'Residents for Lower Taxes and Better Education' Vie for School Board Seats

The Baldwin-Whitehall area will see .

Eleven total candidates are competing for a position on the  School Board, which will soon have five seats open for four-year terms and one seat open for a two-year team.

Six candidates—Laurencine Romack, Larry Pantuso, Kevin J. Fischer, Sam DiNardo Jr., Diana Kazour and Ray Rosing—have formed a "Residents for Lower Taxes and Better Education" committee, while the other five candidates—

Each of the aforementioned Baldwin-Whitehall School Board candidates has cross-filed to have his or her name appear on both the Democratic and Republican ballots.

Recently, Romack, Pantuso, Fischer and DiNardo conducted interviews with the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch to answer questions about their pasts and their plans. (While not every candidate felt it necessary to answer every question, the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch, despite multiple attempts, could not reach Kazour or Rosing for any comments.)

Brief Biographies

Romack, 42, was , and will mark 11 years as a Range Drive resident in this July. She is originally from Pittsburgh's Highland Park neighborhood and graduated from Sacred Heart High School in 1986. She then graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor's degree in broadcast cable in 1990—with a minor in business. Romack then earned a teaching certificate in elementary education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1992. She is a homemaker and a former teacher in the Pittsburgh Public Schools system. Romack has three children who have been enrolled in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District since kindergarten: a freshman, a sixth-grader and a third-grader.

Pantuso, 44, has lived in for the past 16 years, including the past five on Jill Drive. Before moving to Whitehall, he lived in Baldwin and Pleasant Hills boroughs. He is originally from and graduated from in 1985. Pantuso earned a nursing degree from St. Francis Medical Center in 1990 before receiving a bachelor's degree in nursing from Carlow College (now a university) in 1996. Pantuso also earned a master's degree in business administration from Grand Canyon University in 1998 and a certificate in executive leadership from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009. Pantuso, who has been in health care administration since 1996, is the nursing director for West Virginia University Healthcare. He has three children at Baldwin High: a senior, a junior and a freshman. Pantuso was formerly a paramedic for Medical Rescue Team South Authority.

Fischer, 48, has been a B-W School Board member for eight years. He has lived on Norma Drive in Baldwin Borough since 2000 and was raised on Baldwin's Norine Drive before moving to the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Allentown and then Bon Air. He graduated from South Hills High School before receiving a bachelor's degree in political science and business management from Pitt in 1984, and a master's in business administration from Robert Morris University in 1986. Fischer worked in circulation for the Pittsburgh Press Company before becoming an administrative assistant to Allegheny County Controller Frank Lucchino. Fischer has been in the controller's office since 1989, serving under Lucchino for 11 years before becoming a contract manager for Controller Dan Onorato's administration. He is now the operations manager for Controller Mark Patrick Flaherty's accounting division. Fischer moved his two children to the B-W School District from Pittsburgh public schools when they were in fourth and sixth grade. The children graduated from Baldwin High in 2007 and 2009.

DiNardo, 46, was also appointed to the B-W School Board in February, this year. He has lived on Page Drive in Baldwin Borough for 21 years after growing up in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood and graduating from Central Catholic High School in 1983. He is a finance secretary for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85  and has been an officer of that union for 12 years. DiNardo has three kids. His oldest is a Penn State student that attended B-W public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. He also has an 11th-grader at Baldwin High and a 10th-grader who left B-W after middle school to attend Central Catholic.

Q-and-A

- Baldwin-Whitehall Patch: What makes the Baldwin-Whitehall School District attractive to new homebuyers?

Laurencine Romack: I believe that Baldwin-Whitehall is attractive to new homebuyers because we offer a competitive school system at an affordable price. Our special-education program has always been a leader in that area, (too).

Larry Pantuso: One of the first things that makes the B-W School District attractive to new homebuyers is the nice communities, with shopping, parks (and) affordable housing with easy access to Downtown Pittsburgh, the (Pittsburgh International) Airport and areas outside of the area via the network of highways that are in close proximity. Our school district itself offers a complete education package with programs available for all children no matter what their area of interest is or educational ability. We offer special education programs such as ESL (English-as-a-second-language), life skills, learning and emotional support for our learning-challenged students, as well as gifted programs for those that are high academic achievers. Our academic programs also offer advanced-placement courses at the high-school level for students wishing to attend a college or a university, as well as the many vocational and trade programs that are offered through our affiliation with Steel Center Area Vocational Technical School. In addition to the academic offerings, the Baldwin-Whitehall School District has many activities at the elementary and middle-school levels that are designed to supplement the in-school experience with real-life experiences to teach team-building and independence, which are vital, lifelong skills.

Sam DiNardo: The taxes are pretty much stable, and I think they have a good school system.

- BWP: What programs or activities do B-W offer that are better than other districts' in the region?

