Schools

Five Candidates for Five Open Seats on PASD School Board

A candidate dropped out following the primary, leaving an equal number of candidates and open seats.

With five seats up for grabs and five candidates on the ballot, there's not much of a race for Phoenixville Area School Board. 

Following a contested primary that started with seven candidates, one was knocked out when he didn't garner enough votes to move on to the general election. Then, candidate Leslie Dengler, who would have appeared on the general election ballot, in July. 

That left the five remaining candidates, but with a twist. Because Dengler had won in the Republican and Democratic primaries, both local parties could have chosen someone to replace her, making it seven candidates for the five open seats. 

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Neither party chose a replacement, however, and so the Nov. 8 ballot will show the five candidates for five seats on the board. 

For the Phoenixville Republican Committee, the decision came down to difficulty in finding someone willing to run. 

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"There's apathy in the district and a lack of interest," said Brian Peppel, who chairs the committee. 

Serving on school board means lots of hours and a lot of work, Peppel added. 

"It's really rough to find people," he said, noting that if any Republicans in the district are interested in possibly running in the future, they can contact him and he'll meet up with them one-on-one to discuss the possibility. 

"We need good people on school board, especially in this economy," said Maryann Amici, vice chairwoman of the committee. 

Attempts to reach the local Democratic committee were unsuccessful. 

As it turned out, the five candidates who attended a candidates forum before the May primary are the five who are on the ballot Tuesday. This article includes a video from that forum, which will give you a look at each candidate's feelings on the pay-to-participate policy that was later enacted. 

The following are summaries from the introductions given by each candidate back in May. 

Ken Butera is a Schuylkill Township resident and has lived in Phoenixville Area School District since 1996. He has two children at Schuylkill Elementary.

Butera works as a lawyer in King of Prussia, dealing mostly in construction litigation. He also serves on the board at the Pathway School, a special needs school in Norristown.

Irfan Khan from Schuylkill Township has two kids at Schuylkill Elementary and works as a portfolio manager.

He has an MBA in finance and said his professional background may help with the current financial issues facing education in the state and at PASD.

Kevin Pattinson is an 11-year resident of Schuylkill Township with two kids in the school system. He told the audience he moved to the township because of the schools.

Pattinson tried a write-in campaign two years ago, but this year he is on the ballot. He’s been an English teacher in Delaware County for 13 years and has a master’s degree in education.

Paul Slaninka is from the borough and is currently president of the school board. He has lived in Phoenixville since 1970 and had two kids go through the school system.

Slaninka said that as an educator for 35 years and as a parent, he got to see both sides of the education system. He said the current board is doing its best to ensure students get a quality education while dealing with state budget cuts and unfunded mandates.

David Ziev is also a borough resident and has lived in Phoenixville for 25 years. He currently has three children in the district—one in Barkley, one at the middle school and the third at the high school.

Ziev is currently on the school board and said he’s attended meetings for the last 23 years. He has a background in engineering. Ziev said the district doesn’t have a money problem, but does have a problems in education and applying resources.

To see the full article from May, .


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