Albert Gallatin Area School Board candidates discuss priorities
The candidates seeking one of the six open seats on the Albert Gallatin Area School Board said they plan to address district finances and curriculum, two of what they believe are the most important issues facing the district, if elected on Nov. 3.
Incumbents David Howard, Edward Colebank and Janet Swaney secured both the Democratic and Republican nomination from voters in the spring primary for a four-year seat on the board. Newcomer Paul M. Dunham, and Tom Gusipe, who was appointed to the board earlier this year after a board seat was left vacant by longtime member Ed Andria, secured only the Democratic nomination, while Terry Ryan and Betty Leonard Moser secured only the Republican nomination for the four-year seat.
There is also one two-year term seat open on the board, with Leonard Moser securing the Democratic nomination, and Ryan securing the Republican nomination.
Colebank, who has served the district as a school director for 16 years, said he is seeking his fifth and final term.
“Our biggest issue is money,” he said. “The state has not adjusted to our needs. We’re like everybody else. We’re faced with borrowing money or shutting the school down.”
Colebank said that while the board raised taxes for the most recent budget, he said the board has never had to require a major tax increase. However, if re-elected, he said he is prepared to help the board make “hard choices.”
Howard has also served the district for 16 years and is seeking his fifth term as well.
“With Gov. Wolf, we’re facing problems with the budget,” he said. “I’m going to try to keep taxes down, especially because we’ve got to be concerned about the older people and their taxes. It’s going to be a rough four years and it’s very important that we get a good board in there. There’s going to be a lot of tough decisions to be made.”
DeGusipe also highlighted the district’s financial woes.
“The biggest challenge is being able to balance the budget over the next couple of years with a lack of funding from the state,” he said. “The school has been using a surplus to balance the budget. Next year, that surplus will be gone, and we’re going to end up with a shortfall.”
DeGusipe believes the district has to be run like a business.
“We have to look at places we can cut spending, so that we don’t have to ask the taxpayers to do a little bit more,” he said.
Ryan, who has taught building trades to students at vocational schools around the country, has run for school director a few times, and believes the Common Core standards need immediate attention.
“We need to get rid of Common Core,” Ryan said. “Common Core is terrible.”
He would also like to see an elimination of property taxes.
Ryan said he has been a proponent of Act 76, which, if it had passed, would have eliminated school property taxes by raising the sales and income taxes, and pool the money raised to give each school district across the state the same amount of subsidies.
“All schools then will be treated equal,” he said.
He also believes unfunded mandates from the federal government are hurting schools.
“I do not like the federal government interfering in education,” he said. “If they want to mandate programs then they should have to come up with the money. Education should be left up to teachers, administrators and local school boards.”
Leonard Moser, Dunham and Swaney were unable to be reached for comment.