LP: There are many clubs and activities at the high-school level for students to participate in. No matter what their interest may be, there is something for them. We offer a premier music and performing-arts program which challenges students with a talent for music or the arts to perform with one of our award-winning bands or theater productions. And last but not least, we offer a wide range of WPIAL-sanctioned individual and team sports, as well as intramurals for students interested in playing non-competitively. Our athletic facilities are among the best in the area for our student-athletes' and spectators' safety. Baldwin-Whitehall offers something for everyone and does it all in three great, affordable suburban communities. If you can't find something that interests you in the B-W School District, you are not looking hard enough.

- BWP: What qualifies you to be a school director in B-W?

LR: I think, first of all, my background in education certainly qualifies me. The business is education, and that's definitely what I know. And I think something else that qualifies me is I am in a unique position that I actually think I really know what goes on in the schools. I see what the needs are. I see the things that are implemented how they actually affect the children in the school district. I think I can offer my knowledge of the schools as a school director. And I've been in the and and certainly, that puts me in touch with the parents. And we do deal with figures and budgets and so forth, so I think all that together qualifies me for that.

LP: I think a couple of things. Number one, I have a penchant for education. I really believe that providing an education for kids, an opportunity to excel in what they want to do, whether it be professional or career, whether it be a trade, whatever it is—giving kids every opportunity to find themselves in the world and do what they want to do—I think is very important. What particularly suits me for it is I've been involved in my children's education since they started school, so I understand what goes on in the schools. But also, having children—my oldest son being special-needs and having been in special-ed(ucation) his entire school career and my other two children who are typical children—I've seen both sides of the spectrum. It does take more involvement and more responsibility to have a child in special-needs—so much more regulation. You really have to be an advocate for your child. And secondly, the whole business side: $60 million is a huge budget. And there's so many aspects of it that are a business. I know it's supported by a tax base; however, you still have fiduciary responsibility to the people of the district to make sure that you're managing those aspects well. My management experience—I have multiple years of hiring people, doing HR (human-resources) things, so that all goes along with the administrative aspects of the school director, as well as the strategic planning, the marketing aspect of it. You need to sell the district. We need to use our business experiences as well as our parental and educational experiences to provide a great education and to lure people and entice them into the district for what they're going to get in return. People spend a ton of money on their taxes, and they need to see a very good return on what they invest in.

Kevin Fischer: You could answer that in a number of ways. I think, when you look at a school system, the various amounts and types of stakeholders that there are, anybody's qualified at any point. When school-district taxes are at their highest, you could look at somebody who has an interest in the financial side of it as being there (on the school board). Obviously, anybody with children in the district has a real stake—and they feel, more personal stake—at that level. And then, just general community-involved people because it's a volunteer position. And you have to realize that a school district really is the identity for the communities that it encompasses, and so, if you're really active and involved in your community and you want to see that community grow, then your school district is really important to have it be successful and viable. So, what would qualify anybody? Really, it could be any number of those things. For me, it's a combination of everything. I had children in the district, so there was that great stakeholder. I have an interest in the communities that I've lived in. Going back into my previous life in the city (Pittsburgh), I was extremely involved in the community on a volunteer basis. So, this is sort of the pinnacle of that. Probably the hardest volunteer position I think in any community would be a school director right behind maybe a volunteer fireman. They put their life on the line all the time. Of course, some might say that school directors do, too (laughs), in certain ways. So, you have that aspect, and then, on the other side, we're all taxpayers. We're all concerned about where our tax dollars are going and how they're being spent. Are they being spent efficiently? Effectively? What's our return on that investment? So, I think when you encompass all those factors, that qualifies most people to be there, but we all bring our own strengths. It could be professional background. It could be a homemaker that has a genuine interest, that is very involved in a lot of, maybe, youth programs or community activities and the like. It could be somebody that has a great business background, a financial background. It could be somebody with an educational background. It could be somebody with a medical background. It could be any background for that purpose, but there has to be that inside part of you that wants to do this because it is a volunteer position. So, you have to know that. I, occasionally, at board meetings, will chirp it out that this is volunteer; I'm not paid to do this. And I truly believe that school directors ought to be paid some stipend. If you can pay your borough council people, your township commissioners, you can pay a school director for what we do. So, I truly believe that, but what it is now: It's volunteer. So, when you look at these people, it's that burning desire inside to really give back to that community in some way, shape or form, and this is pretty much an ultimate way to do that.

SD: Being a taxpayer, I feel that qualifies me to be there to know how taxpayers' money is going to be spent and how the kids are going to be educated.

- BWP: What made you want to run for a spot on the B-W school board?

