LH School Board
In the race for four open seats on the Laurel Highlands School District, the Herald-Standard Editorial Board endorses incumbents James Tobal and Bev Beal as well as challengers Larry Zebley and Edward S. George. Tobal, Beal and Zebley won both Democratic and Republican nominations last spring while George won on the Democratic ballot and incumbent Bill Elias took a slot on the GOP ticket.
Beal and Tobal have proven to be effective and professional during their time on the board, and we feel the addition of George and Zebley will add valuable perspective to the board.
We have felt Tobal has always been quite concerned to downright passionate about protecting taxpayer money, a trait we wish more directors in more districts shared.
And though Beal was unable to meet with the editorial board because she was attending a conference related to school business, we are quite familiar with her fine record.
We admire her push to take the politics out of the school district. Moreover, Beal has long been staunchly anti-nepotism but, unfortunately, has just as long been without any support from her fellow directors.
That may change with the addition of George, who impressed us with his willingness to back an anti-nepotism policy.
In fact, George said he would be open to implementing the successful anti-nepotism policy from the Frazier School District at LH, a move we see as a major plus. He would also be no stranger to the district, having previously served on the board for eight years.
Zebley also received support for being involved and active with the district, coming to meetings and serving on the citizen’s advisory committee for the high school renovation.
There is some concern over conflict of interest, however, since Zebley’s wife serves as the office manager at the high school. Still, we feel he would add an outsider’s perspective that could be useful.
Overall, we feel the board seems to be doing a good job, making progress in terms of financial figures and test scores.
We are, however, disappointed that no candidates outside Beal and George have come out in support of an anti-nepotism policy.
But perhaps the board will soon make progress in that area too.