Norwin: Mask issue prominent in divisive school board campaign [Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.]

Nov. 1—The battle among eight candidates seeking four seats on the Norwin School Board features a slate of four Republican candidates who have opposed the district following the state mandate requiring masks in schools.

Newcomers Christine Baverso, 44, Alex Detschelt, 45, and Shawna Ilagan, 39, join incumbent Raymond Kocak, 58, on the Republican ballot.

Democrats Dana Barvinchak Williams, 41, Carrie McConnell Muniz, 47, and Rob Bunovich, 43, are all running for the school board for the first time. They are joined on the Democratic ticket by Brian Carlton, 41, a Republican who won a spot on the Democratic ballot, but not the GOP ticket.

All of the candidates are North Huntingdon residents. The school district also serves Irwin and North Irwin in Westmoreland County and about 30 voters in White Oak and South Versailles in Allegheny County. Voters in Allegheny County determined the winner in the 2019 Republican primary, when the vote was close in Westmoreland.

Director Donald Rhodes did not seek reelection and Tony Corsa, appointed by the board to fill a vacancy in 2019, did not run for a full term.

School board meetings this past year have been contentious at times, with those opposing mask mandates criticizing the administration and the school board, while others have supported the mandates. There were in-person meetings in the spring and before the current school year, but a Sept. 13 meeting became chaotic when those opposing mask mandates refused to wear masks in the high school and the meeting abruptly adjourned amid screaming by some audience members. Since then, the meetings have been virtual.

Baverso, running on a slate with Detschelt, Ilagan and Kocak, said she wants to make masks in the school district optional, which is in line with the results of a survey of Norwin families in the summer.

Norwin needs "a cohesive board that listens to the community," Baverso said.

To Baverso, who works for a financial services corporation, a threat from the state that funding could be withheld to districts that disobey the masking mandate "was a scare tactic."

Bunovich said he wants to work to bring the community back together.

"It is so divided," over the mask issue, said Bunovich, a voice telecom analyst with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

"It's not about masking. The focus should be on the kids," Bunovich said.

Carlton, who is seeking his second term, was snubbed by the Norwin Republican party when he sought a spot on the Republican ticket this summer after Michael LeRoy withdrew his name from the ballot. The Norwin Republican

committee voted for Ilagan to take the fourth spot.

Carlton, a Penn-Trafford teacher, said he wants to have the district emphasize its fundraising efforts as a way of generating revenue through sponsorships and partnerships with businesses. One way of doing that is to sell naming rights to facilities, he noted.

"We want to bring in outside revenue," Carlton said.

Detschelt, a patent attorney, was an organizer of a protest in August 2020 against the hybrid education model Norwin implemented last school year.

Detschelt said the slate of candidates are in favor of a more detailed scrutiny of the budget and believes there are administrative positions for which there is an overlap of duties.

They oppose the mask mandate and would review the state order. They would consider permitting parents to seek exemptions from the mask mandate for their children. He noted that 70% of respondents to a survey last summer wanted masks to be optional.

"It is a very contentious issue," Detschelt said.

Ilagan, a quality improvement specialist in the health insurance industry, said she wants to see the administration devise strategies to improve the district and benchmark Norwin against better districts.

Ilagan said she believes the school is behind others because of the implementation of a hybrid model last year when other districts offered full in-class instruction.

Kocak, seeking his second consecutive term on the board and third overall, said he sees the biggest issue facing the district is keeping taxes down, in the face of rising costs, such as salaries.

Kocak, who oversees Webster's Gift — which assists with guide dogs for the blind and visually impaired — is running on the slate with Baverso, Detschelt and Ilagan. Like the others, Kocak said he is against the mask mandates but does not want to go against state requirements because "we want our state funding."

Muniz, who conducts clinical research for a pharmaceutical company, said there needs to be an emphasis on the physical and mental health of students who have gone through the pandemic.

Muniz said she favors screening for mental health issues and more teachers should be trained in proper intervention on mental health issues.

Williams, a researcher on mental health and autism, is running on a slate with Muniz. She also wants more mental health screening for students who could be suffering from the effects of the covid pandemic and the disruption in learning, with a hybrid format and virtual instruction.

In light of the recent incident with two Norwin students wearing Confederate flag-patterned clothing on 'Merica Day, Williams said she would like to see Norwin institute "a culture of inclusivity and kindness and acceptance."

Commenting on the bitterness of the school board election, "it's sad how negative and divisive this has become. It should be about the future of education" in the school district, Williams said.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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