LR: When I came to Baldwin-Whitehall, not being from here, I was very impressed with the school district and what my children have received from Baldwin-Whitehall, and I feel like everything that I've done for the past 10 years, almost 11 since I've been here, has kind of led me to this. I'm getting so involved with the parent groups, serving on every committee possible through the parent groups, serving on district committees. I feel like I've done so much. I really have done a lot for the children in the district, and it's a passion. Education of children is a passion I have, and this felt like the natural next step where I could really, really do something for the kids. Like I said, I'm very happy with the education my children have received, and I want all parents to be able to walk away from Baldwin-Whitehall when they leave those doors at the high school and say they feel like their children got what they needed from Baldwin-Whitehall. And I'm there to help them reach that goal and be able to say that.

LP: I think my children have gotten a great education from Baldwin-Whitehall, and I want to give my talents back to the district and to help other people give back to the district to further itself more. I think it's a great district, but like anything, it's a process that works if people are involved. And those people that have the talents that can do it should be involved. It's like anything else. Democracies only work if people get involved, and I think that, with my background, I can help make it better for the next generation.

KF: You pick where you live, and where you live is your school district. And part of why you live there is more than likely going to be because of the school district. For me, that hits, because I had a choice when (my family) w(as) looking to move from the City of Pittsburgh. I will admit to anybody that's out there that, certainly, amongst one of the areas was Mt. Lebanon. Why? Because Mt. Lebanon is a blue-ribbon school district. Academics. I wasn't worried about who's picking up the garbage. I wasn't worried about police patrol. You see all that. That didn't worry me; I figured that's going to be done. The communities are nice; I mean, depending on where you go and all that. Dollar for dollar, though, and value for the buck, I think Baldwin-Whitehall gives it to you. This school district had a very good reputation. Is it 100-percent perfect? No. Can it improve? Yes. So, you want to live here for a lot of that reason: because of the school system. Your desire, to answer the previous question of wanting to be involved and taking that to the next level, sends you to the school board to say, "Hey, I want to be involved, and I'm going to be involved with this here." I can't say I would rather be involved as a board member in any other school district outside of Baldwin-Whitehall. I enjoy doing this. I enjoy the people (on the board). They've been very good in the eight years that I've been there, even during some rough situations that I've had to deal with as a board member. The teachers strike back in '07 was a very difficult time for this district. Some of the issues that we've had to contend with over the past eight years haven't been easy, but I relish a challenge. It is a challenge. I think I've been welcomed by most people in this school district. I appreciate that, and I'm happy to do it. That's why, to some degree, why I'm running again.

SD: I think that a good school board causes the administration to be accountable to get the kids to be more educated, to get a higher proficiency. And I think, with my background, we could make them (administration) fiscally responsible also.

- BWP: Which political party are each of you registered with?

LP: Well, we're on both tickets, but we're registered with the Democratic Party.

LR: Same.

KF: Democrat. Proud to be a Democrat. 

SD: Registered Democrat.

- BWP: What made you all decide to run together?

LP: I don't want to speak for everybody, but I'll just give you the general consensus. I think, when you look at our responses, they're all pretty similar. We didn't rehearse it. I don't mean to speak for everybody else, but I think we share a lot of the same vision, same desires and goals for the district. That's truly what I believe, and we have a common thread.

LR: To piggyback on what (Fischer) said before about what makes a good school board member, I think that we all offer a great deal—each of the candidates, and we certainly each have our strength that we could bring. So, as a group together, as a school board together, I think we've got it all. 

KF: What I look at it really, truly goes to the vision of where we want this district to go from where it was. It's not that it was in a bad place, but there were just a lot of issues that needed to be straightened out. When I got on the board eight years ago with the people that I ran with at that point in time, we basically became a quote-unquote majority of the board, if you will. Not that I ever think there's a minority; I think that there are people who choose to be in a minority, if you will. I think the board is an open process. Since I've been there, nobody's ever been shut out. It depends on how you want to conduct yourself. There's obviously six (candidates) on our ticket; there's five on theirs (the "Committee to Build a Better Board") because we have one person running specifically for a two-year term (DiNardo). So, I would never say that they (board members of minority opinion) are excluded from anything unless they choose to be. There's a nature of competition to that point, so it's natural that we're running (and) they're running. You join up as a team for a couple reasons. One, we do share a vision. I really don't know what that ticket's ("Better Board") vision is. I haven't heard anything from them that has said, "We don't think the district's heading in the right direction. We don't think they're doing the right thing." I don't know why they're running. I haven't heard that yet. I may never hear it; I don't know. It'll be interesting to hear what it is because their committee is the "Committee to Build a Better Board." Well, I mean, that's an insult in a certain way to all of us, including one of the members that's running on that team (current school board member Stiffey), but that's okay. You can play on the words if you wish, but the point for us I think to run as a ticket—obviously, there's some economics to it: You split the cost of a campaign six ways, so that's one. But I truly believe that it goes to whatever individual strengths. We're all individual people, but we share that common goal of academic improvement while running this district in a very cost-efficient manner. And that's what I think this board has done over the last good four, five, six years after it really got in control of things and really tried to stabilize it in a very financial way, get rid of the structural deficit that was constant, and then, moving it forward. And if you look at the improvements that have been made—infrastructural-wise, physical assets, and then, now, moving forward in that academic progress, which is what we really need to do to put the stamp on this district. That's to grow, and then, you move from there and say to the municipalities that encompass us, "Now, it's your turn. What are you doing to attract families here? We've done pretty much everything we could do."

