Candidates discuss top issues facing Laurel Highlands School District
The financial state of the Laurel Highlands School District, as well as its curriculum and hiring policies, are top-of-mind for the candidates seeking one of the five open board seats in the general election slated for Nov. 3.
The race has drawn interest from three new and three familiar faces.
Incumbents Melvyn Sepic, Jamie Miller-D’Andria and Debra Bortz, who was appointed to the board last year, along with newcomer Nancy Glad, secured both the Democratic and Republican nominations from voters in the spring primary. Political newcomer Alicia Santore secured only the Democratic nomination, and newcomer Frank Mutnansky Jr., the Republican nomination.
Sepic, a former educator, who is seeking his second term on the board, said his main concern is providing the best possible education for district students; however, he said the current state budget situation is hindering the district’s ability to provide that education.
“The budget situation is pretty brutal,” he said. “There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. All of these mandates they have imposed, without funding them, is not to my liking.”
As finance chairman, Sepic said the board worked diligently last year to keep new taxes from being imposed on the general public.
“It looks like we’ll be fairly good until the end of November, but at that point in time, we may have to go out for a loan to make our payroll,” Sepic said. “The administration has worked very hard to keep our expenses down.”
Miller-D’Andria agreed that it’s “very difficult to maintain the most effective curriculum,” without a state budget.
“We have to live within our means,” she said.
While the district’s financial situation is a concern, she said her focus continues to be on the district hiring practices.
“During my first tenure on the board, we were able to adopt a new hiring policy that includes an anti-nepotism clause,” she said. “My goal is to hire most the most effective and experienced staff. I understand we are a business, but education is our focus, and we must cater to the students, because they are the most important aspect of the business.”
If re-elected, Miller-D’Andria said ehw would also like to be instrumental in increasing parent involvement, especially as it relates to the Common Core standards.
“There’s pros and there’s cons to the Common Core, but we need to focus on transitioning the students and parents, and building that bridge,” she said.
While Miller-D’Andria sees both pros and cons to the Common Core standards, Glad, who is seeking her first term on the board, believes the standards are the biggest problem facing Laurel Highlands and every school district in Pennsylvania.
“Those particular standards are not developmentally appropriate,” Glad said. “They were not written by educators. They were written by test-book makers. They are un-tested, and our children are the guinea pigs. Not all children learn in the same way.”
Glad said teachers have been teaching to the test.
“They’re not educationally sound,” she said. “It’s not good for parents, it’s certainly not good for teachers, and it’s detrimental to our children, and our sole purpose is to educate children so they can be productive members of society.”
Glad said she is a member of Pennsylvanians Restoring Education and has encouraged parents to opt their children out of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) and the Keystone exams, if their graduation year is before 2017.
“Until parents voice their dissproval of this, it’s not going to go away,” Glad said.
Mutnansky Jr. agrees that standardized testing is one issue that needs immediate attention. In addition, he said hiring practices and district finances are also of importance.
“I’d like to look into the finances to see if there’s any wasteful spending going on,” he said. “I don’t think there’s enough representation on the board from a business perspective. That’s one of the areas where I think my experience can come into play. I want to look at budget, see where the taxpayers’ money is being spent, and make sure it’s being spent effectively.”
Bortz, appointed to the board in fall 2014 after a resignation, agreed that finances and hiring practices, would be top-of-mind for her if she was elected.
When she was appointed to the board last year, she said she was part of the committee that developed the new hiring policy.
“I’m all about the new hiring policy that’s in place,” she said. “It’s a lot better now that we have people who are most qualified for the job. We hired at least 10 employees and not one person was related to anyone on the board.”
She added that she is “very concerned” about the district’s budget, and hopes that the state budget impasse does not result in layoffs or pay freezes.
“I don’t know what our options are at this point if the state doesn’t pass a budget,” she said. “It’s very scary.”
Bortz said she promises to be a “watchdog” in regard to district spending if elected.
Santore was unable to be reached for comment.