Rachel Kill Is Running For Region 3 Seat On TESD School Board

Pennsylvania's Primary Election is May 18. Rachel Kill is running in Region 3 for Tredyffrin/Easttown School District Board of Directors. She brings experience in financial underwriting and service on her company's inclusion committee.

She explained why she is running for office.

Rachel Kill

Age: 39

Position Sought: Tredyffrin Easttown School Board Director Region 3

Affiliation: Republican

Family: I live in Devon with my husband Brian and sons Carter, 7, and Dexter, 4. My parents live in Rose Valley, Pa. where I grew up, and my four siblings and 12 nieces and nephews live in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Michigan.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?: My brother has been a school board director for Baltimore County since 2018 and has raised five kids in the district.

Education: Graduated from Loyola University in Maryland in 2004 with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and concentration in Marketing.

Occupation: Senior Surety Underwriting Specialist. I have 17 years of credit and financial underwriting experience and have worked with some of the toughest clients and territories in the country. Spending the first ten years of my career living and working in New York City, I worked for three of the largest insurance companies in the world and was responsible for growing our relationships with top agencies in the territory. Since moving back to Pennsylvania seven years ago, I am now a home office underwriter overseeing the west coast and NYC territories for large credit requests that exceed field authority.
As an underwriter, it is critical to evaluate all aspects of the case presented to me. If I make a mistake, my company pays millions of dollars in losses. I need to make sure that the opportunity being presented to me makes sense from a capacity, capital, and character aspect. This involves a thorough analysis of corporate and personal financial statements, speaking with bankers and past clients for references, understanding organizational strengths, and weaknesses and making sure the contracts are written fairly.
Having spent my entire career in a male-dominated field, I am used to being the only female in the room and frequently the most senior person and ultimate decision-maker in attendance. Over the years I have earned the respect of my peers and as a result, I was nominated by colleagues and chosen out of over 70 applicants to be a founding member of my company's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee. I understand the importance of inclusion and how it strengthens a company and a community and I'm committed to transferring these skills to helping shape these efforts within T/E.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: None.

Why are you seeking elective office?: I am running for T/E School Board Director in Tredyffrin Easttown Region III because I am passionate about improving our schools and strengthening our community. I plan on utilizing my extensive financial background to balance our school's budget, maximizing results for students and taxpayers. I am also a firm advocate for in-person education and will work tirelessly to ensure this remains an option for all students. My kids are young and I am in this for the long haul.

The single most pressing issue facing our district is: Our district's most pressing issue is without doubt the social and emotional impact school closures have had on our community, and the learning loss suffered by those children for whom a virtual environment makes success impossible. I am part of a large bipartisan group of parents who organized efforts to fully reopen our schools, which we successfully achieved for elementary students in May of 2021. As a result, there is now light at the end of the tunnel but tremendous work remains to return the school experience to what it was meant to be, and less critically but relatedly to ensure our district retains its top ranking in Pennsylvania. Families move to our district solely to gain the advantage for their kids of the exceptional educational programming offered by T/E, and we need to guarantee this remains unchanged.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?: As a full-time working mother of two young children who were directly impacted by school closures, I have a distinct perspective that is underrepresented on the current board. I combine this with almost two decades of credit and financial underwriting experience, so I can not only faithfully represent the needs of our children but can also contribute greatly to the financial management of our district. March of 2020 was devastating to our family, and the struggle to find an educational alternative that worked for our kids was beyond daunting. It was largely thanks to my son's amazing kindergarten teacher at NEES and her tremendous support and general selflessness that we were able to gain admission to a school that ensured he had an in-person education for the 2020-21 academic year.
I have heard from countless other families who had to make the same impossibly difficult decision to leave the district in order to guarantee an in-person education for their children. I am hopeful that the progress we've made to date, and the promise of where we plan to be in the future, will encourage them to return to the district like my family has done. I will work tirelessly to earn the trust of our community and help realize that promise.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform: We have a lot of work to do. The single most pressing issue according to parents, grandparents, and mentors in the community is about transparency of the curriculum. If elected, I will ensure that parents and caregivers are able to get answers to the questions they have about what is being taught in our schools and that they have the ability to weigh in on these topics without fear of retaliation.
There is also much concern about balancing our budget and making sure the amount of money we spend on our students is fiscally responsible and will maximize outcomes for students and taxpayers. Having spent 17 years analyzing financial statements and earning a professional designation in this area, I am uniquely qualified to interpret on the board’s behalf the records and statements detailing our district’s financial position. I will further ensure that this topic is more accessible to our community members, allowing them to be well informed and able to easily participate when board meetings address it.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?: I am a proven leader, the face of my company to a demanding group of business leaders as clients, and I am responsible for training the newest generation of our firm’s underwriters. I have earned the respect of my peers and have excellent relationships in an industry unforgiving of error. Hard work, dedication, and experience handling adversity with dignity and grace have been key to my success and are elements that I continuously work to improve upon.

The best advice ever shared with me was: If you want something done, ask a busy person.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?: As a school board director, my priority will be to earn your trust and respect through open communication and focused problem-solving. Nothing is more important to me than the success of our children.

Rachel Kill's campaign webpage can be viewed here.

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