Local School Board Candidates Issue Final Statements

Editor's Note: Via email, Patch offered the six candidates currently seeking a seat on the Saucon Valley School Board the opportunity to submit a 250-word-or-less statement about why they are seeking election or re-election. The following statements--which are listed in alphabetical order according to last name--were received from candidates who responded to the request. The six candidates for Saucon Valley School Board on Nov. 8, 2011 are incumbents Susan Baxter, Sharon Stack, Michael Karabin and Charles Bartolet, and challengers Bryan Eichfeld and Jeanne Reilly.

BRYAN EICHFELD

Bryan Eichfeld is the clear choice for taxpayers in Saucon Valley School District. The taxpayers of the Saucon Valley School District have been very generous over the last four year contract and our teachers are the highest paid in Northampton County. The average S.V. teacher saw a 25 percent pay increase over the last 4 year contract! We have the highest millage rate in Northampton County for our school taxes, and we have the highest cost per student in the county. Eichfeld’s main opponent, the Saucon Valley school teacher’s wife Jeanne Reilly, has clearly indicated that she supports a student-first approach to staffing and spending.

Bryan Eichfeld believes there is a way to achieve excellence in the classroom and not put the 33 percent of Hellertown’s senior citizens on a fixed income out of their homes. He proposes a 2-year wage freeze for the entire Saucon Valley School District. This will save $10 million over an 8-year period. Teachers get tuition reimbursed for the equivalent of three post-graduate degrees: one masters degree, another masters degree and a doctorate (or equivalent credits). Studies have shown that education beyond a masters degree shows no improvement in education to our children, yet we pay for the classes as well as the column movement (pay increase). This must be controlled!

Bryan Eichfeld commits that he will negotiate forcefully in the upcoming teacher’s contract, and that he will never vote to raise taxes. The school teacher’s wife has made no such commitment.

JEANNE REILLY

Only two of the nine directors have children in the school system and too often the board ignores the needs of families with school-age children. This situation needs to change. Parents need representation. I strongly believe that parents deserve to have a voice and that is why I am running for school board.

My husband, Jason Stern, and I have been married nearly 13 years and our three children attend S.V. Elementary. While we moved here in 2006, we are not new to Hellertown. Jason, his parents and all four grandparents graduated from Saucon. We relocated to be close to family and because of the great sense of community and quality schools. As a board member I will work to ensure that this quality continues.

It is disappointing that a fellow candidate has questioned my motives and integrity because my husband teaches at S.V. Middle School. Let me be clear: I am running for the children and to represent the parents. I am a taxpayer and a parent. I have a vested interest in our schools. I will be a voice for families.

Mr. Eichfeld states that I have a conflict of interest because I "will be involved with upcoming contract negotiations."* Mr. Eichfeld is wrong. As the spouse of an employee, I will not be a member of the negotiations team. I will not be privy to negotiation discussions. I will abstain from votes as appropriate.

I will fight for the students, give a voice to parents and be fiscally responsible.

*Source: Bryan Eichfeld campaign mailer (undated) and his advertisement in the Valley Voice 11/4/11 issue (Volume 23, Number 47, page 12).

SHARON STACK

This year is my fourth year on the Saucon Valley School District Board of Education and I believe this experience has helped me to better understand our school district and the challenges we are facing in the next four years. I would like to continue to be part of school board discussions and to have a vote in important decisions. These past three years we were successful in establishing budgets that did not increase taxes and I intend to continue to thoroughly review and question budgets with this objective. I do not intend to support any new employee contract that results in an increase in spending for salaries, which represent 49 percent or $19 million of our current budget of $40 million. But I will support school initiatives that add cost when there is a benefit to students that adds value to their education and better prepares them to be successful upon graduation.