Five run for Poland Board of Education

Two incumbents and three challengers are vying for three four-year school board seats.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

POLAND — Five people are seeking three school board seats.

Incumbents L. Britt Greene, 56, and Elinorok S. Zedaker, 65, along with challengers Dave Bennett, 51, Jim Lavorini, 44, and Robert Shovlin, 47, are running for the four-year seats.

Board member Ted “Chappie” Bair didn’t seek re-election.

Zedaker is seeking her fifth term on the school board. She is a senior associate at the Youngstown State University Foundation.

She’s particularly proud of the board and school district’s efforts during her tenure to respond to pupils’ needs.

“When I was first elected, we had one computer lab at the high school,” Zedaker said. “Now, we make every effort to respond to the needs of students.”

One of those needs is technology, and student computer labs are available throughout all school buildings to address that.

“I’m in the race to continue to serve,” Zedaker said. “I have no personal agenda.”

She credits Superintendent Dr. Robert Zorn as well as district faculty and staff for their leadership in the district’s success.

The long-time board member lists a resolution to the challenge of funding public education as a priority. It has to be a solution that takes the quality of education as well as taxpayers into account.

The state also must play a role, Zedaker said.

Greene, the other incumbent in the race, is seeking his second term. He is a self-employed certified financial planner.

He listed the district’s excellent report card rating and its fiscal responsibility as things he’s proudest of. He also pointed to the district saving $250,000 by implementing a retire-rehire program.

That money was used to update high school science labs, he said.

He said he’d like the district to offer additional elective courses for students and enhance its offerings for gifted students.

Shovlin is construction manager at Shovlin Construction, Boardman.

This is his second time on the school board ballot. The first time, which was unsuccessful, was two years ago.

“It’s the way the school board spends our money,” Shovlin said of his reasons for running this year and in 2005.

He said the board doesn’t always seek competitive bids to get the best price on projects include classroom renovations.

Shovlin said that board members approve bills submitted to them after they’ve already been paid and that more scrutiny must be given to expenditures.

He also said he thinks the school resource officer, a police officer that works in the schools, should be reinstated. The program, a joint offering of the school and township, ceased when a grant expired.

“I think it’s something that’s needed in the schools,” Shovlin said.

Both Bennett and Lavorini are running for public office for the first time.

“I’ve been a Poland resident all my life,” Bennett said. “This is an opportunity to give something back.”

He has three children, the youngest of whom will graduate from Poland Seminary High School this year.

Bennett said his campaign isn’t focused on a particular issue. He just wants to continue the school district’s tradition of excellence.

“In my own business experience, I see how international business is becoming,” said Bennett, who is an account executive and financial planner at Butler Wick, Youngstown.

He said he believes that more of an awareness of how business and economics are conducted in other parts of the world is something that would benefit students.

“I also want to continue to improve on our technological abilities,” Bennett said.

Lavorini also has two children in the schools and therefore a vested interest in how they’re run. He said that communities need people to step up to the plate to serve on boards and do their part.

“I think that with my business background and with the various community boards that I’ve served on, that I would be a complement to the existing board,” Lavorini said.

Lavorini, a certified public accountant, is a professional sales representative for Johnson & Johnson.

He said he thinks the school board does a great job in handling its duties and making sometimes difficult decisions. One thing he would work to accomplish if elected, he said, is to create more of a collaborative atmosphere between school board and officials and groups or individuals that approach the board with issues.

Because the board makes decisions to try to address what’s best for the district as a whole, the decisions sometimes create bad feelings for those groups or individuals.

“I want to foster an environment or an atmosphere where everyone is working together to, hopefully, eliminate some of that,” Lavorini said.