Seven candidates are competing for five open seats on the Karns City Area School District board of education.

Six of seven candidates have cross-filed for a shot at the position, meaning they will appear on both the Republican and Democratic ticket in the May 16 primary election.

The top five on each ballot will advance to the November general election, where five will be selected for the seats.

Members seeking reelection are Josh Price, Dr. Brenda Ealy and Tara Bly Hackwelder.

William Summerville, Joseph Boltz and Denny Kelly have held positions on the board, but not currently. Donald Scherer, who only will appear on the Republican ballot, would serve on the board for the first time, if elected.

The candidates seem to be in relative agreement on issues that face the district, such as vaping and social media. While pleased with efforts to quell these problems thus far, they are calling for more educational programs on the topics as well as more vigilance.

Price, a 1998 graduate of Karns City and a resident of Bruin, is the current president of the board. He has 10 years of experience on the board and works full time as an applications engineer for USA Compression Partners.

Price said he believes his experience and opportunity to learn from board members he has served with qualify him to continue, and detailed his pride in serving the school district throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was the most stressful time I had ever had on the board, but I feel as a district we navigated the time much better than most districts,” Price said.

During his time on the board, Price said he has been proactive in saving district funds for building projects as well as executing a consolidation of elementary schools with as much community input as possible.

Also during his time, Price has seen the school become up to date on technology, with the student-to-laptop ratio reaching 1:1 while also gaining hot spots to provide to students who lack adequate internet access. Karns City also partnered with the Seneca Valley School District to create online options for students who feel cyber school is their best route.

Price is running for another term to see through building projects being undertaken by the district, while ensuring efficiency across all three schools, allowing them to “continue to give the most to our students within our budgetary means.”

Chief among Price’s goals for the district is to broaden choices for students, such as discussing a virtual or in-person JROTC program partnership with the Butler Area School District.

“Every student has their niche. I want to make sure our district has the avenues for them to find it,” Price said.

Price said all the buildings in the district are using non-efficient and costly mechanical equipment, and he has been involved in examining how to make changes to improve both the elementary and high school settings.

He also is passionate about the school’s cyber-program, with aspirations to build this program even better to make it the best online option for students needing to go in that direction. He said he believes it would benefit students educationally and taxpayers financially.

He said they utilize as many grants or government funds as possible to address these issues.

While Price said finding full-time teachers hasn’t been especially difficult for the board while he has held a position, he said they have adjusted pay for substitute positions to make the district more competitive.

Ealy is a lifetime resident of the district, having graduated from East Brady High School. She is a physician assistant working in pediatric medicine at Children’s Community Pediatrics Armstrong, which she has done for more than 20 years. She has taught at Chatham University for the past four years.

She has been on the board for 12 years, currently serving as its vice president. She cites one of her most important accomplishments is Karns City being one of the first districts in the area to incorporate retired police as part of its school safety plan.

She said her interest in serving on the board comes from her history of working with children and families at Children’s Community Pediatrics.

“Over the years, I have had the opportunity to talk with families about their children’s education and how it relates to their child’s health and well-being. I appreciate bringing this experience to the table when making decisions that affect our students,” Ealy said.

Ealy said her goals for the district are intertwined with the most pressing issues she says faces the schools. She thinks the board must work together with an open mind to best serve students and taxpayers.

She said she is greatly concerned for student wellness and wants to work with the district’s community partners to address mental health needs, which have increased since the pandemic, and would like to continue to work with administration, teachers, and staff to ensure students have a safe space while at school.

She also thinks fiscal responsibility is a top issue in a district with “decreasing enrollment and a decreasing tax base,” believing they need to make the most of resources they have available.

In terms of the nation’s teacher shortage, she said this district has been “blessed” to have great teachers and paraprofessionals but cited difficulties in filling positions. She would like to see help from the state to fund incentives such as grants or school loan remission for recruitment in smaller districts, such as Karns City.

On top of being heavily involved in the community, Chicora native and resident Hackwelder has a background in social services and education with a B.A. in psychology from Penn State University, an M.A. in sociology from IUP, and an M.Ed. in secondary education from SRU. She has experience as a teacher, and works as a caseworker for Butler County Children & Youth Services.

Hackwelder was appointed to the board in December 2021 to fill a vacancy and serves on several committees as a board member. She is the district’s representative on the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV board. She is proud to have helped closely evaluate curriculum and monitor enforcement of policies that are in the best interest of students to help them “build bright minds and brighter futures.”