SD: In conversation, we spoke, and we felt that we know each other, and we just decided to run as a slate. I don't know any of the people on the other slate ("Better Board"). If they were standing in front of me, I wouldn't know what they look like, but the people on my slate, I've known since I've lived up here.

- BWP: What would you make your No. 1 priority as a school director?

LR: My No. 1 priority is, and what really made me want to run, is to see that each child leaves this school district with the education that was vested into them. And that's my goal: to see that that's done for each child.

KF: Eight years ago, part of my goal was to stabilize this district in a financial way, and I think we've accomplished that, at least as we sit here today. There will be many challenges in the future, and we'll all need to address them. They may circumvent whatever priority we want to sit here (and establish) today, depending on what the state government does to public education, but as I sit here, my No. 1 priority is the academic achievements of the district—the performance, where we're at. I think it's a shame if any of our school buildings do not achieve, at a minimum, AYP (adequate yearly progress). And that's the first goal that we need to (have). The board needs to be very aggressive in getting our academic people to focus on that and push that agenda forward. We got some very good teachers and instructors up there, and I know that they're attempting to do their job. Somehow, we need to do better. There's something that's just falling out, that we're just missing that, and we need to make it happen. So, that would be my priority.

LP: My first priority would be to see that we implement a process to improve our standardized (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) scores. You know, we talk about attracting people to the district. Right or wrong, one of the first things people look at is how did the students score on standardized tests. We've been consistent for the last couple of years, but we can do better. I think that we have to do better, more than the middle of the road.

SD: It's to keep taxes stable, low, right where they're at, without any increase in taxes and to try to make the education system stronger in science and the guidance department.

- BWP: What is the school board currently doing that you would like it to continue to do or to stop doing? And why?

KF: If you look at it going back—and I have some history there—financially and fiscally, where this district was and how it operated with a structural deficit for years, we raised the taxes, increased fund balance, bleed off the fund balance because it was deficit-ridden and then go back and increase it. It was just a yo-yo all of the time. That cycle needed to be done away with. You needed to stabilize. We did that with some tough decisions—at some point in time, in cutting teachers. It really should be done. When you start looking at your population, you need to assess where your student-body numbers are at and how many teachers you need to fill in that gap—same with custodians, the bus drivers, whole nine yards. All that needed to be done. That was done; it gave us a little bit of an advantage going into that. If you look at some good accomplishments—obviously, the high-school construction project is huge. It finished under budget. It allowed us a nice little buffer to come into this year's budget, which is going to be challenging. Baldwin-Whitehall, although, is a district you do not hear mentioned when you see articles about school districts facing a crunch, furloughing teachers, cutting programs, entertaining those discussions. You don't hear Baldwin-Whitehall in that mix in this day and age, and there's a reason for that. There was a very thoughtful board in the years past that put us in the position that we're in today as we sit here. I think those are very good things the board has done, and again, I think there's a focus indeed in moving that into the academic side now. We've straightened out those finances, straightened out that physical infrastructure. You give yourself that ability. Our technology is second-to-none in this region, this area, and so, there's no reason our kids cannot make that achievement, to make that leap and that jump. And that's where it has to go next.

LP: I don't see anything that (the board is) doing that I would like to see it stop doing. No.

SD: No, I think what (the board is) doing's fine.

- BWP: What new topics would you like the school board to explore? And why?

LR: To be honest, this has never come up, and I really don't know how the other committee people feel, but I would not be opposed to having board meetings taped and televised. I don't know why we don't do that, to be honest, for transparency's sake and simply for people who maybe can't attend. I can't speak for everyone. There may be a reason that the board hasn't done that, but that's me personally.

