The Sun-Gazette asked candidates for Loyalsock Township School Board questions about school safety and about the fiscal outlook for education in Pennsylvania.

Q. School safety is an issue in the headlines, not only on the national level, but locally. Parents are concerned with the safety of their children and children are anxious about what is happening. How do you think school districts should approach this problem? What would you do to ensure the safety of children in the schools?

Julia Johnson French: School safety is extremely important to the Loyalsock Township School District. I have had two children graduate from Loyalsock and I currently have a junior in high school. I take school safety very seriously. Previous school boards have made decisions which have placed a school police officer at each school. I would continue to support this endeavor as I believe an actual officer is better at making on-scene decisions and providing a more accurate assessment of a situation than technological substitutes. Additionally, I would continue to support our current student mental health assistance efforts as well as address bullying through preventive measures and the adherence to current school board policy.

Larry Allison Jr.: Safety at Loyalsock is one of my Top Priorities. We must provide the best technology and school resource officers available to us. There has to be significant training for all staff on crisis situations. Increasing communication and transparency is also at the top of my list. The parents and students deserve this information in a timely manner. We must put safety at the top.

Benjamin Hepburn: I believe the only thing we can do is to continue our due diligence in having secured schools, armed resource officers, and a plan of action for the possible situations that may occur in the future. Plans need to be continuously reviewed and updated as new technologies are developed and as the need arises.

Rob Lytle (running for a two-year term): School safety should be at the forefront of every school board discussion; it is the foundation of every school district. We need to provide a safe environment for our students, teachers and staff. With technology, and grant resources, this can be achieved in many ways. The process starts with a solid preparedness plan and proper training. Parents should send their kids to school knowing we have done everything we can to ensure their safe return.

Q. Taxes and the cost of educating students. Pennsylvania taxpayers will spend $16.8 billion to educate K-12 students in the 2024-25 school year, at a cost of more than $21,985 per student, even though there are 39,000 fewer K-12 students in Pennsylvania’s public schools than in 2019-2020. Costs are increasing, The cost of maintaining aging buildings is increasing. Taxpayers, obviously, don’t want higher taxes, so what do you think is a way to deal with the high cost of educating children?

French: In general, I would make decisions based on fiscal responsibility, taking into account the economic considerations of our community. It’s extremely important to budget carefully and find ways to spend money wisely as well as pursue grants and seek out other available monetary assistance. While I was Vice President and then President of the Loyalsock Athletic Booster Club for 10 years I utilized methods that raised and spent thousands of dollars that financially supported above and beyond the athletic program budget. The same can be said for other school organizations as well. We are fortunate to have had the ability to update our school buildings through preventative maintenance, improving physical areas as the needs have arisen, and the completion of several recent renovation projects. It is my belief in working with the community, we can ensure student success and complete everything within our power to maintain our present tax structure.

Allison: I am not in favor of increasing taxes. The cost to keep our students safe and educate continues to climb annually, we must work with the state and federal government to maximize money to Loyalsock with the programs they have available. We will have to do a deep dive into the Loyalsock budgets to see where we can save money, so we can provide the students a safe school and best paid teachers. Our teachers are very critical to the success of our students and deserve to be paid properly. I look forward to the opportunity to put Loyalsock back on top again.

Hepburn: In trying to keep spending and cost of education at a level of acceptance to the taxpayers. We need to use common sense and good judgment in trying to be fiscally responsible to the taxpayers. There’s going to be reassessment and properties will be assessed at higher values, that’s inevitable. Also, there has been new construction in the township, which will bring in a greater revenue and hopefully allow us to keep tax increases at a minimum. My top priorities would be to use common sense in making good and sound decisions in all aspects of the district. I think it’s important that we be consistent on all matters and operate in a fair and reasonable manner. I think it starts at the top and in order to have a great learning experience there has to be trust and great leadership.I think that having an open dialogue with community members and working with administration and teachers to provide a good environment for the students to learn.

Candidates were also given the chance to speak about their top priorities instead of answering specific questions.

Ben Marzo: As a member of the Loyalsock Township School Board. My primary priorities will be to advance student achievement, uphold fiscal responsibility, and foster a safe learning environment that enables students to excel academically. Socially and personally. We must prioritize the attraction, retention and support of high-quality teachers and administrators.

David Steele: Steele he feels the board should bring common sense back to their decision making. He also feels that educators should be given all the tools they need to do their jobs while also being fiscally responsible. “I think it’s very important to be fiscally responsible with every decision we make,” Steele said.

Lytle: No one wants to see their taxes go up, especially me. I know there is very little room in school board budgets for “cost cutting” especially with inflation. The district has been very proactive in maintaining the buildings over the last few years. We have to take into consideration education and teachers’ salaries moving forward. If elected, I will do my best to make sure we are fiscally responsible as long as it does not affect the education of the students, teachers and staff.

Holly Shadle is also running for a four-year position on the school board.