Hackwelder chose to return to the board because being a Karns City graduate, she has a deep sense of community.

“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,” Hackwelder said.

If returned to the board, she would like to ensure that the district continues to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all students, as well as see continued development of curriculum and more social programming put into place by partnering with community organizations, such as the food banks and social service groups.

She said she believes the board must increase focus on student mental health and overall well-being, both socially and academically. She also feels the Chicora Elementary building process is necessary, but costly, and wants to make sure it stays on track without cutting costs in other areas or raising taxes. She is passionate on being more enforcing of policies, such as the anti-bullyingy.

Hackwelder said if the district can provide training programs designed to prepare professionals from other fields to become substitute teachers to combat the shortage, it needs to do so.

Summerville, who is from and lives in Chicora, is not on the school board but previously served on it. He is on the board of the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School, and works as a PMP certified project manager for a Pittsburgh local robotics company.

Summerville has four children in the district and wants to take on a more-active role in their education. He is hoping to utilize his project management experience in overseeing construction of the Chicora Elementary School renovation.

He feels the safety of students and staff is a top issue, believing the district to already possess a great team of officers. He would like to ensure nothing hinders their abilities to safeguard children, in light of the recent threats in other districts. He wants to ensure current projects maintain their timelines and budgets and wants to continue upkeep on aging facilities.

Summerville said he believes the way to ease a shortage is to produce more teachers, with the idea of adding AP classes or allowing for college classes geared towards becoming a teacher in the 11th and 12th grade years of high school. He thinks it might inspire students to pursue teaching as a career.

Boltz, of Sugarcreek Township, also is a former board member with just over 10 years of experience as a school director. He served on the board at the Midwestern Intermediate Unit 4, and is a workload coordinator with ASRC Federal Professional Services. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a degree in managerial economics.

All three of his children are Karns City graduates.

Boltz said he believes the duties of school director are to govern and oversee, not to interfere and politicize. Marrying the success of the district with the wants and needs of district residents is, in his opinion, paramount. He’s running because he is a strong supporter of public education.

He claims student success, fiscal responsibility and safety of students and staff are important issues for any school district.

Boltz said fair funding for public schools, common-sense directives from state and federal governments and more positive parent interaction would help the teacher shortage, but it is a problem that is not easily solved.

Kelly, of Fairview Township, is a graduate of Karns City and has a strong passion for the students and their success. He is involved in many community outreaches and is an active church member. He is the retired from Dennis C. Kelly Insurance Agency, which he owned and operated for 35 years.

He is a former school board member, having served eight years. While serving, he said, he successfully started the backpack program which provided food for students in need and still is in use within the district.

His goals include helping the students successfully prepare for their future by helping to monitor the curriculum and what is being taught in the classrooms.

Kelly said three top issues within the district include cyberbullying, mental health of students and school safety. He would promote more education and policies on such topics and work to create continuing partnerships with community service providers to assist in this area. He also wishes to enhance current safety equipment.

Kelly said he believes that teachers need to be and feel supported so that they will want to stay in their position, and vows to advocate for the teaching profession and encourage others to join the profession.

Scherer, of Donegal Township, graduated from Karns City in 1993. He has been a union electrician with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 5 since then.

He said he is qualified because he has three children, one who attends Chicora Elementary and two that graduated from Karns City, and has firsthand experience with administration. He said his strong aptitude for mathematics will benefit taxpayers while saving them and the district money.

Scherer said he decided to run for numerous reasons, the largest being his belief that Karns City “has a school board that does not want to represent the community.”

He does not support tax increases whatsoever. He also said he is concerned about the amount of taxpayer money given to the athletic department over educational resources. The latter he says is lacking.

His goals include prohibiting more tax hikes and maintaining a student approachable policy, focusing on Americans instead of foreign insights and education. He also wishes to adopt a policy “strictly prohibiting the teaching of Critical Race Theory and the LGBTQ+ Agenda,” believing these issues can remain at home for parents to decide whether they want their children to be educated about these topics.

He said he is concerned about class sizes after the closing of Sugarcreek Elementary upon completion of the Chicora expansion project.

To combat the teacher shortage, he said school districts can provide more help and resources to teachers within the district, such as a better discipline policy for students. Scherer said he believes that, with a more approachable curriculum and policy, they can easily pull more full-time, part-time, and substitute teachers into the district.