The five incumbents seeking re-election to keep their seats on the Brownsville Area School Board will be joined
by five others hoping to secure a nomination in the May 17 primary election.
Running for Brownsville Area School Board director in this year’s election are incumbents Rocky Brashear, Andy Dorsey,
John Harvey, Francine Pavone and Sandra Chan. Challengers are Jeff Bayne, Mike Sobocinski, Cheryl Terravecchia, Nick Mihalko
and Marcy Miske Sawka.
The Herald-Standard editorial board recently invited all 10 candidates to a question-and-answer session to allow the school
board hopefuls the opportunity to address their stand on the issues affecting the district. Harvey, Chan, Bayne, Sobocinski,
Mihalko and Sawka participated...
...
Consolidation proposal
Bayne, Sobocinski and Harvey agreed that while a proposal by state Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-South Union Township, to consolidate
the administrations of all six county school districts may result in financial savings, none support the plan due to other
factors.
“The way it is set up now, we get to deal with our own children and their own education,” Bayne said. “There’s
no way I could ever support it because my children are way too important and I value all their education, not just my child,
but every child that goes to that school.”
Harvey said his reasons for failing to support the proposal stem from the “old school boy” in him.
“It takes away a critical part of education — the social aspect of maintaining hometown ties,” he said.
“I believe we can maintain the system we have in a cost-effective manner by doing the right things.”
Sawka is also against the consolidation, noting that a lot of one-on-one interaction from administrators and school employees
would be lost.
“People outside of your school district really don’t know what’s going on within it,” she said.
“We couldn’t have a superintendent coming from Uniontown who would understand what is going on in Brownsville.”
http://www.heraldstandard.com/news/local_news/brownsville-school-board-candidates-take-stand-on-issues/article_f79ec2fb-7d81-5d7b-a673-185a20b97033.html
