Seven seek Indiana board seats

Seven candidates are vying for four seats on the Indiana Area School Board in the primary election Tuesday.

All seven candidates will appear on both the Democratic and Republican ballots.

Running for re-election are Leonard Anderson, Alison Billon, board President Diana Paccapaniccia and Walter Schroth. Challenging them will be Dr. David Ferguson, Dr. James Strong and Arthur "Bo" Villemain, Jr.

The biggest issue that has dominated the school board discussion in the last year is the project to replace the grass field on the senior high football field with artificial turf.

In November, the board voted 5-4 to commit $500,000 of district money to put artificial turf on the football and soccer field. The board then nixed that idea and by a 6-3 vote approved a scaled-down version of the project in March in which the district will commit $320,000 of its own money to put turf on just the football field. That amount is to be matched by private donations for the project. The turf is scheduled to be installed in time for the fall sports season.

Anderson, 73, has lived in the school district for his whole life except for a 10-year period from 1958 to 1968. He has been married to his wife, Janet, for 46 years, and they have three children and five grandchildren.

Anderson graduated from Indiana Area High School and earned bachelor's degrees in biology/sciences and political science from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He also earned a master's degree in biology/science from Penn State University.

Anderson is currently retired but spent time as an educator, Christmas tree farm operator, vegetable farm operator and beagle kennel operator.

"I have always successfully managed my own farm business affairs," he said. "Frivolous spending, exploiting one's credit cards and living beyond one's means only leads to personal financial disaster. School board members should heed these business axioms and realize that they are spending someone else's money which is a sacred privilege and not a rite of office."

Anderson is seeking his second consecutive term on the board, but he also previously served on the board from 1973 to 1995.

"In 1973, I learned very quickly that it takes a minimum of one to two years of dedicated full-time board service to experience and come to fully understand the short- and long-term ramifications of school-board-related business issues," he said.

Anderson said he is running for re-election because, "If good and honest men fail to serve as trusted representatives in a democratic society, the government will fail its people when self-serving unscrupulous individuals take over the reins of government by marginal majority vote. I refuse to let that happen."

In the next four years, Anderson sees an expected 2012 increase in contributions by school districts to teacher pension plans as a potential problem that could devastate local tax payers.

Anderson has been a consistent opponent of the artificial turf project and worries that the turf will lead to additional costs in the future.

"How will we pay for replacement of the turf every eight years?" Anderson said. "Where will the money come from• Taxes or private donations?"

Another voice

Billon, 50, has lived in the district for 20 years with her husband Andrew, who is a doctor in Indiana. They have four children, including one who has already graduated from Indiana. Their youngest is a seventh-grader at the junior high.

"Due to the involvement of my children in many of the district's activities," Billon said, "I see on a daily basis what is great about our district and what might need improvement."

Billon went to high school in Delaware and earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of North Dakota and a master's degree in nursing from the University of Delaware. She currently managed accounts payable at her husband's medical practice and has held nursing supervision positions in the past.

"While managing my husband's medical practice, I have become familiar with many issues facing business owners today," she said.

Billon is running for her third consecutive term on the board.

"I am running for this position because I have found my work on the school board to be a very meaningful and significant way that I can contribute to improve the Indiana Community," she said. "I am running because I know that our community has a demonstrated commitment to education."

Billon said one of the biggest issues the district will face during the coming years is to provide a quality education while not raising taxes above the millage limit imposed by Act 1.

"Fortunately for Indiana, our history of responsible financial management and cost-saving maneuvers has helped us continue to provide a strong educational curriculum, even under Act 1," she said.

Billon is a supporter of the artificial turf project and is proud that the district is getting the turf for one-half of the cost because of the private donations.

"This landmark collaboration will serve as an example for a successful strategy to meet other district costs in the future," she said.

Paccapaniccia, 51, has lived in the district for 17 years. She and her husband Dominic have three children, the youngest being a sixth-grader at Horace Mann.

Paccapaniccia went to high school in New Jersey and earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from the College of New Jersey and a master's degree in nursing from IUP. She has experience as a nursing instructor as well as working in a hospital and doctor's office.

"Communication skills, assessment skills and leadership skills essential in nursing have allowed me to become a productive board member," she said.

Paccapaniccia is seeking her second term in office.

"I have learned many things in the last three years," she said. "I have attended two three-day-long state conferences that have allowed me to become a more informed board member."

She is running again because she said it's important to have individuals on the board who live the "school experience" on a daily basis.

"As a parent and a taxpayer, I support all areas of education and will fight hard to maintain arts in the the district," she said.

Paccapaniccia said an ongoing feasibility study will be a priority issue for the district in the next couple of years. The study may identify building projects and school reconfigurations for the board to consider.

"The district needs to marry the feasibility study with the recently completed strategic plan," she said.

