Q&A with Washington Township Republican candidates for Waynesboro Area School Board
Four candidates are seeking the Republican nomination in the May 16 primary election for two seats representing Washington Township on the Waynesboro Area School Board.
They are incumbent Linda F. Zimmerman, Margie Shaeffer, Clint Pentz and incumbent Karen Fitzgerald Herald.
The election also covers one school board seat for the Borough of Waynesboro and two for the North Area — Quincy Township, the Borough of Mont Alto and Guilford 5, the South Mountain area.
In the May 16 primary election: Q&A with candidates for magisterial district judge in Waynesboro and Washington Township
In the May 16 primary election: Q&A with Republican candidates for Franklin County commissioner
Republican Lloyd Hamberger is the only name on the ballot in Waynesboro while incumbents Patricia A. Stine and Rachel Fortney are unopposed in the North Area. There are no Democratic candidates for the three positions.
We asked the candidates in the contested Washington Township race to respond to a few questions via email. Below are their responses, listed in the order the candidates will appear on the ballot. Their responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Linda F. Zimmerman
Why are you running for the Waynesboro Area School Board?
I am running for re-election for the WASD School Board because I have a passion for kids and I care about providing them with a quality education in a safe environment. Our children are our future. I have cross-filed for election because I am representing all the residents of Washington Township — Republicans, Democrats and Independents … and foremost, their children.
What skills, background and qualifications do you have for the position?
I have had prior school board experience. My first meeting on the WASD School Board in December of 2019 was the introduction of our redistricting for our elementary schools, which became a difficult and very controversial issue. Soon thereafter came COVID. I was thrust into making difficult decisions without prior experience on the school board. However, I am so proud to say that thanks to our former superintendent, Tod Kline, as well as our administrators and teachers, we completed our 2020-2021 school year with only 8 days out of school (… and three of those were snow days!) My understanding is that very few school districts in the state are able to report the same. And research is now showing that our students benefitted by attending school. I am proud of the many strides we have made in the district over the past 3 1/2 years. We are looking forward to the future with both our staff and student improvements and innovations.
I believe our environment and experiences influence our views. I grew up in a thrifty middle-class family here in Waynesboro and attended public schools. Since then, my varied experiences have given me insight into tolerance and acceptance which have led me to value respect for others.
Experiences:
Educator for almost 20 years teaching in middle school, high school and university levels
Volunteer on a high school SAP team to assist students facing difficulties
Member of multiple local non-profit boards
Resident of Germany for 1 1/2 years — learned to acclimate to a new culture
Housemother to 12 middle-school boys, who had grown up on the streets of Philadelphia (I worked with both social workers and psychologists to help them overcome not only prior difficulties, but also to help them navigate the obstacles they faced in their highly-academic public school.)
Volunteer on health-care mission trips to multiple developing and third-world countries in South America, Central America, Africa and Eastern Europe.
Mother of five grown children and grandmother of 16 (I have personally experienced children with many different interests, abilities and learning differences.)
What are the main issues facing the Waynesboro Area School District?Ever since I began serving on the WASD School Board over three years ago, I have been concerned with the education provided to our students through the cyber-charter schools in PA. At first, I saw this as only a fiscal problem. This is definitely a huge financial burden for our district. Pre-COVID, WASD spent less that 2 million dollars per year on cyber-charter schools. Our projected expenditure this year is 3.6 million dollars … and every dollar comes from our taxpayers.
(As I have continued to follow this issue, I want to inform you that 465 out of 500 school boards in PA have signed a document asking PA legislators to reform the cyber-charter laws and public school payments.)
As I have delved into the cyber-charter even further, I’ve found out that (According to the New York News and World Report 2022 rankings) WASD High School was ranked within the top 25th% in the state and the cyber-charter schools which our students are attending are ranked within the bottom 25th% in the state.
I am very cognizant of the costs to our district taxpayers … and I will continue to spend every taxpayer dollar wisely; however, my concern has become even larger than the cost to the district. I do not want our students in these programs receiving an inferior education than they could receive in our local schools.
Another concern with cyber-schools: Our US Surgeon General recently explained how he, himself, experienced loneliness and how detrimental it was for himself as well as how detrimental it is for our youth. Our youth need socialization for a healthy, well-rounded educational experience to prepare them for life. Does a cyber-charter school provide socialization?
Cyber-charter schools may be the perfect fit for some students, but, I feel, it is not the best choice for many who are enrolled from our area.
I want the best education and preparation for life that we are able to provide for our future generations in Waynesboro.
Margie Schaeffer
Why are you running for Waynesboro Area School Board?
