Karns City Area School District, made up of municipalities in three counties, has seven candidates for its four open school board seats in the Nov. 4 general election.

Residents from Bruin, Chicora, Donegal Township, Fairview, Fairview Township, Karns City, Parker Township and Petrolia in Butler County; Bradys Bend, Perry and Sugarcreek townships in Armstrong County; and Brady Township in Clarion County will have the opportunity to shape the makeup of their district’s nine-member board for the next several years.

David Blair is a construction site superintendent who lives in Perry Township, Armstrong County. Originally from Petrolia, Blair has been actively involved with multiple volunteer organizations in his community since he was 14. He is a site superintendent in commercial construction. He won the Democratic nomination as a write-in, but is a registered Republican.

Robert Ken Bray is a current board member and Fairview Township resident originally from Chicora. Bray graduated from Karns City Area School District and has expressed wanting to focus on transparency between the school district and the community, children’s education and safety. Bray cross-filed.

Tara Bly Hackwelder is a former school board member and an English teacher at Union High School. A Chicora resident, she is a volunteer coordinator with a pediatric palliative and hospice program through the Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition of Pennsylvania. Hackwelder serves on several boards, including the ZTTK SON-Shine Foundation, Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV, Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition and Karns City Communities that Care. Hackwelder is running as an independent.

Cari Harmon has served on the school board for the past four years. She is a resident of Bradys Bend Township, Armstrong County, and works as a primary care practice administrator. Harmon believes her experience, community involvement and “commitment to education” make her qualified for the role and provide her with a unique perspective for decision-making. She is a registered Democrat and cross-filed.

Morgan Mogus is a 25-year-old Karns City alum and chairman of the Butler County Libertarian Party. Originally from Pittsburgh, Mogus said he moved to Parker Township in 2012 to “live a peaceful life.” Mogus is a commercial loan administrator and has worked in finance for the past five years.

A 2021 Karns City alum and Chicora native, Zach Scherer resides in Donegal Township. He is a maintenance technician for Walmart and said he has a college degree in criminal justice. Scherer wants to put a focus on transparency toward the public. Scherer is running as a Republican with “conservative values.”

A school bus driver for Karns City, William Weibel is a newcomer on the ballot. A 1973 graduate of Karns City, he spent 37 years working for Magnetics in East Butler and also worked for General Electric in Grove City. Weibel is running as a Republican.

Blair: Regardless of what political party you are in, you should be able to be nonbiased and bipartisan. My view on a few candidates who were running for the open positions had shown me to feel they were more on a political agenda rather than acting on what is right or wrong.

Bray: Give back to the school I graduated from and to ensure transparency between the school and the public.

Hackwelder: This is my home and my community. I resigned from my teaching position with the district in 2016 to stay at home and care for our children, especially for our daughter who had a rare genetic syndrome. I love this district, the community, and I am deeply passionate about the students, teachers, staff, and ensuring that we are doing everything that we can as a district for our community and our students.

Harmon: Prior to my election to the board, I was the Sugarcreek Elementary PTO president for seven years. During my time in that role, I gained an interest in wanting to be more involved in the development of policies in our school district.

Mogus: I do not want Karns City to be a casualty of an endless culture war that has no place in our school. I believe the job of a school is setting up children for their future, not shoving liberal or conservative dogma down their throats. I was also motivated to run seeing how Sugarcreek Elementary’s closure was being handled.

Scherer: I was prompted to run for this position after hearing that some of the current members chose not to rerun for reelection. I also continue to see a lot of frustration from parents on social media that I feel I could attempt to bring possible closure to if voted onto the board.

Weibel Civic duty. I’ve gotten more involved in my party over the years, being a council person for the party in Armstrong. I’m a very conservative human being, and I want to keep the crazy out of schools, not that I think there is that here. But I looked at it and thought, ‘why not?’

Blair: I feel in many of the upcoming projects the district is about to face, my experience will be vital to assist with those projects. Also I am an huge supporter of our vo-tech but feel we need to bring something back to the district for the underclassman that may be looking into what classes they plan to take for vo-tech or at the very least, learn some of the basic home skills they will need as an adult ... such as woodshop, sewing, metal shop and so on.

