Last November, during the general election, the Valley View School Board experienced a shift in membership, with Dominick Perini re-joining as a member of the directors. Dominick, “Dom,” Perini, making a return after 10 years, is a member from Jessup who offered great insight regarding his agenda. He discussed concerns over the budget, plans for raising funds, and hopes to increase participation from his constituency. According to Perini, 75-80% of the school’s budget is allocated to fixed expenses, such as bills, benefits and salaries. He said the other 20% is non-fixed expenses with wiggle room for things like maintenance, and new materials for sports teams. He expressed an excitement to learn in his position, explaining a hope to explore opportunities for the school to secure more funding through state grants and local funding. Although the board has not officially met to discuss this, he further emphasized that he is deeply interested in examining a line-item-budget to figure out where money can be saved and what needs more funds. One of Mr. Perini’s priorities as a board member is fundraising. Initially, he raised concerns about the school board prior to his election. “Conversation of future fundraising was driven by data centers and taxes,” Mr. Perini stated. He is looking for a way to have a more independent local fundraising strategy, which would lessen a burden on taxpayers. Another concern is cyber school, pointing out the costly nature of the school paying to send students to a cyber school, which he does not believe is sustainable. Although he sees value in having the program, he suggested that families, rather than the school, pay to send their child. This change would be similar to sending a student to a private school such as Holy Cross or Scranton Prep. Mr. Perini is also currently searching for fundraising ideas and is open to suggestions. Mr. Perini is very focused on the communication between the school board and their constituency. He believes communication is essential to improving the learning environment for students and the functionality for all who live in the district. He also raised concerns regarding his voter base and their voice. He said that as a board member, he “represents voters, but they don’t get enough voice.” He explained that at a school board meeting, there are usually the same few people in attendance, with most not attending and many failing to stay up-to-date on the proceedings of the board. A suggestion he made to help people stay involved is to live-stream the school board meetings so that anyone can watch them as they are happening. “I want open and honest transparency,” said Mr. Perini when asked if he had any message he wanted to share with the district. He said that his door is always open, he always answers the phone, and he always responds to his school email.