Russell Giordano seeks his fourth term on the Salisbury Township School Board

As president of the Salisbury Township School Board since 2005, Russell Giordano has sought to maintain a leadership style that’s “collaborative and respectful.”

Giordano, 58, said he felt compelled to seek a fourth, four-year term on the school board. “I can’t leave this board at a time when we have such tremendous challenges.”

The Democrat is cross-filed to run in the May 17 primary election, so his name will appear on both the Democratic and Republican tickets.

Giordano is the father of two young adult children who graduated from the Salisbury Township School District. He received his bachelor’s degree in history with a social studies teaching certification from Montclair State University in New Jersey.

Now Giordano is pursuing a master’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University’s industrial and labor relations school in New York City. He attends classes in Manhattan on Saturdays and will be halfway through his coursework by the close of this summer.

Giordano began his career as a high school social studies teacher in New Jersey. Following that, he spent 25 years in the corporate world and then the last two years as a human resources consultant. In April, he was appointed as the Bethlehem Area School District’s director of human resources.

As president of the Salisbury Township School Board, he said, “you’re involved in everything.” More specifically, he chairs the Personnel Subcommittee and is vice chairman of the Curriculum Subcommittee. He also is the chief board negotiator on the team involved in contract negotiations with the teachers union.

Negotiations have been under way for one year and three months. Giordano declined to comment on specifics of the negotiations, with one exception. The school board is seeking a greater contribution from teachers for their health care coverage, he said. “That’s the big issue.”

The school board also is heavily involved in budgetary discussions. School districts throughout the state are facing the loss of nearly $1 billion from the state’s proposed budget, and shrinking state and local revenues.

“Our administration has done a terrific job looking at everything where we can cut expenses,” Giordano said, adding that personnel cuts will be necessary.

He is particularly frustrated, however, with state mandates regarding charter school and cyber charter school expenses, plus transportation for students who aren’t attending the public schools. Those expenses total about $1 million – about $500,000 for the charter schools and cyber charter schools plus $500,000 for non-public school transportation.

It doesn’t make sense that cyber charter schools should receive the same per-pupil subsidies from school districts, Giordano said, despite the fact they have no brick-and-mortar expenses.

Another ongoing issue is Salisbury Township’s desire to purchase a parcel of land owned by the school district on Emmaus Avenue. Giordano is adamant in his opposition: “That land will be sold to them over my dead body.”

Instead, Giordano said, the land should be sold to someone who will develop it for an age-restricted community -- new taxpayers but no additional students. “That’s the responsible, fiduciary thing to do with that land,” he said.

Giordano also opposes vouchers. Gov. Tom Corbett supports vouchers, which would use per-pupil subsidies to allow low-income students in a failing public school to transfer to a different school.

“It’s nothing but private education at public expense,” Giordano said, adding that vouchers should only be used as “an experiment in cities with huge urban problems.”

Going forward, Giordano said, the primary challenge before the Salisbury Township School Board is to “maintain a competitive, attractive educational program for all students despite the weak economy and the hurdles thrown in our path by Harrisburg.”

He added that “very little” happens in the state capitol “that is actually a help to our mission.”

Despite the challenges, Giordano said, “We work together. We problem solve. We have a school board that this township can be proud of. I would hope people would come out and demonstrate their support” at the polls.

There are four cross-filed candidates for the Salisbury Township School Board in the May 17 primary, incumbents Frank Frankenfield, Thomas Mantz and Giordano, and newcomer Samuel DeFrank. Two board members – Keith Reinsmith and Kathleen Heffelfinger – have decided not to seek re-election even though their terms are up.

Consequently, there are five openings on the ballot and the four candidates are virtually assured of winning. Unless there is a write-in candidate winning the fifth seat in the general election in the fall, the school board will advertise for candidates for the fifth position. The board then will interview candidates and appoint a new board member to fill the fifth opening.