Six candidates, comprised of four incumbents and two newcomers, are eyeing up four open seats on Moniteau School District’s board this November.

Moniteau School District is made up of residents from the boroughs of Cherry Valley, Eau Claire and West Sunbury; as well as Cherry, Marion, Venango, Washington, Concord and Clay townships.

Board president Michael Panza is the sole candidate for one two-year term. Meanwhile, all six candidates are competing for four available four-year terms.

Michael Baptiste is a Clay Township resident who served on Moniteau’s school board from 2019 to 2023. He previously said he is college professor and program coordinator at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he leads the sports management program.

Janeen Beatty has served on the school board since 2023. A resident of Venango Township, she is originally from Eau Claire and graduated from Moniteau in 2001. She is a program manager for the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency in Boyers, Pennsylvania.

Linda Dillaman has been on Moniteau’s school board for 11 years. A resident of Cherry Township, Dillaman has lived down the road from Moniteau High School for 46 years. She worked as a teacher in public high schools for 34 years.

Kelly Rugg is a resident of Cherry Valley. Currently working at the Beer Garden in Petrolia, she has served as vice president of Dassa McKinney PTO for the past several years. She has also been on multiple booster groups for sports and has coached cheerleading at the youth and varsity levels for over 10 years.

Celina Karnes is a resident of Washington Township with over 20 years of experience as an accountant and auditor. This is her first time as a school board candidate and she said wants to make sure students are “equipped with the knowledge, experience and opportunities that will help them be successful in their next phase of life.”

Michael Panza has served on Moniteau’s school board for over 17 years and is currently the board’s president. A resident of Cherry Township, Panza has a 36-year background in public education, previously working as a music education teacher, assistant principal, principal and superintendent.

Baptiste: The $3 million deficit and projected 2027-2028 budget imbalance, caused by 18 years of mismanagement, compel me to run. I’m driven to expose the truth to taxpayers before it’s too late and protect jobs and education. I also want to save as many jobs as possible before the state comes in and makes cuts and drastically raises the taxes.

Beatty: I am running for this position because I want to continue to have an active voice in the education and safety of our students. It is important to be a part of the solution. I am very invested in representing all of our Moniteau students and ensuring that they have the tools they need for a successful career after Moniteau — whether that be college, military, trade-school or joining the workforce.

Dillaman: Having spent more than forty years as an educator, I thought that I might be able to make a contribution to my school district as a member of the school board.

Rugg: After years of watching my children grow and thrive at Moniteau, I’d like to help be a part of the solution to make all of the children attending Moniteau successful, both academically and socially. Along with that, keeping our teachers well provided for and feeling supported by the board is important. I’d like to see the staff and the board have open lines of communications for the best of our students.

Karnes: When there is a need, I try my best to help out where I can. I think with my background and experience, the school board is where I can get involved and provide some value for the community.

Panza: I want to ensure every student has the opportunity to experience academic success. Also, I have two granddaughters that attend the district schools. This is a wonderful community and I want the schools to remain strong. Strong schools build strong communities.

Baptiste: Keep it in operation. I fear we are heading down a path that is far from being sustainable. Key people have been resigning lately and I fear it is because they know the fiscal cliff is in sight.

Beatty: The mission of the Moniteau School District is to prepare Moniteau students to achieve their fullest potential as they face the challenges of life. To achieve that mission, and if elected, I would continue to ensure that trade and vocational classes are offered to Moniteau students. In addition, where possible, I would like to see more of our students that are currently attending PA Charter (Cyber) school return to in-person classes at Moniteau; thus, resulting in cost savings to the district.

Dillaman: I want to continue to see our school district maintain its positive educational progress. I want our school board to be good stewards of the tax dollars received from its taxpayers.

Rugg: As for my goals, first, I believe the mental health of our children needs to be a priority. We need mental health consultants available to make these challenging years for children the best experience possible. With social media being such a strong presence it’s not like it was 20 years ago. The children need to feel safe and feel heard. I believe facilitating professionals to help our students in anyway possible is a good start.

