6 vie for 4 school board positions

By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Three incumbents and three newcomers are vying for four open seats on the New Castle Area School Board.
Larry Nord, an incumbent, and Andrea Przybylski won both Democratic and Republican nominations in the primary election. Allan Joseph and Peter Yerage are the Democratic nominees and William Morgan and Barbara McNeal won the Republican nod in May.
Przybylski, Morgan and McNeal are newcomers who have never held public office. They ran as a slate in the spring, along with a fourth person who did not win a nomination from either party.
Accountability: Przybylski says she wants more fiscal responsibility and public accountability from the school board if elected.
"School board directors are elected to represent the public's interest in the decisions they make regarding the budget, program evaluation, student assessment, hiring and teacher evaluation. This requires open communication and the ability to build a consensus between the school and the public," she said.
McNeal agrees and wants to adopt a policy manual that outlines how the school district responds to public concerns.
McNeal, an English professor at Slippery Rock University, said one of her first priorities on the board would be to create a sound budget and she would also like to link New Castle's school system with educational programs in the area's colleges and universities.
Top vote-getter: Nord, who was the top vote-getter in the primary, said he wants to improve the quality of education and help the board function as it should.
The board tends to "micromanage" situations, he said.
"My biggest concern is that we have school board members interviewing people for positions," he said.
Nord said he believes the board should act as a policy making board and let the administrators carry out the actions.
Morgan, Joseph and Yerage did not respond to Vindicator questionnaires.