Phoenixville School Board Debate Wednesday Night: Meet The Candidates

PHOENIXVILLE, PA — The school director's primary race will heat up in Phoenixville on Wednesday night, as several of the candidates will participate in a debate downtown at The Fenix Bar.

The school director's race is perhaps the most closely contended of the local primary races, as eight candidates will vie for only four open seats. Seven of the eight candidates are listed on both the Democrat and Republican ballots for the upcoming primaries, which will take place on May 16.

The general election will be Nov. 7.

The debate Wednesday will take place from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Event organizers said that all candidates were invited, but only five will be able to attend.

A brief quote or background information from each candidate, along with a link to further campaign materials (where available), is included below.

Christopher Caltagirone (D)

"I am running for school board because I am a strong proponent of public education and believe we must do everything we can to make sure our limited financial resources are being put to good use. We must ensure that educational activities come first and that teachers have the tools they need to help students succeed. I am also dedicated to promoting safe, secure, and constructive environments for students. We must be more proactive in confronting bullying and other exclusionary situations that put students at risk, and I believe the board has a important role to play in engaging our community with respect to these issues."

Facebook: Caltagirone for Phoenixville School Board

Michael Eggleston (D, R)

"My parents installed something in me several years about giving back to the community. I think that I can apply some of the experiences I've learned in business, helping clients grow, improve their operations, and become more efficient for the budgetary dollars they have available to them...The challenge is that their is a finite budget that is primarily coming from residents. You have the challenge of growth and of budget. I can help the district get the best value out of the dollar spent on the educational experience." (via Voxipop)

Facebook: Michael Eggleston

Lori Broker (D, R)

"I believe the impact of homework policies on families deserves and indeed cries out for attention. It has been more the 50 years since the Dep’t of Education, Coleman Report pronounced that family time is the single, most reliable predictor of a child’s future success - academically, socially, and emotionally. In other words, homework policy must factor in its impact on families. Moreover, the data regarding impact of homework on academic success is nowhere near settled. Of course there is superficial appeal in the idea of loading children up with homework. The more work they do, the more they learn, the better they do academically, right? Sure it makes sense on its face and I, for one, bought into this syllogism early on. It wasn’t until one of my kids started having stress-related illnesses that I did my homework about the impact of homework load."

Facebook: Lori Broker for Phoenixville School Board

Daniel J. Cushing (D, R)

Cushing, a resident of Schuylkill Township since 1995, has a B.S. in Biology, an M.S. in Zoology, and Ph.D in Pharmacology. He has previously worked as a professor and is currently Chief Scientific Officer at Prism Pharmaceuticals. He currently serves on the board's Budget Committee and chairs the Board's Buildings and Grounds Committee.

Cushing will "will bring an open mind, critical thinking, and sound judgment to the PASD Board of School Directors and will be guided by the principles of transparency, truth, responsibility, and integrity," according to previous campaign literature.

Renee Pfender (D, R)

Pfender presently serves as the Board secretary and on the Board Finance Committee, and is also the Board Representative to the Phoenixville Community Education Foundation, where she is on the Board of Trustees. She replaced Jan Potts' seat after Potts' resignation in 2015. "I think that it is important for parents to be involved," she told the Pottstown Mercury when she was appointed."It’s a big balance between taxpayers’ money and the education of our students and furthering the district.”

Jeesley Soto (D, R)

Soto, who works in finance, also works for the Peace Advocacy Network and runs the Phoenixville Vegan Pledge and was the co-organizer for the 2016 VegFest, the borough's first vegan food and street festival.

"I'm interested in running for school board because of my son. He's my little advocate. He has spoken out on different issues, the environment, transportation. And I want to be a voice for our children, our parents, for our teachers, and our community."

"The most important issue (facing Phoenixville) is the need for technology. In schools, we provide transportation for kids, and we should provide the access to technology so they can complete what they need to do in the curriculum." (via Voxipop)

Ellen Marie Bahnsen (D, R)

"I'm a 20 year resident of Schuylkill Township. I have 22 years of business experience working directly with CEOs, Presidents, CFOs, and Chairmen of the Board. I held positions as a Benefits/Human Resources Manager and Operations Manager in a benefits consultancy organization. I bring dedication, discretion, and integrity. As an author, I bring fresh and innovative solutions to problems.

I am a stay-at-home mother with a 7th grade middle school student. I have published two novels over the past 4 years and will have my third novel published by the end of this year. In the school district, I held volunteer positions ranging from PCEF, classroom mother, and Schuylkill Elementary Publishing Center. For the past six+ years, I taught 5th Grade PREP (formerly known as CCD) at St. Ann's Church in Phoenixville.

"I want to provide a voice for parents, students, and taxpayers in the school district. We need to be fiscally responsible and be creative - do more with the taxpayer dollars we have available. We need to position our students with the right course material to be successful in the future; increase student participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math ('STEM') - this includes student readiness in college or to thrive in growing vocational fields like technology and healthcare."

Blake Emmanuel (D, R)

Emmanual has worked as an educational advocate, where she helped families navigate the special education system.

"One of my greater passions is eliminating Zero Tolerance policies in schools and juvenile justice systems at the local, state and federal levels in favor of restorative practices. 30 years of Zero Tolerance has shown us that not only does it not decrease negative behaviors, it may actually increase them. It is time for us to move to a different methodology, and restorative are the direction we should go. I am currently working with parents and state legislators in an effort to move Pennsylvania away from Zero Tolerance policies."

"Extracurriculars are so important to development and socialization. It's even more important to have a variety. One thing that I feel strongly about is equity in this area. No one area of extracurricular should receive preferential treatment over another. Additionally, these activities should be accessible to ALL students."

Facebook: Blake Emmanuel

Patch file photo