Freeport Area School Board candidates focus on taxes, bouncing back from pandemic

Candidates running for seats on Freeport Area School Board are emphasizing issues such as taxes and recovering from the pandemic’s effects on education.

Five candidates are running for four nominations on the Republican ticket: incumbents Christine Davies and John Haven; along with Gary Risch Jr., Andrew Vento and Melanie Zembrzuski.

Davies, Haven, Risch and Zembrzuski also are running on the uncontested Democratic Party ballot.

John Haven

Haven, 74, served one term on the board, including a year as the board’s president. The Freeport alumnus said tackling covid-19 challenges — such as opening and closing schools and juggling hybrid learning models — was a challenge he was proud to see Freeport overcome.

Moving out of the pandemic, he’s working to ensure the district gives students “the best education we possibly can.”

This includes better utilizing technology, the Vietnam combat veteran said. The district is in the process of switching some textbooks to online platforms.

“We’re going to get into the 21st century,” Haven said.

Haven is a fixture in the Freeport community, serving as chairman of the Municipal Authority of Buffalo Township, Friends of Buffalo Township and Buffalo Township Parks and Recreation Committee.

He also served as a Buffalo Township supervisor for 12 years before joining the school board.

A common complaint he said he hears from residents is the high tax rate.

“I was successful last year in keeping taxes down,” Haven said. “That’ll be my focus in the coming tenure: Look where the money is, what are spending it for and is it necessary? I’m a taxpayer, as well. I’ll do everything I can to watch the tax dollars.”

He noted the district has a capital reserve of more than $6 million and has also received nearly $2 million in relief related to covid-19 — funds that, if properly allocated, could help ease the burden on taxpayers.

Christine Davies

Davies, 72, has been on the school board for about 12 years. She said serving on the board “is the most important job there is in a community,” because it bears the responsibility of safety and education for students.

She, too, has set her sights on bouncing back after the pandemic. Summer school will help some students catch up on missed learning, she said. She said she’s also eager to strengthen the school’s job shadowing program after it was largely nixed during the pandemic.

“I want people to be face-to-face with their teachers every day,” said Davies, a Spanish teacher at Knoch High School. “There are so many distractions — even the computer, itself.”

For Davies, finding better ways to cope with covid-19 will be her prime concern.

“We have to be prepared to come to school and learn and not have any weights on us, fears on us,” she said.

Davies, who has a master’s degree in education from Gannon University, also highlighted security and mental health services — things she said Freeport has done increasingly well handling in recent years — as priorities.

Like other candidates, she also said avoiding tax increases would be a major goal.

Andrew Vento

Vento, 29, echoed concerns about taxes. His family owns Buffalo Golf Course, and he owns a small construction and excavation company. He said his main goals in office would include monitoring taxes and focusing on “our small town roots.”

Vento said the district has “wasteful spending habits,” something he would hope to address on the school board.

“I think we should give every sports team, every extra activity and art or TV class equal funding,” said Vento, who is running for political office for the first time.

Gary Risch Jr.

Taxes were also a prime concern for Risch, 43, who served on Freeport Council for four years.

“There’s a lot of money coming in from this covid stuff,” he said. “Let’s make sure we spend it correctly.”

Transparency was another key concern for Risch, who said it’s difficult to listen to school board meetings online. School board meetings broadcast live via YouTube, but aren’t open to the public in-person because of the pandemic.

“It’s hard for the public to even know what’s going on,” said Risch, who holds an associates degree from Penn State in business administration and works in commercial sales for Diehl Auto Group.

With three children in the district, Risch said he’s also dedicated to keeping students in the classroom after the covid-19 pandemic disrupted education for over a year.

“With things going on with covid and getting the kids back in school, there’s been a lot of inconsistencies,” he said. “I want to get the kids back to school safely, and as quickly as possible.”

Melanie Zembrzuski

How to recover from the damage done by covid-19 was a top priority for Zembrzuski, 49. Though she has never run for political office before, she said her background in the medical field could prove helpful when making decisions during a pandemic. She has bachelor’s degrees in health policies and administration and nursing, and she works for Takeda, a pharmaceutical company.

“What I’m concerned about are many issues we’re facing, such as state and federal mandates being put on schools, the shortage of revenue we’re dealing with and, definitely, the covid implications. I know that’s going to really impact the district for the next few years,” said Zembrzuski, who has two daughters in the district.

She suggested utilizing the technology everyone already has become accustomed to during the pandemic to help students catch up on lost learning, while also pushing for face-to-face learning.

“We need to take advantage of the technology we currently have and also look into different innovative ways that we can catch everyone up,” she said. “I do feel it is critical for these students to get back into the school five days a week, a normal routine.”

The road to recovering from the pandemic, she said, will likely involve extra support and resources for students.

“There’s going to be some learning curves — it’s been a year-and-a-half almost,” she said.