Published: October 24, 2007 11:50 pm         

Six compete for five seats on Penn Cambria school board

CRESSON — Six candidates are vying for five available four-year seats on Penn Cambria school board, and each has knowledge of the internal workings of a school district.

Five candidates currently are serving or previously have served on the board, while the sixth will retire next week after three decades as an educator.

Incumbents include board President George Pyo and Karen Claar, each vying for a sixth term; Justin Roberts, seeking a second term; and Lawrence Behe, who is serving out an appointment.

Tom Creehan recently completed 16 months on the board.

Another candidate, Guy Adrian Monica, is on leave from Penn Cambria School District and will retire Oct. 31.

He was a teacher and an administrator in the district.

The district covers Ashville, Cresson, Gallitizin, Lilly, Loretto, Sankertown and Tunnelhill boroughs and the townships of Allegheny, Cresson, Dean, Gallitizin, Munster and Washington.

Pyo said he hopes to continue efforts to keep Penn Cambria’s technology on pace with technological advancements in larger school districts.

“I’m interested in how we proceed in technology,” said Pyo, a Cresson Township resident and administrative/management information systems director at St. Francis University.

“I always saw that local kids were behind the metro areas and felt that wasn’t fair.”

Claar, of Lilly, is a nurse’s aide at Laurel Crest in Ebensburg. She has four adult children – all products of Penn Cambria schools – and she prides herself in her role as a go-between for the district administration and the public.

“I always try to get back to the people,” she said.

The district, under the leadership of Superintendent Mary Beth Whited, is better than it has ever been, Claar said.

Roberts, a Cresson Township resident and a salesman for Ron Davidson Chevrolet-Buick of Ebensburg, describes a district that has progressed by leaps and bounds since he took office in late 2003.

“We’ve changed attitudes, and we’re changing the minds of some people,” Roberts said. “We’re holding the line on taxes, and we’re able to do more with the same amount of money.”

Behe, a driver for the Pepsi Group and a Washington Township resident, calls himself a proud Penn Cambria parent who, along with serving on the board, is a member of the band boosters, helps with high-school plays and steps in anywhere he is needed.

“There’s been a lot of positive changes over the past few years, but there’s still a lot to do. There’s a lot of academic stuff that needs to get done,” Behe said.

Creehan, a Lilly resident and a lead investigator for the state Attorney General’s Office of Consumer Protection in Ebensburg, is the father of three Penn Cambria students.

He is seeking a seat on the board to assure continuation of progress he was part of earlier when he served a short stint.

“I’m not seeking to jump in and change things, but I feel I have a lot to offer as we move forward,” Creehan said. “It’s important how we best allocate our services and staff.”

A need for change is driving Monica, of Allegheny Township, to seek a post on the board.

“We give a lot of attention to the top students. We don’t give enough attention to the average student,” Monica said. “I’m especially concerned about the vo-tech students.”

He has a similar concern about widely touted state testing results.

“I’m worried (that) they’re not teaching core subjects, they’re teaching to the tests,” he said.

     

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