KF: It (televising board meetings) has come up in the past. I'm not so sure there's any opposition to it. There's always some debate and discussion. They (board members) did go so far as to look at the local cable channel. There was no push for it, but there was movement along those lines to do that. It never really got over, if you will, with nobody pushing it. I don't know if there would be opposition to it or not … But for me, with the way the board conducts its business, it is what it is. We can always try to make it more streamline, but you got to be careful. We try to streamline the meetings so that they run more efficiently as opposed to voting on every routine item. But there are some things that need changed. (DiNardo) brought it up that voting for big purchases (should be done independently). I think there's merit to that, and it probably should be done that way—those types of things. And I think that's a constant. We're a living, breathing body; we're always in flux. There's ideas today, tomorrow, whenever it hits. What's happening? We're a microcosm of society as well with that. Those things are always coming up. Do I have anything right now that I'd want to improve? Not the way we run business currently. I haven't heard "oohs" and "aahs" from the vast majority of people out there regarding things. There's always going to be somebody that thinks that, because we're a board, that we got something on (an agenda) that maybe discussion was moot or insignificant, that there's a conspiracy. There's always conspiracy theorists that are out there. And it's really not; it's just the way the business is conducted. We are very transparent. I don't think there's anything that goes on in our district that is not public, is not voted on in public, is not discussed in public that happens. It's just who chooses to avail themselves to either reading the minutes, the agendas, coming to the meetings. I'm not so sure I'd do anything (to change board practices). I have no opposition to television, but I would have concern over some board members, myself included, trying to look their best for the camera (laughs). The camera adds about 30 pounds, so I'd have to go on my quick diet, wear dark clothes, no stripes. But no, I'm real comfortable with the way things are. No real priority except, as I said before, that academic performance, really trying to hit that.

SD: I think we need to get a handle on the science departments and the guidance departments, and I feel that we should get a contract for all the bus drivers and the maintenance people. That's probably my biggest priority: to get those people that have been working without a contract since last June, to get the administration to sit down with the union and negotiate a fair settlement for both parties.

- BWP: How would you help the B-W School District improve its PSSA scores?

LP: I'll get the 10,000-pound elephant out of the room. Studies have proven that money being spent doesn't improve PSSA scores, so that's one thing we know. But I think that it's a systematic approach. Administration gets a printout of every child's PSSA scores, so you know who's at the bottom, you know who's at the top, you know who's on the bubble. And I think that it's incumbent upon the district for the administration to really be able to analyze this to see who are the kids that are performing below level in reading, in mathematics, et cetera. Compare what they did on the PSSA test based on their regular report cards, and then, we need to look at their trends. And this has been done. It's not rocket science; it's not cutting-edge stuff that I'm telling you. This has been done. You need to look at the scores. You see (if) you can draw similarities. Do 15 kids who scored below, say, a median average on this reading test were all in, maybe, Mr. (So-and-So)'s class? Or maybe, there's a portion of them. Is there an issue there? You get into root-cause analysis and begin to break it down. You see exactly what trends you're seeing. The second part of it is I think we need to practice taking the test. It's a standardized test. Kids on a typical basis don't get the standardized test like they see on a PSSA in a routine class throughout the year in a school. I think we practice taking the test. And, along those lines, we need to make sure that the teaching that goes on for 182 days in the school is going to prepare them to meet what's on the PSSA test. I mean there's nothing that takes the place of traditional, good old-fashioned teaching in the classroom. And then, the last part of it, there's a parental involvement as well. School districts work, teachers do phenomenal jobs, (and) we've got technology. We've got teachers who are well-trained to teach children; however, teaching doesn't just occur for six or seven hours in the school building during the day. There needs to be parental involvement with homework and with the school board and things of that sort. And so, you can't just look at the district—I don't care what school district it is—and say, "Why aren't your PSSA scores better?" Yet, the school district can do multiple steps to help them get better. But also, I think it's everybody. It's the parents, the teachers, the form of instruction, the type of instruction and root analysis to see where our shortcomings are. It's something that, if changed today, we may not see the results of that intervention be tangible for maybe not a year, maybe two years down the road. It's a process. That's kind of my take on the PSSA scores.

KF: I would say that Larry hit almost everything on the head and took the hat to that, except for the fact that the district has invested quite a bit of money in software to do exactly what he's saying—Study Island primarily—following where these kids have strengths and weaknesses, and et cetera, to get to the point where these scores improve. It is a shame I guess on one side—I don't know if it's good, bad or indifferent—that we are gearing a lot of curriculum, if you will, toward these tests. School today is not anything like when we went to school. I look at my children—who got a great education, who are doing very well in their chosen field—who owe a lot of that start to what (they) learned at Baldwin High School and some of the teachers that (they) had there. Some of them were very tough in setting (them) into that mindset of where (they) wanted to go … So, they get what they want out of it, really, and that goes to parental involvement there. So, it's very tough for educators to deal with parents that don't want to be dealt with. That's a question that I don't know what the answer is. But as a board member, I'll be interested in hearing what our professional educators would say about that. But those are people that you have to reach, too. Those are kids that you have to reach that may cost a little bit more to do that. I don't know the exact answer, but I think Larry touched on all the important components of where we need to go with that.

LR: I agree with all that. And again, I'm speaking for myself, but you can't ignore the PSSA scores that are not good. But, if you really analyze it, those are subgroups. I don't think that speaks to the district. It's a shame that that gets put out there because I don't think it speaks to the district as a whole. I know, for my own children, looking at their PSSA scores, they're fabulous. They're not having problems. I think we need to identify the students, and like Larry said, go ahead and look into the reasoning behind (poor performance) and find what it is and give (those students) that support.