A supporter of the turf project, Paccapaniccia said the turf will save the district money in maintenance costs and will open opportunities for more people to use the field.

"The current field is a seasonal field used primarily for football," she said. "Installation of artificial turf will make the Fifth Street Stadium field a year-round facility which can be used for high school (football), pee wee (football), over 40 soccer, band, graduation, lacrosse, baseball and softball practice as well as physical education classes."

Ferguson, 37, has lived in the district for eight years. He and his wife, Laura, have two children. Their oldest is a third-grader at East Pike Elementary.

Ferguson went to high school in Illinois and earned his bachelor's degree in music from Millikin University, his master's in music from the University of Illinois and his doctorate in education from Illinois.

"I have evaluated school systems as part of my graduate studies," Ferguson said. "I know schools, and I will be responsible in my role as school director."

Ferguson currently teaches in the music department at IUP. Previously, he taught music in public schools in Decatur, Ill.

"I continue to work with practicing teachers by offering workshops to teachers at education conference across the country," he said. "I have also been a guest conductor for district and regional music events, which help me keep a pulse on students today."

Ferguson said he is running for office because there is a need for civility, professionalism and responsibility on the board.

"I will be a reasonable voice on the board who can work effectively with others, even when we disagree," he said. "We owe it to ourselves, and to the children of this community to provide tools and training for effective learning, but we also must show them a model of civility and reasonable public discourse."

Ferguson said, as a board member, his biggest priority would be to make sure district resources are used for projects that impact the success of the greatest number of students.

"In particular, I see an increased need for technology literacy, schools programs, such as the arts, that encourage development of creativity and higher order thinking, and an attention to innovation in the area of reaching lower-performing students," he said.

Ferguson said he is against the turf project because it doesn't fit with his philosophy of reaching the greatest number of students.

"The turf does offer possibilities for enhanced experiences in extra-curriculars for some students," he said, "but I still feel that for the same amount of money, more students district-wide could have been assisted in academic areas than this small subset of students at the high school."

Has business experience

Strong, 44, has lived in the district since 1990 and is married to Dr. Dawne Danielson. They have a daughter who attends the junior high school.

Strong graduated from Penns Manor High School and earned a bachelor's degree from Penn State and a doctorate of chiropractic from the National College of Chiropractic near Chicago. Strong is now a chiropractor in Blairsville.

"I have run my own successful business for almost 20 years," Strong said, "which has given me insight into how to be an effective executive."

Strong said he decided to run for the school board after listening to parents and children voice their frustrations about the education system.

"I have also spoken with many teachers and administrators who have also voiced many of the same concerns," he said. "I felt that I needed to step up and make this run."

Strong said if he is elected, his priorities in office will be improving the educational experience for the children while remembering a need for fiscal responsibility.

"Recent patterns of spending in the district are beginning to place an undue burden on the tax payers of our community," he said. "For the amount of money the district spends, we are not seeing the return on investment in student achievement."

Strong said he does not support the artificial turf project, saying it is an unnecessary luxury item at this time. He also doesn't think artificial turf will be a better playing surface for the athletes.

"After spending much of my 19 years of practice doing sports injuries work and caring for athletes from many of the local high schools," he said, "I personally believe that playing on a natural playing surface is the way the games were meant to be played."

Villemain, 40, has lived in the district for four years with his wife, Jana, who is a professor at IUP. They have three children, all currently in school in the district.

"With three children enrolled in IASD, and a wife who is a professor of biochemistry, it seems our family is having discussions all the time about text books, teaching styles, expectations, results, and just about any other educational topic you can imagine," he said.

Villemain went to high school in San Antonio, Texas, and earned a bachelor's degree from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. He is currently the chief executive officer for EBS Employee Benefit Services of San Antonio.

"I own and run a company that has over 30 employees and had over $20 million in sales last year," he said. "I have a comfort level, therefore, with all aspects of managing a complex organization."

Villemain said he is running for office because he believes the current board members don't address the main issues of the district and would like to see excellence in education made more of a priority.

"I don't want to just sit around and talk about the state of education, I want to do something about it," he said.

Villemain said he does not want to disrupt the "neighborhood school" tradition of the district, which has four elementary schools and said the district should focus cutting costs in employee salaries and benefits. He cited a report given at a board meeting by business manager Dale Kirsch that said the district's expenditures in salaries and benefits are higher than other districts of similar size and aid factor.

Because of possible budget problems in the future and public outcry against the project, Villemain said he does not support artificial turf at the senior high.

"Our existing field was not in desperate need of replacement," he said, "so now is not the time to be spending money on things not necessary."

Schroth did not comment for the story because of a recent death in his family. A small business owner in Indiana, Schroth is seeking his second term on the board. In the last year and a half on the board, Schroth has usually voted with the minority bloc of Anderson and Joseph Trimarchi and has been an opponent of the artificial turf project.