New and returning members reflect on role of school board
After a year and a half of COVID-19 pandemic challenges and several months of heated public comment at public meetings, a new group of school board members have been elected and reelected across the county.
While Gov. Tom Wolf announced that the statewide mask mandate would be able to be modified by school districts in January, and decisions on the mandate are ongoing in court, future questions on policy, budgeting, curriculum and the pressure of polarization are yet to be faced by the new and returning board members across Butler County's nine school districts.
For newly elected Nicole Thurner, heading into her first term as a member of the Mars Area School District Board, the role of school board members in the community remains the same as before COVID-19: “To continue to oversee the business and curriculum of the district, to ensure taxpayers' money is being spent prudently, to give the students the best possible, viewpoint-neutral education.”
While the basic role of a board member hasn't changed, Thurner said, there is an added responsibility to bring the community together.
“If there's one thing everybody can agree upon, it's focusing on the best interests of the students and the children within the community,” she said. “That needs to be the focus.”
As a newcomer, elected with three other new board members — Lee Ann Riner, Jennifer DiCuccio and Justin J. Miller — to the Mars Area board, Thurner looks to combine her outside experience with that of those who already serve on the board.
“I think with the fresh perspectives of the new members and the experience of the sitting members of the board, the goal is to work together to carry the district on,” she said. “The newer people coming on can bring the new perspective and fresh ideas, but there's value with the expertise of the members who have been there so long.”
For some returning incumbent members, the increased interest in school boards over the past several months has come as a mixed blessing.Fred Peterson, returning school board member at Seneca Valley School District, said he didn't anticipate the level of angry discourse that occurred at school board meetings, but appreciated that the community was coming out to have input in the board's proceedings.In Peterson's first eight years as a school board member, he said, he was disappointed to see the small numbers of people who came to speak at school board meetings.“We hold them in that big auditorium, and had one or two people (come),” Peterson said. “That swung in a hurry when COVID broke out, and we started talking about preventative strategies.”Members of the Seneca Valley School Board faced opposition from write-in candidates in the Nov. 2 election, which Peterson also said brought a mixture of emotions.“It's been disappointing to me that in my first two run-ups, I've not had opposition. I can't believe there is nobody in the community who wants to step up and say, 'I'd like to do that,'” he said. “But this did not offer us any opportunities for constructive discussion across the aisle.”Moving into his next term, Peterson is looking forward to working with the rest of the board.“I'm excited about the constant evolution of the curriculum and courses we offer,” he said, “and about finding new ways to prepare our kids to be good citizens and contributing students.”
For Nina Teff, who was elected to the Butler Area School Board on Nov. 2 and had served one term from 2015 to 2019, balance is required in listening to the wishes of the constituency.“If you are hearing very specific concerns from them, then we need to take those seriously and should not be dismissive, regardless of which side of an aisle or which side of an issue there is,” she said. “When it comes to certain things, we also need to keep in mind what authority we have as school board members and what authority the state or governing bodies also have, what is lawful and what is ethical that you can or cannot act upon.”Teff said it is the board's responsibility to “push back on the state when the state oversteps its authority,” and said she believes in local control. However, she believes that it is not always easy to make decisions that will please everyone.“I think in most decisions that we make while serving in this type of role, you try to make the best decisions that you can at the moment in time that you make it, based on the information you have at the time,” she added. “If along the way, you find out you got more information and it may change what your original decision was, or the path that comes out of that decision, you might modify future decisions and act on that.”Incumbent Jill McDonald in the South Butler County School District said that recent conversations around masks wasn't her first experience with a more actively commenting district population. In 2018, when she joined the board, contract negotiations saw teachers and parents speaking up passionately at meetings.“When I think about what is happening now, I kind of look at when I came in,” she said. “Everyone has the right to stand up there and say how they feel about things, and things they may disagree with.”For McDonald, the key factor in making decisions is to look at how it affects the whole of the district, and that has not changed since she joined the board.“It's not just me diving into social media to see what everyone else thinks,” she said. “I try to come to my own best conclusions about how this is going to work, in the best interests of the most people. I try not to get bogged down.”McDonald recommends people who are interested in running for school board avoid “jumping into the pool” of social media.“I will not engage if someone is saying something not-so-nice about me,” she said. “I will not get down in the mud with them. I have too much respect for myself, the other board members and the administration of the school district.”
To reelected school board president Michael Panza in the Moniteau School District, the visible role of school board members affords a certain responsibility.“No. 1, we have to be role models for students, and let them know that even at times when we don't agree with certain laws and mandates, we still have to do that,” he said. “The second even more important thing is to make sure we provide a quality education, so that every student has the opportunity to experience academic success while still doing it in a fiscally responsible manner.”Panza has worked in public education for more than 36 years and has served on the school board for the past 14 years.“I think it's wonderful that more parents are getting involved,” Panza said. “I always say that if anyone has anything that they want to talk about or any comments, if you have a concern or something to say, we ask them, we ask for name and address, and we welcome it.”Participation in school community events is something that Panza finds essential to being a productive member of the board.“I think a school board member is more than going to meetings,” he said. “If you're going to be a school board member, you need to get involved in the community. You need to be seen at sporting events, band concerts, choral concerts, musicals, to see exactly what the impacts of your decisions are that are being made. You can't make decisions that are in a vacuum.”Direct collaboration and communication between school board members and constituents are also key to Panza. “The more that the school and parents can work together, when you've got parents, teachers and the school working together, the end result is success for kids. And that's what everybody wants,” he said.“I've never met a parent who wants their kid to be a failure. We want the same things. When we get to work together, that is what happens.”