SD: The (B-W) Superintendent (Dr. Lawrence C. Korchnak) put a plan of action out last night (Wednesday, May 11) pertaining to that, and they're going to have monthly meetings on how they're teaching. And they're going to make adjustments and stuff like that, so I think there's a plan in action that was , and I think it's a good idea.

- BWP: How can B-W adjust to ?

KF: This district is in very good shape going into this next coming fiscal year for school districts, and that's no short feat considering everything that's happened, giving large credit again to a very thoughtful, diligent board in the years past that put us in this position. I don't know where we go the year after that, but we don't know what this budget is going to be like. If it stays as is, we're okay this coming year. But I think that, during this coming year, no matter who is on the board, we're going to have to need to get together early and really discuss the following year and what options are out there. That's where I think (for 2012-13), for Baldwin-Whitehall, where decisions will have to be made of some nature. I don't know exactly what that will be: raising revenue in some way, cutting expenses in some way. I still think, even in that year, my personal opinion is that we won't be seeing anything drastic coming out of our district like you see in Steel Valley, furloughing a certain amount of teachers, et cetera, cutting programs like I read up in the north with some districts. So, I don't think we're going to be to that point even in '12-'13. In '13-'14, that might be a little bit different, and that's if everything is as is, status quo. We do have the opportunity to raise revenues at some point. I don't think anybody in the district wants to do that with the economy still struggling to get moving … What's interesting (is), with the current board and past boards bringing us into the financial shape that this district's in, (we're) the only district in the commonwealth that was able to reduce school-district property taxes three years in a row. That's no easy feat, either, to have done that. And during these economic times, I think that's a real giveback to a piece of the stakeholders in this school district—that we can give them back a little bit of their property-tax money while still running a very good and effective school district. It was the proper and right thing to do, especially during these times. So, it helped many of the residents out there in the sense that they had to pay lower property taxes to the school district. When you couple that with the deduction due to the casino revenues that the state allots, Baldwin-Whitehall residents are paying less school-district property taxes today than they were four years ago, maybe even eight years ago. I didn't do the numbers on that, but I know four years ago. So, we're in good shape as we approach this next year. We've been in good shape. Hopefully, we'll continue to find ourselves in that, and we'll see what the state does. Again, Corbett's budget proposed as is—we don't know what the legislature's going to do. It's their budget; they have to pass it. So, we'll see what they do. And come the end of June, we'll see where we're at. It may not be as bad. It may be as bad. We'll handle it no matter which way it ends up this year, and we'll be fine.

SD: Well, two things: One thing is, even with the governor's tax cuts, this school board is in place right now to pass a budget with no tax increase because the previous school directors were frugal with the money. So, even with the loss from Gov. Corbett's budget, you are still able to keep everything status quo. Now, here's another thing: I go to Harrisburg a lot, lobbying, and the governor is going to restore (some pieces of the budget)—not all of it. But, even without getting that money, we'll still have a balanced budget. So, if we get what they're talking about up there (in Harrisburg)—they're going to give $250 million to K(indergarten) through 12(th grade) statewide, which will be more money that we get, and $350 million that they're going to give to the colleges.

- BWP: How can B-W adjust to Senate Bill 1 if it passes (allowing students to attend private schools on public-school money)?

LP: I don't think Senate Bill 1 will ever even make it to the floor for debate, at least as it's written. There are so many constitutional flaws in Senate Bill 1. Boy, as it's written, I think that that was a carrot that was dangled out there for whatever reason, but when you read Senate Bill 1, it does everything that, really, public-school funding shouldn't do. The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania prohibits using public funds for funding religious schools or schools who discriminate based on educational ability, handicapped (status), sex. Senate Bill 1, as it's written right now, basically says, "Mr. (So-and-So), you have a school. Here's vouchers. We'll let you use public-school funds, and you pick and choose who you want to take." You know what I mean? It puts kids who are poor and in underachieving school districts at a further disadvantage than it does right now in the current setup. And it's a mess … If it passes, that'll be the biggest coo and conspiracy I think that's ever been pulled off. I don't know how it could pass right now. There's not even any language in the bill that even addresses something as simple as transportation. So, if I live in Baldwin-Whitehall, and I want to use my voucher to go to (a) Mt. Lebanon or to (an) (school), who pays for my transportation? How do I get there? There's nothing in that bill that even addresses that. The Pennsylvania Department of Education funds, on average, about $13,000 per student, so do they take that money away from—say, we lose 150 kids to neighboring districts—do they pull that $13,000 off of us times 150 kids? None of that's ever been addressed. So, how do you prepare for something that you have no idea what that animal's going to look like? And then, as it stands right now—and there are many experts who have a lot more credentials out there than anything I do who have done the math—it's going to add billions to the cost of education in Pennsylvania. So, we're going to add billions to it on the right hand, but on the left hand, I'm going to take billions away already from the school districts. (Fischer), you've been involved with the AIU (Allegheny Intermediate Unit). Do you agree that it's almost perplexing to even think about because it's so disjointed?

