For Poland school board: incumbents Zedaker, Shovlin

The two incumbents seeking re- election to the Poland Board of Education offer some interesting personal contrasts.

Elinor Zedaker works at the YSU Foundation and has been on the Poland board since 1991. Robert Shovlin is a carpenter who is finishing his first term.

But between them, they bring a strong combination of insight into how the school district works, its strengths, its weaknesses and its needs.

There are two challengers in the race, Agatha VanBrocklin, a former teacher in Poland for 20 years and retired administrator at Streetsboro City School District, and James Lavorini, a certified public accountant and pharmaceutical company representative. Neither came in for an endorsement interview.

Through questionnaires, interviews and a candidate’s forum, it is clear that all of the candidates recognize that Poland is facing additional fiscal challenges in the not-too-distant future.

Financial prospects

Treasurer Donald Stanovcak has told the board that it will end this school year with a balance of about $1.5 million, but would end the following year with a balance of just $200,000. Barring changes in spending and/or income, the district would be facing deficits in succeeding years.

The community rejected 3.9-mill and 4.9-mill emergency levies last November and in May. Superintendent Robert Zorn has said the district has made cuts of about $1.5 million since the levy defeats, but does not see a way of balancing the budget on cuts alone.

The board flirted with a pay-to-play plan this summer, but there wasn’t enough time to implement it. Zedaker says its something the board may have to reconsider; Shovlin says he’s opposed. But in any case, pay-to-play is no more than a budgetary supplement. It is not a revenue stream on which $20-million budgets are balanced.

Given the challenges that all of the board members will face over the next two years, it’s a testament to the Poland community that four people of varying backgrounds and qualifications want the job.

Whether a candidate’s background is in business, education or a trade, any board member knows that the job will involve making further, even drastic, cuts, or convincing their neighbors that the traditional quality of education Poland has come to expect can only be preserved with the approval of additional revenue.

We believe the two incumbents, with their mixture of experience and community ties, are best suited to the challenges at hand.

The Vindicator endorses Elinor Zedaker and Robert Shovlin for re-election.