Another issue that needs strongly addressed is the in-person attendance on the decline in our district. Bullying is a real problem and I believe this needs addressed and people be held accountable for their actions. Hopefully both of these goals can work together to improve the enrollment at Moniteau and also save the district money.

Karnes: I want to ensure the students graduating from Moniteau High School continue to have an education they can be proud of; to be equipped with the knowledge, experience and opportunities that will help them be successful in their next phase of life.

I also want to make sure Moniteau is staying current with what we offer to students — whether that be in the curriculum, clubs, sports, activities — by understanding the student's interests, having a pulse on what other schools are offering and keeping the kids involved and excited to learn and grow. One goal would also be to further develop our communication tools and explore ways of getting information to and from the board, administration, teachers, coaches, clubs and families in an organized and consistent manner.

Panza: If elected I want to be certain that we continue to provide the finest education and opportunities for our students in a fiscally responsible manner for the benefit of our taxpayers.

Baptiste: We need a five-year financial plan. I was told it is not required by law, so they do not do one? Saving as many jobs as possible. Keeping the state from coming in and watching our taxes skyrocket.

Beatty: In my opinion, the top three issues in the Moniteau School District are enrollment, funding and math scores.

The number of students enrolled in the Moniteau School District has been steadily decreasing. Due to the lower enrollment numbers and the financial challenges that most families are experiencing, the district will need to closely review every single expense and determine what is necessary and what can be cut. Unfortunately, the Moniteau School District does not have many large businesses that are able to help support the community.

In reality, the school district is one of the largest employers in the area. It is important for the district to continue to offer students the classes and extra curricular activities that are available to them today. In order to continue those offerings, the school district may need to continue to modify or combine positions/duties and decrease personnel through attrition.

Finally, the COVID-19 learning environment had significant lingering impacts on our student's ability to learn and comprehend math and we need to continue to develop new approaches to help fill those voids. The administration and teachers are aware of these challenges and this school board’s support recently approved comprehensive plan that better aligns the elementary and high school curriculums to target problem areas and create and act on remediation plans.

Dillaman: Cyber school tuition for district students amounted to nearly one million dollars for less than sixty students last school year. Students in cyber programs achieve lower test scores and fail to graduate from the program. Our rural school districts have smaller tax bases and must compete with much larger schools with larger tax bases.

Second, rural schools are notoriously underfunded. One mill of taxes generates sixty-four thousand dollars in our school district while other school districts get almost a million dollars from that same mill. School districts must meet the same state standards with no consideration given to finance.

Thirdly, the school student population is decreasing but the monetary expenses have not decreased. Special education costs are huge. All children have a right to an education, but some student needs are greater. A student might need to attend another program outside the district, students may have medical issues which require special transportation and medical personnel in attendance. Paraprofessionals are needed for some classrooms. There is very little consideration given to school districts who face these special issues.

Rugg: Some of the main issues I see our district facing are the amount of students attending cyber charter schools. As stated before the money it costs our district is astonishing. Along with that the increase of cyber charter schooling will affect staffing. We have some of the best staff at Moniteau and I’d like to see us try our best to keep them with us and not lose valuable positions. A lot of our staff went to Moniteau themselves and have a lot of pride in our school. We need to do everything possible to keep them with us.

Karnes: I think the first step is to listen and to understand the issues and concerns that people in the school community have and to make educated decisions on how to address those concerns. These concerns may range from problems with bullying, test scores, parent communication and involvement, sports and extracurricular activities, to safety and building improvements.

Students moving to cyber education is a topic that the board often discusses and I would love to explore ways that we can help get those kids back into the classroom — if it is feasible for them. Other schools have been proactive in trying to understand the “why” and make sure that the school is doing their part in reaching out to help if it’s something within their control.

Funding and handling our resources responsibly is always an area of focus, including navigating the state budget and understanding the school s' priorities, deciding on where money should be spent and allocation of funds. Schools often rely on grants to help with projects and programs and I hope to explore more opportunities for that as well.

