May 12, 2007 3 min read

In the race for school director in the Laurel Highlands School District, which votes by region, the Herald-Standard editorial board endorses the following candidates: Region 1, incumbent Angelo Giachetti and newcomer Curtis Jacobs; Region 2, challenger Lynette F. Andaloro; and Region 3, challenger Carmen M. Galderisi. In Region 1, where voters will select two of three candidates, we believe that Giachetti and Jacobs are better picks than incumbent Edward S. George, who waffled on our question on whether the district should let voters decide if they want at-large voting. George also said that an anti-nepotism hiring policy could have a reverse effect by blocking out qualified candidates, which seems like a real stretch of logic.

While we disagree with Jacobs’ stand in favor of retaining the regional voting system, he impressed by stating that he does not intend to be a “yes man for the administration” and doesn’t think board members should “be in bed with the administration.”

Giachetti favors at-large voting, voted against the sale of Kennedy School for $275,000 (noting it was resold for $900,000) and says the district needs to “hire the most qualified (person) in all areas.”

In Region 2, where voters will pick one of two candidates, we favor Andaloro over incumbent Cathy Rice. Andaloro favors at-large voting, served on the district’s tax study commission, has no relatives working in the school district and is “not here to hire friends, family or relatives.”

Rice passed on the board’s vote to put at-large voting on the ballot as a referendum, and in addressing that issue said, “If all your friends jumped off a building, would you?” She also was lukewarm to any proposed anti-nepotism hiring policy, saying the district should look at qualifications and not names, regardless of whether job candidates are board members’ relatives.

In Region 3, where voters can pick two of three candidates, we endorse only for Galderisi, a retired LH teacher and administrator who favors at-large voting, using numbering ranking system to make hires, and says, “In all sincerity, I would not vote for” the type of cushy retirement plan he got from the district, which includes getting health insurance coverage until age 65.

Challenger Norma Santore said she would favor an anti-nepotism policy, but claimed to need more facts on other key issues. Former four-term board member Tom Vernon, whose wife and daughter work as teachers in the district, says, “I don’t know if I’d vote for an anti-nepotism policy or not.”

We just don’t think Santore or Vernon bring a lot of new thinking to the table.