Candidates vie for spots on school boards across Lancaster County Alex geli | staff writer

Manheim Township

Manheim Township residents will head to the polls next week with a new middle school project potentially at stake.

Whether to continue with plans to replace the current, 50-year-old Manheim Township Middle School is the prime topic of debate in what’s likely the county’s most hotly contested school board race.

The project, which the school board approved in February by a 7-2 vote, would likely cost more than $100 million with interest.

Ten of the 16 school board candidates on next Tuesday’s ballot favor the new construction. But a group of candidates — dubbed Building Education, Not Buildings — hopes to stymie the project. (Most candidates, regardless of political affiliation, will appear on both parties’ ballots.)

“They hear our footsteps coming,” said Republican Leo Rosenberger, a 67-year-old financial consultant running for school board and an opponent of the new school.

Critics of the plan say the district must lighten its $128 million debt load before taking on a project of this magnitude.

To comply with Act 1, which limits the increase in property taxes school districts can impose each year, Manheim Township would phase in a 0.786 millage increase over seven years, starting in 2018.

By the time the school is paid off in 2033, a homeowner with a property assessed at $200,000 would have paid at least $2,000 in additional taxes solely for the building, according to a financial consultant for the district.

Rosenberger said, if elected, he and others would table the project and place a referendum on the ballot in November for voters to choose whether they favor a new middle school.

“If the public showed me by majority that they wanted a new school,” Rosenberger said, “I would respect that ... and go forward.”

Supporters of the school, however, say the building’s condition is too poor to delay the project any longer.

Related: $3.1M contract awarded to architectural firm for controversial Manheim Township Middle School project

“While I understand the pushback,” said Democrat Nikki Rivera — a 44-year-old teacher at Warwick School District who, along with Republican Jon Sensenig, was appointed to the board in July — “what I understand more is the need.”

Rivera, who supports the project, said stretching payments to 2033 is the smartest way to pay off the building and would provide the most benefit for kids while minimizing the impact on taxpayers.

“This is how it works to get education moving forward now,” she said, noting that most school districts take on debt to improve their facilities.

“I think (the argument) is interesting,” Rivera said. “I’m not waiting to pay cash for my house. I’m not waiting to pay cash for my car. I’m not waiting to pay cash for my kids to go to college. We can manage debt.”

In the end, she said, “it’s all about the kids.”

Up for grabs: Four four-year terms and two two-year terms. (Board members Nathan Geesey and Grace Strittmatter will step down this year.)

Republicans:

  • Sensenig, 41, construction manager; supports construction.
  • Rosenberger, opposes construction.
  • Marianne Clay Strittmatter (no relation to Grace Strittmatter), 66, corporate secretary; opposes construction.
  • Samantha C. Calderon, 29, teacher at School District of Lancaster; opposes construction.
  • Joyce L. Stephens, 43, homemaker; supports construction.
  • Dan Holler, 35, teacher at Pequea Valley School District; supports construction.
  • Daniel Gonzales, 41, chief financial officer at Universal Athletic Club; opposes construction.
  • Joy Rodenberger, 52, homemaker; supports construction.
  • George T. Wilcox, 79, retired; opposes construction.

Democrats:

  • Rivera, supports construction of new middle school.
  • Incumbent Anthony DeLeo, 52, production worker; supports construction.
  • JoAnn Hentz, 65, retired; supports construction.
  • Dianne Mousley, 64, retired; opposes construction.
  • John R. Smith, 66, retired; supports construction.
  • Janet Carroll, 69, retired hospice administrator; supports construction.
  • Curtis Holgate, 70, teacher at Lancaster County Academy; supports construction.

Endorsed by Democratic committee: Smith, Rivera, Holgate, DeLeo, Hentz and Carroll.

Endorsed by Republican committee: Strittmatter, Gonzales, Calderon and Wilcox.

Other school board races include Elizabethtown Area, Lancaster, Penn Manor and Warwick.

In each case, the number of seats up for election is exceeded by the number of candidates who will appear on at least one party’s ballot. In some cases, that’s due to candidates cross-filing on both ballots.

Elizabethtown Area School District

Up for grabs: four four-year terms

Democrats:

  • Erin Grosh, 35, homemaker.
  • Kelly Shaffer Fuddy, 35, chaplain.
  • Andrew J. Esoldo, 31, works in sales.
  • David Koppel, 43, computer programmer.

Republicans:

  • Incumbent Michelle J. Pelna, 49, publications manager.
  • James Read, 60, supervisor at Wenger’s Feed Mill.
  • Menno E. Riggleman, 50, works in maintenance.

Endorsed by Democratic committee: Esoldo, Fuddy and Grosh.

Endorsed by Republican committee: Read and Riggleman.

Three main issues: budget, maintaining programs in danger of being cut, keeping families involved in school happenings.

School District of Lancaster

Up for grabs: four four-year terms.

Democrats:

  • Incumbent Harvey S. Miller, 71, lawyer.
  • Salina Almanzar, 25, photography technician.
  • Mara Creswell McGrann, 45, marketing director.
  • David Parry, 41, professor at St. Joseph’s College.
  • Brandon J. Way Sr., 32, special education teacher at York City School District.
  • Ole Hongvanthong, 35, photographer.

Endorsed by Democratic committee: McGrann, Parry and Miller.

Three main issues: pensions, Pennsylvania’s charter school law and state funding.

Penn Manor School District

Up for grabs: four four-year terms.

Democrats:

  • Anthony J. Boyer, 29, teacher at La Academia Partnership Charter School.

Republicans:

  • Incumbent David R. Paitsel, 47, customer service and sales representative at Arconic Inc.
  • Incumbent Richard Frerichs, 74, retired.
  • Incumbent Christopher Straub, 63, attorney.
  • Nickole L. Nafziger, 34, in-home caregiver at Agape Care Inc.

Endorsed by Democratic committee: Boyer.

Endorsed by Republican committee: Paitsel, Frerichs, Straub and Nafziger.

Three main issues: pensions, state funding and rising health care costs.

Warwick School District

Up for grabs: four four-year terms.

Democrat:

  • Anne Pyle, 72, Realtor.

Republicans:

  • Incumbent Michael Landis, 53, insurance businessman.
  • Incumbent Debra Wenger, 57, human resource assistant.
  • Incumbent Millard Eppig Jr., 55, customer service representative.
  • Matthew Knouse, 46, manufacturer’s representative.

Endorsed by the Democratic committee: Pyle.

Endorsed by Republican committee: Landis, Wenger, Eppig and Knouse.

Three main issues: budget, combating heroin epidemic and maintaining the school district’s quality.

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