Bray: To better relationships between school staff and community and to also keep education in the forefront and foremost to keep the district transparent and fiscally responsible.

Hackwelder: I would like to ensure that we are continuing to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all students, especially in the areas of no tolerance for bullying and inclusion for all students. I would also like to see continued development of curriculum that allows our students to have more options to help pursue their dreams and future goals that is rigorous and challenging but also accommodates students with specific learning needs.

Harmon: Ensuring that every student has access to high quality, strengthening support for teachers and staff and improving communication between the board, families and the community.

Mogus: Lowering taxes, fiscal responsibility, keeping political agendas out, and expanding educational opportunities are my main goals, but I would love to try and reform how meetings are conducted to be more accessible to the public.

Scherer: One of my goals for the district is to promote more vocational opportunities as well as give students more incentives to go to the Butler County vo-tech, as there are job opportunities upon graduation.

Weibel: I want to be fiscally conservative. I don’t want to spend too much money, and I don’t want to raise taxes unnecessarily. Eventually, if school taxes go up, people can’t afford that.

Blair: My take on this is that our board for many years, if not decades, has done a very good job to spread out any increase over time rather than large jumps. This puts the smallest impact on the residents and, in most cases, is only felt when they read that their taxes are going up yet they really notice very little change.

Bray: Our community has consistently boasted one of the lowest tax rates in the county and I intend to maintain that tradition.

Hackwelder: I am not a proponent or supporter of tax increases unless they are absolutely the only course of action. I do recognize that with economic instability, increased costs, especially regarding building supplies for the elementary school building project, and inability to pass a budget, and budget/spending cuts that directly affect the funding of public schools that sometimes tax increases cannot be avoided. However, I carefully analyze any decisions that come to the board that relate to fiscal matters and I do ask critical questions to ensure that fiscally responsible decisions are being made by the district.

Harmon: I do not support raising taxes without a clear, data-supported need to do so. I believe that any tax increase needs to have clear communication showing how funds will be used to ensure that these proposed spends are a necessity to our students, their education and the district and/or community as a whole.

Mogus: I am against any tax increases and was the only candidate to publicly oppose the property tax increases passed by the board unanimously back in June. I believe we need to be more conservative with our spending and trim out as much pork as possible to free up funds and resources.

Scherer: I will not vote to raise taxes if elected onto the board. I will assist the district by being sure there is a balanced budget. It is important to be sure we have the necessary funds for important projects.

Blair: I have felt for years our high school has never had the appealing look to it. We have so many events with the stadium, and it never feels inviting for guests. The renovation and expansion ideas I have as a commercial construction employee, I feel we can make some simple changes to make this happen. Our sports stadium is the center of the additional build along with something for all of our sports and events for our band, chorus, play and etc.

Bray: In the near future, our high school will require renovations, and it's essential that we conduct thorough research to ensure we receive the best possible pricing in quality workmanship as long as the project is fiscally responsible. I wholeheartedly support investing in our school if it is ultimately benefiting our students and provide them with a better high school experience.

Hackwelder: We need to take steps to keep our buildings out of a state of disrepair, but we also need to recover financially from the expense of the elementary school building project. While I do feel that the high school building needs many updates, I feel that we should wait until the district is able to responsibly afford renovations to avoid having to continue to increase taxes or otherwise burden the taxpayers. I also feel that we do have a demonstrated need for additional athletic facilities. However, we need to make sure that this is a financially responsible decision that the district can afford.

Harmon: To set our district up for success we need to focus on long-term planning that balances educational excellence, facility needs and responsibility. This means that we must ensure that our schools provide the best environment for learning while being mindful of our community and taxpayers’ resources. Regarding new projects such as baseball and softball fields and high school renovations, I believe we should carefully evaluate all options to make certain they meet the needs of students and families.

Mogus: The best way the district can set up success is to do what all successful people, businesses and organizations do: Save. Save so we can hire that young aspiring teacher fresh out of college, save so our teachers can have the resources they need to educate our kids, and save so we can provide children opportunities for a bright future. I am not entirely against having new ball fields, but we need to be very careful and not go completely out of control with these projects or renovations and burn our budget away.

Scherer: It is important to maintain the district’s current assets before even thinking about building a new baseball/softball field. The current high school has needed renovations for quite some time.