Lack of candidates marks primary for New Kensington-Arnold School Board
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While voters in other communities have an overabundance of candidates from which to choose to fill school board seats, those in New Kensington and Arnold will find mostly blank ballots for the May primary.
Examples of many include Plum, where 13 are vying for five seats; Highlands, where 11 are running for five seats; and Norwin, where 10 are competing for five seats.
But in New Kensington-Arnold, the names of only three will be on the ballot for six seats across three regions up for election this year.
Democrats will see three names on their ballot — former board member Robert Pallone in Region 1, and incumbents Timothy Beckes in Region 2 and John Cope in Region 3.
Republicans will see just one candidate, Pallone, in Region 1.
Two seats are up in each region. In Regions 1 and 2, the seats are for four-year terms. In Region 3, one seat is for four years, while one is for two years.
Three incumbent board members are not seeking reelection — Eric Doutt in Region 1; Steven Sorch in Region 2; and Scott Bussard in Region 3.
Board member Terry Schrock, whose seat is up in Region 1, is not on the ballot but said he will ask voters of each party to write him in to stay on the board. Schrock said he missed a filing deadline because of a change in his schedule.
According to Westmoreland County Elections, at least 10 write-in votes are needed to get on the November ballot.
Doutt, the police chief in Arnold, is leaving the board after 16 years. With his three kids graduated from Valley High, Doutt said it’s time to give someone else a chance; he is also crunched for time, heading a short-staffed police department.
“I wasn’t able to give it my all,” he said.
Bussard intended to leave the board in 2021, but was talked into staying when the person elected to take the seat, Peter Nkemakolam, was declared ineligible because he did not live in Region 3. His is the seat carrying a two-year term.
Now, as then, Bussard cited time constraints between work and the board as his reason for not running.
Sorch declined to comment on his reasons for not seeking re-election.
Cope and Beckes joined the board in 2019. Cope was one of four, including Schrock and Sorch, who won election to the board promising to bring change. Cope served as board president for a year and was succeeded by Beckes.
Beckes, who owns a senior care business, said he wasn’t sure what to make of the lack of candidates.
“It’s an important role that impacts our community and our children pretty substantially,” he said. “Part of the application process can be a little confusing if you’re not accustomed to that kind of paperwork.”
Beckes said he wants to stay on the board because he likes the direction in which the district is going.
“The budget is getting to a more balanced position. We’re focusing on education and facilities. A lot of progress is being made,” he said. “I feel compelled to continue the good work we’ve been doing.”
Cope, who retired from a 48-year teaching career, including 36 years at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, blamed apathy — shared by adults and students.
“I’d love to see more excitement there. I’d love to see more excitement in the schools,” he said. “We’ve got to get a school system where the kids are excited to get off of that bus or out of their cars and walk in those doors.”
Cope said he’s met some of his goals, but not all. With improvements made to counseling services, he said the district needs to stay focused on the mental health of students and faculty, and keep those services available even when the covid-related funding that started them runs out.
“That’s not the only issue I foresee for us. Being an educator for so many years, I’d like to see us get our statewide scores up,” he said. “We need to focus on the educational part. We need to reestablish that passion to educate kids.
“There’s a partnership here, and I think that’s something we forget sometimes,” he said. “A lot of people want to blame what are the teachers doing or not doing, and that’s the wrong focus.
”The right way to go about this is making the students more accountable. We’ve got to get these kids to know, and their parents to know, they are going to be held accountable. We are going to do our job. The kids have to do their job, too.”
Pallone, a former board president and longtime school director, is looking to rejoin the board after not seeking re-election in 2021. He said the lack of candidates is a reflection of indifference to public service.
“It’s a hard thing to do. There’s a lot of unjust criticism to folks that are trying to do good things for the community whenever they get into these positions. We’ve seen a history of that,” he said. “People don’t want to subject themselves to that kind of ridicule when they’re actually trying to do something that’s good. It’s showing up by the lack of candidates.”
Pallone said his intentions are the same now as before, being in it for the kids, the community and the taxpayers.
“I’m not as close to it as I once was. I do know we have raised taxes every year since I left,” he said. “I’m very interested to find and learn whether that is absolutely necessary or not. I don’t believe in tax increases on homeowners unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Seats held by three board members elected in 2021 — held by Jane Graham, Nick DiCarolis and Sarah Yurga — will be up for election in 2025.