November 11, 2009
Political tide shifts on Colonial School Board
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
By Amanda Glensky
Staff Writer
The Colonial
Election Day yielded a big change in the Colonial School District with a sweeping Democratic victory that will change the political majority after roughly two decades.
Five newcomers will join the nine-member school board after beating five incumbents at the polls.
The Democrat ticket of Beth Suchsland, Kathleen Oxberry, Alan Tabachnick and Bernie Brady earned about 52 percent of the vote, beating Republican incumbents Lenora Bruno, Tom Davis, William Ryan and Steve Slutsky, a ticket that carried roughly 48 percent, according to unofficial results from the county.
In addition, Democrat Thomas Sigafoos defeated Republican incumbent Kelly Jowett in the race to complete the final two years of an expired term on the board. A former board member had resigned due to illness during his first two years of service. The board appointed Jowett to serve in his place, and a special election was required to confirm the appointment. Sigafoos won the election with roughly 53 percent of the vote.
When the board is reorganized, Democrats will have a 5-4 majority.
According to Suchsland, the Colonial School Board has been composed of Republicans for 21 years, although in an interview Nov. 6, she predicted the board will not change dramatically with a new political majority.
“I think it’s just exciting that now it won’t be a partisan board,” she said. “You will have people of varying viewpoints, I think it’s good to have new people on that may ask questions in a different way.”
The biggest issue facing the new board is a projected deficit for the next year, she said.
“One of the things that we ran on is trying to put a link between the community and the board, so we’re trying to focus on that,” she added.
Tabachnick said Nov. 6 he is happy the voters thought enough of his ticket to give it the responsibility to “continue the great work within the Colonial School District.”
“Our overall goal is to make sure that students at all ability levels throughout the district and all ages have the support and the programming they need to reach their potential while within the school district,” he said.
Sigafoos said Monday he’s glad that the voters thought his ticket had “something to offer.”
“It’s just such a great honor,” he said. “One, to be elected by the community in this way. And certainly with the number of years that have gone by it is great to have a more diverse board that is reflective of the community.”
Regardless of political party, he said there is no doubt in his mind that all members of the school board have the best interests of the community at heart.
“From both sides there really is this sense to work together for the school district,” he said.
Jowett, on the Republican incumbent ticket, said although she was not re-elected, she will continue to be “an advocate for our students and taxpayers of the Colonial School District.”
“I enjoyed my time on the board, and it was a great experience for me. Going through the election process was certainly an eye-opening experience as well,” she said Nov. 7.
Some Republicans said the Democrats ran a negative campaign that overshadowed their own achievements as school board members.
Republican Slutsky, who served on the board seven years, said the incumbents were successful school board members, and they lost the election because of “negative campaigning and distortions of the truth.”
“It is very clear to all objective observers that the Colonial School District has student achievement that is greater than it’s ever been. Its scores are up, student achievement is up and this has been acknowledged by outside organizations as well as internally,” he said.
“The district is on sound financial footing with the second-lowest taxes in the county, yet that negative campaigning, which cherry-picked facts and pulled them out of context — distorted them — resonated with the voters and was extraordinarily disappointing to me.”
Davis said Sunday he was disappointed the incumbents were not re-elected after their years of service contributed to the “outstanding success” and reputation of the school district.
He said the election was not about those issues.
“Personally, I am disappointed that the majority of the district voters chose to make the education of our students political rather than acknowledge the district-student accomplishments,” he said. “I was surprised that the majority of the district voters did not discern the political aspects of a reference to a ‘deficit’ when the Colonial School District has one of the highest school district credit ratings in the state, and with the second-lowest tax burden in the county.”
Democrats also “misquoted” a source in an attempt to “discredit student achievement” and allude to “teacher manipulation,” he said.
He also addressed the accusation of a lack of transparency at board meeting “when all board committee meetings are posted, as legally required, to be open to the public with provision for public comment, and none were attended by the opponents.”
Republican William Ryan said Monday he looks forward to the state education committee ensuring nonpartisan elections by eliminating primary election for school board directors within the next year, an action he said state’s senators were set to approve in October before being distracted by issues with the state budget.
He said his initial platforms were very similar to those of the Democrats running for election.
“Negative campaigns in school board director elections are ineffective. Who is not for increasing achievement, low taxes and open space? Perhaps more mudslinging might have resulted in my re-election,” he said. “What I did was be part of a group of spirited volunteers who supported the Colonial School District in achieving the highest academic scores in its history while maintaining the second-lowest tax rate in Montgomery County. The Colonial School District administrators assure me that the kindergarten through third-grade students rank number one in math scores in Montgomery County.”
Ryan said the newly elected school board members will be as successful as Republicans because the students are motivated, the parents are supportive, the teachers are dedicated and the district administrators work “above and beyond” in their daily duties.
The Democrats defended their campaigning, saying the information used was fair and true.
Suchsland said the information the Democrats printed, taken from school board minutes, the school board Web site, Philadelphia Magazine and the budget, was all factual. There was no personal information about any candidate, she said.
“It was all taken from very credible pieces of information,” she said. “From our view there was no negative campaigning. We’re all after the same goal, and that’s making Colonial a great school district, and it’s about the kids. We’re proud of our campaign.”
Sigafoos said Democrats tried to give a full picture of the issues.
“I really just see it as presenting the facts and information to give to the community. I wouldn’t say it’s negative to present information fully,” he said.
“We weren’t meaning to attack anyone individually.”