and Community Psychology from the
University of South Carolina. My wife Christine and I have two
young children who will be entering Lower Merion schools in a few
years. We moved to Lower Merion Township in large part due to the
reputation of the school district. As both a parent of young children
and someone who attended public schools and universities from
kindergarten through the doctoral level, I am a strong believer in
excellent public education for all children.

I am running to be a School Board Director because my qualifications will allow me to work

with other School Board Directors to set a vision for our schools. I have significant
background in program development and evaluation. This experience allows me to
approach curriculum and programming to understand the how and why of programs
before they are implemented, and to then to identify and understand how they can be
improved. I serve on workgroups charged with evaluating and providing policy
recommendations for children’s behavioral health services in the City of Philadelphia. I
also administer several publicly funded programs serving approximately 300 children and
families per year in the City of Philadelphia with a combined annual budget of about $8
million. My experience is directly related to the work of the school board in terms of
evaluating problems, setting policy, and working closely with administrators, while
focusing on balancing budgets. In addition, I have experience managing school-based
mental health programs and working with children with special educational needs, which
has allowed me to understand the types of supports that these students need to succeed
in school.

I, together with Melissa Gilbert and Peter Lee, have three priorities:

• to improve and equalize the education for all students in Lower Merion School
district including addressing the achievement gap
• to improve communication between the school district and the community and
provide transparency in decision-making
• to promote fiscal responsibility while improving educational quality

Please visit www.VoteEducationFirst.org for more information on our platform. Also, feel
free to contact us directly at Candidates@VoteEducationFirst.org with any questions or
comments.