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CRANBERRY TWP — Of the six Seneca Valley School Board members up for reelection, three will face opposition — all from write-in candidates.
Leslie Bredl, the Region 1 incumbent, is challenged by write-in candidate Erin McClymonds; in Region 4, write-in candidate Nunzio Martin challenges incumbent Frederick Peterson Jr.; and in Region 5, incumbent Tim Hester faces write-in candidate Chris Marnik Jr.
Region 1
Bredl runs for a second term on the school board of directors, after having been elected to the role in 2017. She said her goal in running originally was to be more involved with the school district, which her three children attended and for which she'd volunteered for decades.
“I just wanted to help out and volunteer, and that's a big thing I always push for my own kids,” Bredl said. “I do enjoy volunteering, and I'm very much, and I have always been, an advocate for public education.”
For Bredl, the main purpose of the school board is to create the opportunity for all students to receive a good education. She touted Seneca Valley as having a “small, nurturing community” and “providing individualized instruction,” despite its large size.
“One of the challenges is, as with any school district, the expectations increase from our community, and I think we are always striving to improve,” she said. “We're never complacent in what we do, whether it's academics or our buildings and grounds. We are always trying to do better, and I think one of the things we are trying to do is make sure we are providing equitable education for every student in the district.”
McClymonds, who opted to run for the position after the Aug. 1 deadline for her name to appear on the ballot, said she wants to see more transparency, communication and understanding from the current directors.
“There are many, many voices in the community and we must hear and respect them all,” McClymonds said. “I do not feel the schools are respecting all the voices, but rather picking the agenda they wish to pursue and will not accept dissent.”
She added the district's mask mandate, for example, is something she believes stepped over the line.
“We are concerned parents. We see the loss of education. We see the kids suffering mentally, emotionally and physically,” McClymonds said. “We feel their resilience has been tested to the limits and that kids are living in isolation and fear. We want to give our kids their childhood back.”
The Region 1 seat includes two voting precincts from Cranberry Township: East 1, which votes at Victory Family Church, and East 2, which votes at Grace Community Church.
Region 4
Martin, who is a director of the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company, wrote in an online biography that he feels the district has stepped too far into what should be the decisions of parents.
“I am focusing on the emotional and mental well-being of children as well as their physical and educational health,” he wrote. “I am Republican. I am for parental involvement and choice. Pro America. Pro education. Pro children. Pro Constitution.”
Like McClymonds, he voiced concerns over the psychological impacts of COVID-19 restrictions and other mitigation strategies. Martin also opted to run after the Aug. 1 deadline, so he, too, is a write-in candidate.
“I have watched as the kids are taught to fear each other and life in general and I think I can do better by advocating for the families of Seneca (Valley) students,” he wrote.
Peterson, who has served two terms on the board, is also involved heavily in the community, including being a board member of the Cranberry Township Emergency Medical Services. In terms of education, Peterson has expressed a desire for education as more than a one-size-fits-all solution.
“I'm tremendously interested in vocational and technical education — vo-tech,” Peterson said. “I'm working as hard as I can to support the concept of vo-tech not as the last choice of kids who want to learn, but as the best choice for kids who have a skillset with their hands, who are mechanically inclined.”
Peterson acknowledged the controversy over COVID-19 and its mitigation strategies, and said he feels it's his responsibility as a board member, and as a person with a career in public health, to be the “lighting rod” over those issues. But, he added, it's not the only “elephant in the room.”
“I'm OK with that. I see that as part of my responsibilities,” he said. “The other issue, besides COVID, is the acceptance of people who are different. We're making progress, but we should be starting in kindergarten and first grade, having discussions about kids who are different, and how there shouldn't be any value judgment about that.”
In addition to Peterson, another name will appear on the ballot: Travis Savitt-Kraft, a Democrat. However, Savitt-Kraft issued a statement announcing he withdrew from the race, and encouraged those who would have voted for him to instead vote for Peterson.
Two Cranberry precincts comprise Region 4: West 4, which votes at Haine Fire Station, and West 6, which votes at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Region 5
Hester, like Peterson, runs for a third term on the board, having first been elected in 2013. And, like Bredl, he wanted to extend his volunteerism to the school board.
A major part of his philosophy as a board member is that the public school system is the “foundation of any community.”
“Most people in our community want to have a very strong public education, and that's where I fall,” he said. “I really wanted to do whatever I could to help the growth of the school, the success of the school and work with Dr. (Tracy) Vitale,” the district's superintendent.
Hester said he wants to ensure children all have equal access to education and an opportunity to learn, regardless of their families' educational background or socioeconomic status, or the student's predispositions.
“I am interested in making sure all kids are equally educated. I'm interested in looking at the future and making sure that we understand that college may not be the only direction kids are going in the future,” Hester said. “There are a lot of careers that we, as a public school, can be teaching kids and giving them the foundation to move on to that are varied, not just the one traditional way, of going to college.”
Marnik did not respond to a Facebook message — the only way identified on his web page to contact him — seeking comment, but has allied himself with McClymonds and Martin, two proponents of “parental choice and parental voice.”
In a limited biography on his web page, he lists six qualifications, including having four children in the district, running three stores for his family business in the Pittsburgh area for more than 18 years and his bachelor's degree in theology.
Additionally, Marnik has a pastoral leadership certificate, he and his wife serve as pre-marriage mentors for blended families at Victory Family Church, and his wife is an elementary school teacher, specializing in autistic and emotional support.
Region 5 includes two Cranberry precincts: East 3, which votes at Hope Lutheran Church, and West 5, which votes in the Franklin Room at the Cranberry Township Municipal Center.
