Note: The following news release was submitted by Saucon Valley School Board candidate Cedric Dettmar, who is running in the May 16 primary election. A total of eight candidates–including two incumbents–are running for four open seats on the board. All have been invited to share a statement with Saucon Source readers.
Cedric Dettmar
I grew up in a small town in Colorado and went to college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After graduating I spent two decades working in California for Silicon Valley high-tech companies, earning an MBA from UCLA along the way. I served as a Vice President at Oracle Corporation for many of those years and was responsible for 100 employees in a $25 million business unit. After living in Colorado for over a decade, my wife Kathleen and I relocated our family to Saucon Valley to be closer to Kathleen’s extended family. Currently I work in a small business helping other small businesses use the Internet to increase efficiency and grow.
Seven years ago I arrived in Saucon Valley with Kathleen, our daughters Rebecca and Amanda, and my mom Ludy. Kathleen and I, both public school attendees, are commited to the Saucon Valley School District, where our daughters attend middle school. Both of us are strongly motivated to invest time and energy in Saucon Valley by getting involved in our schools.
I have attended nearly every school board meeting for the last seven years and know the issues facing our district. I regularly speak about taxes, spending and education.
For the last six years I have served on the Saucon Valley Foundation for Educational Innovation board. As a board member, I took a leadership role in the construction of the district’s Environmental Education Center, an outdoor classroom for all district students. I have raised tens of thousands of dollars from corporate donors to support our students through the foundation.
I have worked directly with administrators, teachers and students. As a parent participant, I worked on the initiative that brought iPads to our middle and high schools. I participated in the Project Lead-the-Way Community Outreach group to expose our Saucon engineering students to real-world engineering around the Lehigh Valley. Three years ago I helped start and now lead the Middle School Math Club. I meet with 25 “Mathletes” over 20 times a year to teach them math and prepare them for the MathCounts competition between 25 schools from around the Lehigh Valley.
This experience around the school system has given me great respect for all the people who work here and the board members who devote many hours each month as volunteers. I have met many families from across the income spectrum and especially respect those that stretch their finances to the limit so their children can attend Saucon Valley schools. I also know that many long-time residents struggle to stay in their homes in our high-priced school district. Balancing the tax burden on our community with adequate resources for our schools is one of the most important actions the board takes.
I want to serve on the school board to take my contribution to our community to the next level. I believe that my experience in our community and background in business are particularly well suited for serving on a school board. Key contributions of a board member are to hire an outstanding superintendent when the need arises, make trade-offs between important goals and make smart decisions to avoid waste. These are skills I honed in my years as a business leader. I am not afraid to speak my mind but try to keep good relations with the people I deal with. I believe this combination is ideal for a school board member.
If elected, I will use my management savvy, common sense and familiarity with the problems facing Saucon Valley School District to help guide the district through the challenging times ahead. You can contact me at ce****@ce***********.org and visit my website at cedricdettmar.org to learn more about where I stand on the issues.
Note: The deadline for any Saucon Valley School Board candidates who have not yet submitted a primary election statement to Saucon Source is Friday, March 24 at 5 p.m. This so there is adequate time for Saucon Source to publish a single article with links to each candidate’s profile in advance of the public school board candidates forum at Dewey Fire Co. Social Hall on Friday, March 31 at 7 p.m.