Panza: There are many issues facing schools today. The first is the lack of adequate funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A lawsuit was filed by schools in the eastern part of the state claiming the state funding system was unequal and unfair. The courts found that Pennsylvania was not funding schools in a proper manner. The report demonstrated that Moniteau was being shorted 1.5 million dollars each year from the state. This lawsuit is more than two years old and there has been no action to correct this deficit. Also, the fact that the legislators have not passed a state budget will be critical to all schools throughout the commonwealth.

Secondly, cyber charter schools are taking much needed money and resources from public schools. Cyber schools in Pennsylvania have a graduation rate of approximately 60%. Four out of 10 students that attend cyber schools never earn a high school diploma. Also, these schools traditionally score poorly on the state examinations. Yet, the state continues to allow them to operate. Last year Moniteau paid nearly one million dollars a year to cyber programs. We have created our own cyber program saving the districts hundreds of thousands of dollars. I have met and will continue to meet with the officials to discuss these and other issues/needs facing our schools today.

Finally, the district has seen a significant decline in student enrollment. At present, less than 1070 students in grades K-12 attend the Moniteau School District. Also, the state projects that the district will annually educate less than 1000 students by the year 2030. This will have implications on staffing and other services.

Baptiste: Our graduating students heading to college are at a huge disadvantage to other schools since we do not offer college credit courses. I fought for four years the last time I was on the board to no avail. AP courses have low enrollment and most do not count at the college level. We also have no research courses to prepare students.

Beatty: As mentioned in the prior response, Moniteau math scores struggled for several years. However, positive changes were made and due to the commitment, hard work and determination of the teachers, administration, school board and students — we are already proudly reporting improvements. In addition, this year, the Moniteau School District partnered with a local university to offer college math courses to high school students — both helping these students prepare for college and allowing them to earn college credits in high school. As a proud parent of a current vo-tech student, I recognize and support programs that prepare Moniteau students for all walks of life.

Dillaman: Our programming, whether it be academic or vocational is excellent. Our students begin career exploration in the primary grades. There are many pathways for our students to achieve graduation. There are advanced placement classes offered for students who choose to schedule them. Our students have been offered the opportunity to participate in and earn college math credit while present in our classrooms. Additional classes will be added in the future. Our county vocational school and in-school vocational programs offer other students a pathway to graduation in their chosen career choice.

Rugg: I was very pleased to hear of the addition of a personal finance class. Real life money issues they will face as adults being taught is a great asset. Also the expanding of the vocational agriculture program was an excellent choice. Our test scores across both schools are on the rise and that is something to be very proud of our students and staff for.

Karnes: I believe that an opportunity for improvement would be to provide more information regarding the curriculum being used. Offering a yearly parent meeting or a detailed informational packet that outlines course options and club opportunities would be very helpful for parents. I feel that would be one way to enhance communication with parents and keep them updated on their child's education. Creating a more accessible channel for parents to understand the full scope of the curriculum available to our students would be helpful and allow the parents the opportunity to help guide their children in their academic path.

Panza: Curriculum is always changing based on trends and the needs of the students we serve. This is happening at Moniteau as our state test scores have significantly improved demonstrating the hard work of our teachers, administrators and, most importantly, the students.

Baptiste: Eighteen years of board members bragging that we were the lowest taxing school district in Butler County just to get elected has come back to bite us. Avoiding a slow mill increase over that time period has put us in a position of massive tax hikes, furloughs and administrative cuts. Lavish tax funded trips to conferences for teachers and administration have cut deep into the finances over the years. This must all come to an end.

Beatty: The Moniteau School District should be held accountable for every dollar that is spent by the school district. As a member of the current school board finance committee, I have been reviewing the school budget and working with the entire school board and administration to identify where cuts can be made without impacting the education of students. Like many other districts and families in general, the district has seen an increase in the cost of employee health care and it will be important for the school board to continue to monitor these increases. Similar to managing a household income, it is never easy to make cuts and no cuts should be made without a thorough analysis of all possible impacts and mitigating factors.