I am running for WASD School Board Director for the Washington Township Area as a concerned retired grandparent of an 8 year old third grade boy who attends Hooverville Elementary. Standardized PSSA testing has dropped in the WASD Elementary Schools from 2018 Pre-COVID scores of 64-75.6% to 2022 Post-COVID scores of 39.7-53%. Math & Science PSSA tests scores have fallen to equally alarming levels. Only 1 out of 3 students in America can read on grade level. I also have a 2 year old granddaughter who was born during the COVID year of 2021 who should have a vocabulary of 50 words and be putting together short sentences, however, she may have half of these language skills. Due to the isolation and masking of children born during the epidemic, these up-and-coming students are developmentally delayed also in social skills.
In general, suicide rates have increased and high school libraries in Waynesboro, Greencastle and Chambersburg have been found to contain sexually inappropriate books of pornography, tantric sex, sex and church gender, homosexuality and transition of Christian Ethics, sex, work and sex work eroticizing organization. (Electronic books not hardcopies.)
I have listened, in confidence, for 32 years to many Taxpayers about School Board concerns. I have attended School Board meetings for the last 3 years and presented many of the following concerns during the “Public Comments” period. I have not been able to improve the issues at hand. By being elected to the School Board I would be an experienced educator, and administrator with a practical business financial background.
What skills, background and qualifications do you have for the position?
I have 2 degrees in Education. My undergraduate BS is in Health and Physical Education from Towson State in Baltimore. I received a Graduate Teaching Assistantship to attend Frostburg State in Western Maryland to earn my Master’s Degree in Education. I have been an Educational Specialist since first teaching at Bloomsburg State in 1977. Both of my parents became teachers in 1960. Teaching is in my genes. I moved here in 1983 to accept a Teaching position at Wilson College. When we started our family in 1985 and 1987, I cut back to part time teaching, while my boys were young, which included Penn State Mont Alto, Hagerstown Junior College, and the High School for the Performing Arts at Thomas Johnson High in Frederick. I went on to graduate from the Baltimore School of Massage so I could work from home. I started Synergy Massage School/Wellness Center in 1996 which grew to 3 programs totaling 57 students and 16 employees. In 2005, Synergy earned Accreditation with the USDE Commission of Massage Therapy Accreditation. In 2007 Synergy was awarded the Highest Biotone/COMTA EDU-Scholarship Award.
Our oldest son, Keith … born healthy, passed from diabetes and leukemia at age 16. Returning a child to God is the hardest life experience a parent can have… this resulted in my grassroots lobbying with the Pa Coalition for Informed Consent at both the State and National levels of government for the last 8 years. I have learned much about the inner workings of Harrisburg & Washington. We must figure out how to keep our hard earned tax dollars here in Waynesboro and eliminate Federal corruption that is destroying our State Rights to self-govern.
What are the main issues facing the Waynesboro Area School District?
School Safety for Students and Teachers
Vaccinations and Schools
Curriculum Content
Chromebook Education vs. Learning from Books and Computers
Financials showing a 1.4 million Deficit for 2023-24
Parental rights to full Informed Consent of all resources utilized in the educational process of our Children.
Transparency of what the WASD School Board is doing with the taxpayers money must occur! For the 32 years, I have relied on paychecks that come directly from my performance as a self-employed business owner. I believe I have the skills to help WASD return to the quality educational standards that existed in the 1960s by making the School Board accountable for all expenditures, cutting waste and making sure that our children are not being indoctrinated with liberal values that are destroying our great American society! I will need help from the community to make decisions that are best for our students. To do this I will need to communicate by email policies the Board is discussing so I can vote wisely for our community.
Clint Pentz
Why are you running for the Waynesboro Area School Board?
I am running for the position because I want to give back to the community and assist with the group to solve issues that arise in our district. I am a life-long resident of the Waynesboro Area School District (minus college years) and was born in Waynesboro Hospital. There are many issues being raised in districts across the nation that we need to prevent from coming into this district. I have been blessed with 3 children ages 3, 5 and 7. I want my children to have the same opportunity for traditional as I had as a child.
What skills, background and qualifications do you have for the position?
I graduated with a Bachelor of Fisheries Science with a minor in Chemistry from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania. I went on to complete a Doctor of Pharmacy and Master of Business Administration degree from Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia. After graduation I served in various staffing and management positions at both Waynesboro and Chambersburg Hospital. During my time at Waynesboro Hospital, I designed and was the program director for a nationally accredited multi-site pharmacy residency program. I was featured for the cover story on Pharmacy Today Magazine (December 2014) for medication cost savings and strict inventory management. I have extensive training in process improvement and cutting waste. My 10-plus years in management and managing large budgets will be an asset to the Waynesboro Area School District.
