Seven candidates will compete for four open Gateway school board seats in the Nov. 4 election.

Janette Beighel, Leslie McBride, Anthony Mock and Rick McIntyre will appear on the Democratic ballot. McBride, Shirley Ewart, Len Young and Roger Wilson will appear on the Republican ballot. All were cross-filed in the primary election.

“I think it’s very important that we focus first on education,” said Ewart, 74, a registered nurse and paramedic who has lived in the district for two decades. “That’s our primary role, to ensure that every child gets the best education possible. I’d prefer not to spend money on ancillary things until we know the education piece is meeting the criteria we want — high standards and great teachers for every student.”

Incumbent candidate McBride, 50, is a social worker with Allegheny Health Network.

“Finances are at the top of everyone’s list,” she said. “We’re putting together one-, five- and 10-year projections because we do have a lot of older buildings. We have to balance the needs of the district versus reality and what looks good on paper.”

McBride said she hopes Gateway students can get a well-rounded academic experience.

“Our arts groups, like the band, are smaller than they used to be,” she said. “I think we need to work on building those back up. When middle school kids transition to the high school, I think we lose a lot of students who were doing things like robotics, STEAM activities and arts.”

Roger Wilson, 79, is retired after a 50-year television broadcast career. He said school safety and education are his top priorities.

“We need to maintain our investment in our buildings, but the safety and education of students is the most important,” he said. “We need to strike a better balance with the funding spent on athletics versus academics. We spent a lot on athletics and athletic facilities. And there is a lot of value in learning sports and sportsmanship, but again, academics need to come first.”

Anthony Mock owns Mock & Co. jewelers and Events on Ten in the Jonnet Building, and said he hopes to see businesses like his own step up to help the school district.

“It all depends on what the state ends up giving in terms of funding,” said Mock, 42, who’ve lived in the district since he was a young child. “If we’re not getting a major budget increase, I don’t want to vote for a tax hike. Monroeville has been adding some businesses in recent years, and hopefully that will help with the tax base for the school district.”

Mock said he wants to work on district communication.

“I’m not even on the school board, but I’ve had a lot of people calling asking about things they’d like me to try and fix,” he said. “I think there’s some communication missing between the district and leadership. Security is also a big concern of mine. We have a good security staff, but last year there were fights every week among ninth grade students. We had kids leaving Gateway because they were being bullied. So we need to work together to prevent fights as quickly as possible, and to address the reasons students might be leaving the district.”

Len Young, 68, is a self-employed landscaper and certified motorcycle safety instructor at the Community College of Allegheny County’s Boyce campus.

Young said the best way to deal with limited state funding is by making the best use of Gateway’s existing facilities.

“We need to eliminate unneeded programs and balance the budget,” said Young, who is vice commander and former commander of the Sons of the American Legion at Gold Star Post 820 in Monroeville. “I’d have to look deeper into the budget for specifics. It’s a very complicated document, but it seems to me there are a lot of places where money can be saved.”

Young said his motto is “More for the students, less from the taxpayers.”

Janette Beighel, 46, is a registered nurse who volunteers with Gateway Middle School’s Family-Teacher Organization.

“You have to look at the projects we’re considering, and decide: Is it something we need, something we want, or a ‘dream’ project, and you have to look hard at whether we have the budget for it,” said Beighel, who’s lived in the district for 16 years.

“The biggest challenge is going to be funding, and being creative with the budget to ensure our staff and student needs are being met,” she said. “We have to go line-by-line through the budget and see what is appropriate and where we can make cuts. And I don’t want cut things just to cut things — I want out kids to have everything they need to be successful.”

Rick McIntyre, 49, a chauffeur at Carey International car service, said he would take a hard line on additional spending.

“I will not support any new projects that would require a tax increase,” he said. “I am committed to not voting for a single tax increase while serving as a school director.”

McIntyre said Gateway’s budget is by far its biggest challenge.

“I’ll work to make cuts to the current spending, while protecting the best interests of our students and faculty,” he said.

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