6 run for 5 seats on Millcreek School Board

Oct. 27--Parents demand a quality education.

Taxpayers want to hold the line on property taxes.

Finding the balance between the two will be the difficult job of the next Millcreek School Board.

Six candidates are running for five open seats on the nine-member board in the Nov. 3 general election: Janine McClintic, Donnie Hosford, Lou Aliota, Christopher Busko, Ben Pike and incumbent and current School Board President Judy Wheaton. All except Wheaton and Hosford are cross-filed on both the Republican and Democratic ballot. Wheaton is running as a Democrat, and Hosford as a Republican.

The question of how to find that balance is "the question that everybody asks themselves when they're at a budget meeting," Pike said.

"One of the things that school districts as a whole need to concentrate on is becoming more efficient and more effective at what they do. ... You need people that understand how the private sector runs and operates," Pike said. "More and more, they're running more efficiently and more effectively. There's a lot to be learned by the public sector, and the school district for example, from the private sector. So that if you have to raise taxes, you've already gone through everything. There's nothing left."

Wheaton said it's going to come down to a choice taxpayers make.

"I don't see any other way around it," Wheaton said. "I think that the School Board is going to have to take deep consideration as to whether or not they want to raise taxes and support public education or if they're willing to cut programs."

The district needs to take a "top down look" at its resources and needs, Busko said.

"The taxpayers are the ones that are footing the bill, and we have to put the needs of the kids first, but we also have to do it in a cost-effective manner," Busko said. "Are we using what we have (in) the most effective ways? Meaning, what do we have that we don't need in the school district, and what do we need?"

Aliota said budgeting needs to be a collaborative process, and that the district should follow best practices.

"Best practices is focused on optimizing student achievement within available district resources," Aliota said. "It encompasses a complete cycle for both short- and long-term financial planning and budgeting, including planning and preparing to undertake the budget process, developing a budget, evaluating how the budget process worked, and adjusting accordingly."

The board needs to be vigilant in tracking expenses, McClintic said.

"We're going to have to carefully look at everything that comes across our desk. ... We want to make sure that we're spending that money wisely, we're putting it toward academics first, but we're not ignoring the music programs, the sports programs, everything that makes a community like Millcreek stand out above other areas where people could move to," McClintic said.

"Because we've had such a disastrous financial background, we can't do anything the teachers are asking for," Hosford said. "They're asking for resources, and we're not able to provide that for them because of our past."

The district needs to focus on continuing to improve its financial position, Hosford said. Once that happens, "we can start getting teachers and administrators the resources they deserve and at the same time not raise taxes to accomplish that," he said.

The recent decision to change its tax collection schedule to improve cash flow "was an incredibly smart and proactive move," Hosford said.

"We have to think like that," he said. "We can't be reactive. We have to be proactive."

ERICA ERWIN can be reached at 870-1846 or by e-mail. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNerwin. Read the Happier Ed education blog at blogs.goerie.com/education and post comments.

CANDIDATES FOR MILLCREEK SCHOOL BOARD

Lou Aliota, Republican (cross-filed)

- Age: 68

- Family: Married; three adult children; one granddaughter.

- Occupation: Licensed registered pharmacist and pharmacy practice/management and health-care/law consultant.

- Education: Bachelor's in pharmacy and master's in specialization in hospital pharmacy administration, both from Long Island University.

Christopher Busko, Republican (cross-filed)

- Age: 48

- Family: Married; three children.

- Occupation: Vice president and owner of Quantum Plating.

- Education: Graduated from Gannon University with a bachelor's of science degree in chemistry.

Donnie Hosford, Republican

- Age: 36

- Family: Married; four children.

- Occupation: Senior vice president of Hosford International customs brokers.

- Education: Graduated from Clarion University of Pennsylvania in 2002 with a bachelor's of science degree in business administration with a concentration in small business.

Janine McClintic, Republican (cross-filed)

- Age: 45

- Family: Married, two children.

- Occupation: Stay-at-home mother. A lawyer (currently not practicing) with a background in banking law.

- Education: Graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1993 with a bachelor's of arts degree in communication disorders. Earned her Juris Doctor from Cleveland Marshall College of Law in 2002.

Ben Pike, Republican (cross-filed)

- Age: 61

- Family: Married.

- Occupation: Owner of an auto body shop.

- Education: Graduated from Titusville Area High School.

Judy Wheaton, Democrat

- Age: 60

- Family: Married; two adult children.

- Occupation: Retired, worked as a teacher and administrator in South Carolina.

- Education: Bachelor's degree in education from Presbyterian College; master's in education from the University of South Carolina; master's in criminal justice from Florida State University.

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