KF: This is one of those great questions: "What if … ?" Well, if the world blows up tomorrow, we don't have to worry about it, so you know, that type of deal. But, I don't know. Everything Larry says is true, at least to my knowledge. And again, it's like the Corbett budget, we don't know what this is until it's finally passed. What they do is they go out and maybe add to it, delete from it. Who knows what they want to do with it? And if they ultimately pass it, we have to deal with it. So, much like the budget comes in, much like a charter school that was thrown in our lap by the state (the ), we have to deal with it. But one of the things that the residents and taxpayers need to know is that it's not our doing. So, these are costs and burdens that they're going to have to bear based on choices from people that really don't know them. If you look at our representative government—yeah, we have state reps and state senators and all that stuff—but this is concocted by some legislator in Philadelphia and I can't remember where the other one was. But, anyway, and then they pass, because—oh, I don't know—(it's) the right thing to do, whatever conspiracy exists up there. And I don't know where it comes down. But, for us, we know what we have to deal with now, and I can't be bothered with that right now because my belief, truly, is that it doesn't matter, really, what we say. We could get together; you could send off a million letters. If the people do—and you could recall going back to CleanSweep when they tried to get the raises—now, if you've got people active and there's a movement out there that gets involved, not PSPA, not the (intermediate units), not PSEA (The Pennsylvania State Education Association) and school boards because we're not going to be influencing them for whatever the reason might be, but if you get the average John Q. Public out there that does pick it up, then they (lawmakers) start to listen. Then, they start to hear what's going on, and until it basically affects most of them (the public) in the pocketbook, they really don't pay much attention. You're going to have the individuals with kids in the district who will pull out of the district or whatever, but I truly believe—and I could be naïve to some degree—that, if (Senate Bill 1) developed, it's not so much the children we would lose, it's the children we may gain. And then, do we have sufficient capacity? I don't know if SB1 addresses that issue.

LP: No, it doesn't.

KF: They could leave City of Pittsburgh (schools) and come here.

LP: The way it's written, yeah.

LR: It's a free-for-all.

LP: You could attend any school.

KF: So, can we absorb that? It's the other side of the coin. I don't know, and again, until it's written, until it's finally sealed and delivered, we're all guessing and speculating. We don't know what the impact would be, could be with that.

LP: I'm with you (Fischer).

KF: (The bill) wasn't thought out very well.

LP: No, it wasn't; it really wasn't. It was thrown out there.

SD: Senate Bill 1, as written, there's a lot of language in it that the Republican caucus can't even agree on, so there's not enough votes on it. But, as far as that bill goes, I don't know what it's going to look like at this point because, every day, they're making changes to it. The original Senate Bill 1, with the voucher system, wouldn't affect many students in our district, as far as the vouchers … The way that it was originally written, they don't have enough votes in either caucus to make it a law, so what they're doing now (is) they're compromising on what changes could be implemented that both caucuses could agree to it. But, at this point, no one in the world knows what Senate Bill 1's going to look like.

- BWP: How closely would you pay attention to the Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania Charter School in ?

KF: I look at it this way. The board currently did vote down their (Young Scholars') charter for numerous reasons, and the state overrode that as it was predicted to do. They (the state) basically issued the charter and said, "Here. It's going to happen." Now, we get the kids who are going to go there. How closely do we monitor it? I think we've got to be aware on a couple fronts. Obviously, there's a financial impact on the district. Those are kids from surrounding areas, not just from Baldwin-Whitehall, that'll go there, but they will take some of our kids. And, if it succeeds, then God bless 'em; it's a good thing. If it does not succeed, we get those kids back, and we've got to be ready and prepared for that as well. If there are other issues there, then they'll need to be brought forth. I'm not going to be the charter-school policeman watching over them. There's enough on my plate with the Baldwin-Whitehall School District. This is a charter school granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It's taken from us because of the way the law's written. It takes our resources away. It takes some of our kids … So, we're watching as it has that direct impact to us, but again, I'm not the policeman for, "Is it living up to its expectation?" It's up to the commonwealth to do that. Again, the public has great power—great power—of persuasion if it uses it and if it gets unified to use it … I don't know what it takes to get the charter revoked, but if it were to go that route—the people that I've met and talked to with this, I think they're very sincere. I do; I think they're well-intended. I just don't know that they have the game plan to pull it off. But again, I'm not going to be the policeman. I'm not going up there to watch and see. I got only so much time to put on the plate (for) Baldwin-Whitehall. That's where I'm putting it; that's where my focus is (the school district). My hope would be that those kids would find that particular charter school not as good (as Baldwin-Whitehall public schools), for lack of a better word, and come back to the Baldwin-Whitehall School District.

