Political ideologies took center stage during several local school board races this year as Republicans and Democrats faced off over hot topic issues such as book bans and the rights of LGBTQ students.
Across the region — where discussions over those ideas have led to contentious school board meetings, drawing hundreds of parents and residents to voice their opinions — districts saw mixed results, with some such as Hempfield Area in Westmoreland, Pine-Richland in Allegheny and South Side in Beaver County seeing Republicans sweep the election.
But others, including Norwin School District in Westmoreland and North Allegheny in Allegheny County, saw Democratic success.
Divisions in local districts came as school board races that were once nonpartisan elections that focused on budgets and infrastructure projects have turned into political stomping grounds as crowded debates erupt at once quiet meetings across the country.
Locally those conversations have focused on books some parents say are sexually explicit. The parents, who ask school boards to remove the novels from school libraries, are often met with pushback from advocates who tout the importance of giving students access to necessary materials. Other districts have grappled with sharp divides over whether teachers and staff should refer to students by their preferred names and pronouns.
Here’s how several local districts that have been thrown into the political spotlight in recent years fared during the general election:
South Side
Republicans swept the South Side School Board election Tuesday, a contentious race that came after the Beaver County district was thrown into political debates after board members last year created a pronoun committee to research a potential policy that would determine if teachers and staff should refer to students by their preferred names and pronouns. The district formed the committee, which was eventually disbanded, after a teacher refused to use students’ preferred pronouns because of his religious beliefs.
But the small, rural community was divided over the issue, an idea that appeared during the school board’s primary and general elections that were dominated by a heavily Republican slate that ran on the slogan “For South Side education, not activism.”
In the end, the Republican ticket secured all five open seats on the board. That includes Robert Tellish, who received 1,310 votes; Tammy Wilt, 1,114 votes; Kathie Marino, 1,055 votes; Travis Frasier, 1,187 votes; and Julie Winterrowd, 1,155 votes, according to unofficial election results. Ms. Winterrowd is secretary of the conservative Beaver County Moms For Liberty chapter.
They faced registered Democrats Jim Hallisey and Edgardo Santillan, and registered Republicans Bernice Woodling, Michael Rounds, and incumbents Brenda McCarrell and Farin Weltner. Mr. Hallisey and Ms. Weltner sat on South Side’s committee. The candidates were all cross-filed, a move that is typical in school board races, allowing candidates to appear on both parties’ tickets.
Republican Michael Rounds also won a two-year seat on the board. He received 1,015 votes over Democratic candidate Sally Cain’s 733 votes.
Hempfield Area
Republicans also saw success at Hempfield Area School District, where three incumbents and two newcomers were elected to the board.
Incumbents Mike Alfery, who saw 6,821 votes, or almost 13%; and Jennifer Bretz, who had 6,494 votes, or 12%, were reelected. Incumbent Vince DeAugustine, who was cross-filed, also won a seat on the board, receiving 6,801 votes, or almost 13%. They will be joined by Republican newcomers Jennifer Stape, who received 6,478 votes, or 12%; and Tracy Miller, who saw 6,390 votes, or 12%.
They ran against incumbent Jeanne Smith, Colleen Gallagher, former high school principal Kathy Charlton and Erin Johns Speese.
The changeup on the board comes as Hempfield Area in the past few years has grappled with complaints from a small group of parents about books available in the high school library.
Concerns raised about “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, which chronicles the author’s journey growing up as a queer Black man and “The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person” by Frederick Joseph, which discusses his experiences with racism, caused the board in August to change their policy around resource materials. Now, librarians must submit a public list of requested books for a 30-day review, allowing residents to raise concerns about any of the proposed books.
The district is also working through a high school renovation project, which was put on hold in August after board members said bids came in at “unacceptable” levels.
Pine-Richland
At Pine-Richland in Allegheny County, only one Democrat who ran for one of the five open seats was elected. The largely Republican sweep comes as school directors plan to reexamine policies around library books and how books are chosen for student access after parents filled an October board meeting to complain about library books they said are sexually explicit and obscene.
In Region 1, a Republican and Democrat both won seats on the board. Republican incumbent Marc Casciani received 1,552 votes, or 25%; and Democratic newcomer Ashley Fortier saw 1,549 votes, or 25%.
Republican Leslie Miller won the District 2 seat after receiving 1,742 votes, or almost 54%. And two Republicans beat two Democrats for the District 3 seat. Philip Morrissette received 1,366 votes, or 27%, and Mike Wiethorn saw 1,332 votes, or almost 27%.
Because the process of reviewing the district’s current policies around library books could take months, school directors are expected to vote next week on measures that could keep parents informed about what books their children are checking out of the library. The resolution, which could be voted on during Monday’s meeting, would notify parents if their child checks out a book that is going through the review process.
Norwin
But Democrats also saw success during Tuesday’s election.
At Norwin in Westmoreland County, a slate of candidates that ran on a bipartisan ticket whose platform was to put the focus back on education, swept the election.
Norwin, which had 10 candidates vying for five open school board seats, has been rocked by political turmoil after a conservative board majority was elected in 2021. In two years, the board has banned critical race theory from classrooms even though it isn’t taught in K-12 schools and prohibited teachers from using CNN 10, a 10-minute newscast designed for use in schools.
All five candidates on the bipartisan We aRe Norwin ticket won a seat on the board. Tim Kotch Sr. received 6,174 votes, or 11%; Nino Totin saw 5,911 votes, or almost 11%; Heath Shrum had 5,907 votes, or almost 11%; Matt Thomas received 5,813, or almost 11%; and Bill Bojalad saw 5,695 votes, or 10%.
They faced the conservative Change4Norwin slate, made up of Lynda Funk, Tammy Moreno, Tom Ryan, Dale Weisensee and incumbent Bob Wayman, who secured Republican nominations. All candidates were cross-filed.
Current Norwin school director Alex Detschelt, who helped to run the group’s campaign, posted a statement on the Change4Norwin website, stating that “The people have spoken and Norwin has fallen.” He suggested that new residents moving into the community are “woke folk coming from Allegheny County” and that Democrats and RINOs – or Republicans in name only – “who voted for this slate are the stupidest people living in Norwin.”
“This is all what you wanted Norwin,” he wrote. “Elections have very real consequences.”
North Allegheny
North Allegheny saw a mix of political parties win seats on the school board, with three Democrats and two Republicans seeing positive election results. The race for five open seats pitted five Democrats and five Republicans against each other.
Democrats who won a seat on the board include incumbent Elizabeth Warner, who received 10,177 votes, or almost 11%; and newcomers Bob Gibbs, who secured 9,749 votes, or 10%; and Anisha Shah, who saw 9,602 votes, or 10%.
Republicans who were elected include Mike Weniger, who had 9,713 votes, or 10%; and incumbent Libby Blackburn, who received 9,494 votes, or 10%.
The five candidates ran against Republicans Janet Redwing Sidor, Kate Matz and incumbent Marcie Crow, and Democrats Jaime Martinez and Sylvana Bonner.
The contentious race comes after North Allegheny in June hired Brendan Hyland as superintendent. The appointment was controversial after several community members raised concerns over how Mr. Hyland, who was the former North Allegheny Intermediate High School principal handled a 2014 Title IX lawsuit that accused Mr. Hyland and other school officials of failing to respond to multiple instances of hazing. Ms. Warner voted against the appointment.
The district last month also approved a district-based police department that would put 12 armed police officers in all district buildings. The vote to implement the department came a week after the plan was presented to the public.
First Published: November 10, 2023, 4:08 p.m.
Updated: November 11, 2023, 4:53 a.m.
