On Thursday, November 11, 2021, the Harriton Principal’s Advisory Board, commonly abbreviated as the PAB, had an opportunity to meet with our district’s new superintendent, Dr. Khalid Mumin. Dr. Mumin presented himself as a relatable and personable administrator who brought numerous ideas to the table about improving our schools, some of which he even promised to implement during his first 90 days. During the meeting, we discussed his vision for the district’s future. A few of the topics he touched upon were equality and equity in learning materials, taking initiative on pushing back school start times, better communication to keep up with the “new normal”, and having more student forums for administrative feedback.

All educators should recognize that equality and equity in our learning materials are imperative. Dr. Mumin certainly recognizes this importance and believes they need to be implemented and built upon to further perfect our current curriculum. In order for this to happen, outdated material must be weeded out and replaced with current information. Implementing this will result in students learning more about all types of people and backgrounds, analyzing history from different points of view, and having an equal opportunity to be successful. Dr. Mumin expressed that students need to “step onto the playing field” because we are more knowledgeable and involved in the real world than ever before.

Just like the majority of students, Dr. Mumin wants the school day to start later and expressed that later start times would benefit both teachers and students. Although he concurs with the need to push back the start times, he explained the numerous challenges and compromises necessary in order to achieve this. The biggest challenge he mentioned is the need to alter our current system, which the district has relied on for decades on end, for just about everything. Some of the compromises he listed include getting lights on more fields throughout the district, as well as negotiating with other school districts to determine how to make after-school sports and activity times work. 

In order to stay current and keep up with the “new normal”, Dr. Mumim believes that Lower Merion School District needs to have a larger social media presence. This is incredibly important to him that implementing a social media campaign is one of the items on his first 90 days agenda. In our modern day and age, social media is one of the most effective and commonly used methods for receiving information. Providing controlled news about the district via social media would help to cut down on the spread of inaccurate information about what is happening internally within the district. 

Moving forward, Dr. Mumin also wants to institute more student forums. He feels these forums are extremely important for getting as many students as possible engaged in discussions about what they want to learn, their school experiences, and what they want from the administration. Dr. Mumin believes that the more active students are in their own education, the more they will care about their school community. This is not only beneficial to the district but will also help our schools progress towards the “new normal” he wants to achieve.

The addition of Dr. Mumin as the LMSD Superintendent appears to be an excellent choice. I hope he lives up to the promises and commitments he has made because they will positively influence our schools’ functionality, our education, our relationships with each other, and our involvement in the community.