- BWP: What are your reactions to the number of threats of violence at B-W schools this school year, i.e. bomb threats? Did district administration act appropriately in each instance?

LR: I think it's very typical of any school. These were truly insignificant threats. There was no real threat. They were at my children's schools, so I got first-hand reports from the kids as to how (they were) handled. And again, it's expected. Unfortunately, they're kids, and they do things from what they get from the media, from what they watch on TV. And it's a culture of violence. Who knows what motivates them? They're teenagers or pre-teens. I think it was handled really well. Like I said, those were my children in the building, and I didn't, for one minute, feel that they were ever in any danger. And there were police called in. It was handled at , the threat—and probably, from the get-go, I probably wouldn't have given it much thought because it was on toilet paper—but they followed protocol. They made sure they did a clean sweep of the area and made sure that it was safe. And then, they got all of the children there to a safe area and then went about the rest of it. I think they handled it very well, and actually, the police were called in. (Romack said that she wasn't sure if police were called to the scene for each recent threat of violence in the B-W School District.) It could have been the first time, but the second time, they (police) definitely did (come to the school). I think it's because they (school administrators) knew the nature of the threat and so forth, but like I said, as a parent with my children in that building, I felt completely confident that they were doing the proper thing for my children.

KF: I think that hearing it from somebody that has a child in the district is probably the best source of response that you're going to get with that. I think that I would agree with Laurencine from my outsider's view. I think the administration handled it well. I think it does lend itself to a problem that we have with the young generation, if you will. As Laurencine said, I don't know why they do this, what the compelling reason is. I think the responses have to be weighed. If you start giving it credibility by emptying the building or by sending kids home, you're now feeding a prankster who's saying, "Yeah, I got what I wanted; we're going home today." So, you've got to be careful and weigh that, but of course, you can never be too careful with the security of children and the fact that it may be real given the society that we do live in. We are not immune in Baldwin-Whitehall. I think, from a standpoint of the actual threat, it's a microcosm. A school district (and) schools themselves are microcosms of the societies that make them up. If they (students) see it out there, if it's happened somewhere else, we copycat; we do it. To that point, I do think that, within the building, the administration can be and maybe, in certain instances, should be more aggressive in finding this (the student making the threat) and locating this if they can be (found). I don't want to pull teachers out of classrooms and go hunting down on a manhunt or anything like that … If you go with bullying, and that's a constant problem, too—again, I go back to "I'm not there everyday." I'm there far less now than I ever was because you don't have kids in the district (anymore). So, if Laurencine's saying the problem's handled well, I would look to her and say, "I agree with that."

LR: And truly, they handled it. Even, as far as the first time, what happened at Harrison—we (parents) just got a simple message that there was an incident. I actually went to, and I don't think I was on the school board yet, went to him (Harrison Principal Michael R. Wetmiller) as a parent and said, "Do you think you could give a little more information next time, because sometimes, a little information causes more panic than the true story?" Next time, we (parents) received a Skylert (voice message) through your phone, email, whatever way you choose to have it, and he gave . The first time, I did have a few parents call me panicking, asking what happened. Next time, not one parent was upset with the way that it was handled, so I think they actually even did improve to make sure that they were doing what we needed as parents.

LP: I echo their (Fischer's and Romack's) statements. I know, the last one (threat), that the administration called all of the high-school kids down to the gym and addressed the issue and whatever with the kids that were there. You know; this is a tough call. The administrators go to school. They work with the police departments I think very well. We're one of the few districts that still have a D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, so the kids have a police officer in the building. Administration knows the officer. It's like anything else. It's no really no different than the public sector is in that, (when) you receive a threat, you use the tools available to you to gauge the credibility, you get the police involved and you figure out what your response is going to be. It's tough. Everybody here hit the nail on the head: It's a shame, but it's the microcosm of our societies nowadays. And I think the worst that could happen is it goes on the news. It hits one news outlet—Channel 2 or 4 or whoever covers it—and the next thing you know, Franklin Regional or Highlands (have similar threats). Last year or the year before, you get two weeks in a row; it was crazy. Everyday, there was something. So, you know, it's tough to gauge that response, but I have faith in that I think everybody in the administration does the best thing that they can do for the kids. And I do believe that the police were at the last one (threat), at least at the high school. I actually got a breaking-news alert on Patch (about it), and I called my wife and said, "Something's going on at the high school." She looks out the window, and there's a police car right outside our house (adjacent to the high-school property).

SD: I think, yes, they (district administration) did (act appropriately), and I think they (the threats) were all blown out of proportion. But, any threat of any type needs to be treated (seriously) until it's known to be bogus and not a real situation, and I think the administration did a good job with that.