What are the main issues facing the Waynesboro Area School District?
Transparency in many aspects. Work to increase transparency of public information and actively push this information to parents and taxpayers. Safe schools report (report that lists acts of violence, number of suspensions, truancy) is blank for WASHS and WAMS. All other high schools and middle schools in the county have reported incidents. I would also like to see a more detailed proposed budget made available to the parents and citizens of our district. As it currently stands there is over $9 million in “other purchased services” that I feel should be visible to the public as this accounts for over 10% of the budget with a proposed budget shortfall of $1.4 million. All of this is public information so please look it up.
Work to hold parents and students accountable (for things like alcohol, weapons, controlled substances, truancy) on the same set of standards across the district. In the current state, based on talking to many different families, there is great variation from school to school on this matter.
Work on academics — the 2020-2021 Act 13 building level scores from the state in our county (average for the district) are:
Shippensburg 76.3
Chambersburg 75.9
Tuscarora 75.8
Fannett-Metal 74.2
Greencastle 72.6
Waynesboro 65.7
This is all public information that can be found on the Pennsylvania Department of Education website.
The school needs to be a place of learning. Teachers need to have the freedom to teach, the parents need to parent. We need to work together as a community to achieve a safe and rich learning environment for our children. The people closest to the work (teachers, principals, assistants, and support staff) are the best problem solvers. When the people closest to the work have an environment where there is no fear of speaking up a great culture is established. We need a highly engaged workforce in the Waynesboro Areas School District.
Karen Fitzgerald Herald
Why are you running for the Waynesboro Area School Board?
Eight years ago, there was much conflict among members of the school board and discontent with some administrators. I saw a school district I loved become a place of fear and mistrust. Upon being elected I attempted to restore civility to interactions among board members and positive interactions among the administration and community members. With the help of several of my colleagues, I believe that was accomplished. This also allowed for many favorable educational opportunities and growth to occur once that happened. I am very happy with the current board and administration and the direction in which our district is headed. Although we have much work to be done and will continue to deal with difficult issues, I feel I have been a positive influence in successfully dealing with the issues we have faced since 2016 and have been a part of initiating many new and commendable procedures and policies. In my opinion, there now exists a more collegial and cooperative manner in dealing with all staff and stakeholders. I would like to be part of that continued growth for the next four years.
What skills, background and qualifications do you have for the position?
I was an educator for 32 years, a coach for 20 years, advisor to many school organizations and clubs, and have served on the School Board for the past 7 1/2 years. During my Board tenure, I served as Board President for four years and Vice President for two. I have been involved in all aspects of board operations including budget, facilities, academic, and personnel. I have been in countless committee meetings, interviews, and trainings and have spoken with hundreds of parents, constituents and concerned community members.
I have also served on The Institute Board, Franklin Learning Center Board, Waynesboro Beneficial Fund, Five Forks Church Deacons and volunteered with Waynesboro Community and Human Services, taught Sunday School and been on YL Committee. I enjoy talking with people and have always tried to respond to emails and phone calls in a timely manner.
During my time on the Board, I have been pleased to see many positive accomplishments and improvements. These include: keeping schools open 172/180 days during 2020-21 (when most schools across the nation and state were closed), starting the First Choice Initiative, instituting all-day kindergarten and a pre-k program, improving communication and transparency, building up the general fund and keeping taxes among the lowest in the county. I believe the knowledge gained and experiences I’ve had would continue to be beneficial to the community and district by serving one more term on the Board.
What are the main issues facing the Waynesboro Area School District?
All school districts continue to deal with the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. We are no exception. We continue to address learning loss from that time and still deal with some who are struggling with mental health issues. Financially, during COVID we received money from the government for specific types of expenditures, but that money will soon be discontinued. We have always struggled with not having enough revenue to meet our needs and we will soon, once again, be dealing with this.
Discipline and behavioral problems are also of concern. Despite taking measures such as creating behavioral classrooms and hiring three police resource officers, we continue to work to help students individually and protect all of those attending the WASD. State and federal regulations do not only hurt our finances (with mainly unfunded mandates), but also with how we respond to behavioral and educational issues. My preference would be for more local control, but that is not something individual school districts can change. Therefore, we must deal with dictates that do not always reflect the wishes of our community. On the issues we do have control over, I have tried to have our district reflect the values of our community in our policies and practices while focusing closely on the quality education of every single child. If elected I will continue to do so.
This article originally appeared on Waynesboro Record Herald: Meet the Washington Township candidates for Waynesboro School Board