As a taxpayer in the Moniteau School District, I would prefer to never raise taxes. However, if a tax increase is required, it must be done responsibly and with consideration to the impact to tax payers. Tax increases should not be done unnecessarily. I am thankful that we did not have to raise taxes this year and it is the school board’s responsibility to do everything possible to maintain the current tax rate without increase.

Dillaman: There was no tax increase this school year. The administration and the board will make financial decisions and give consideration to our needs and maintain the sound financial stewardship that has been a trademark of this district.

Rugg: Obviously I appreciate that we have a very low tax rate. I would like to continue that by always being open minded to projects such as the solar panels that were installed to save the district money. The poverty level within our district is quite high and I believe it’s the boards responsibility to do everything they can to keep our taxes affordable for everyone.

Karnes: With my background in accounting and auditing, I can help ensure that we are financially responsible and using our funds in the areas that will be most beneficial to the students. I also will help to ensure we are following policy and regulations.

Panza: I serve on the district finance committee. We maintain a close watch on expenditures to ensure we are receiving the best services at the best price. The Moniteau School District has the second lowest tax rate in Butler County. One mill of taxes in the Moniteau School District generates less than $70,000. One mill in the larger districts in Butler County can generate 5 to 10 times this amount. It should also be noted that in the past 15 years there was no tax increase in five of those years and, with good planning, there was no tax increase in the current school year.

Baptiste: I am the only candidate running as a straight-line Republican, aligning with fiscal discipline and local accountability. I believe in having strong core values and not sitting on the fence running as both parties. I am a conservative Republican with traditional family values.

Beatty: I am a registered Republican, However, I am running on both the Republican and Democratic ticket because a school board director is a non-partisan position that is elected to support and represent the entire community and the children in it.

Dillaman: School board candidates may cross-file and file petitions to run and have their name placed on both political ballots.

Rugg: I am a registered Republican. I did cross file as many do when running for a public office.

Karnes: Nonpartisan

Panza: I am a registered Republican, endorsed by the Butler County Republican Committee. We are here to serve the needs of all of our students, taxpayers, and the district at-large in a non-partisan manner. Similar to district justices, school board members are permitted to cross-file.

Baptiste: Horrible. There is so much mold in Dassa McKinney it would probably be shut down if they had it inspected. Spending $250,000 on steps at the football stadium is pure insanity in these financial times.

Beatty: The Moniteau School District administration and custodial staff take excellent care of the Moniteau School District buildings and facilities through regular maintenance and I believe that should continue. The district has already budgeted for and set aside funds to replace the football field stadium stairs — which are in dire need of repair. Outside of that large-scale improvement, I believe that the school should continue to maintain the facilities through regular maintenance.

Dillaman: I am a parent in this district but worked in another school district. Moniteau School District's buildings, classrooms, restrooms, cafeterias, gymnasiums are exceptional. Its staff takes pride in their work. Our teachers and administrators encourage the students to appreciate and maintain cleanliness withing the buildings. Several years ago, both school buildings were air-conditioned. Generators are present in both buildings which will provide electricity if a power outage occurs during a school day.

Rugg: I have spent a good amount of time at many other schools within our state and I confidently can say Moniteau has some of the best facilities around from classrooms to sports. Unfortunately, things do need fixed after years of use and I am happy to see the board able to come up with a solution to make our grounds the safest and most enjoyable experience for everyone.

Karnes: I think everyone will be excited to get the steps at the football stadium back in operation. Other than that, our school buildings and the grounds are very nice, clean and well-maintained.

Panza: The Moniteau School District recently installed solar at no cost to the district or the taxpayer. The state has ended reimbursements for the building of schools or for extensive renovations. Fortunately, the district recently upgraded both buildings. As such, with regular maintenance and attention, the district should be in excellent shape for the foreseeable future. Also, our administrative team, maintenance/support staff and teachers are doing an excellent job to watch over and keep the buildings clean and functional to continue to provide welcoming and lasting facilities.