Yough school board: 5 candidates seek 4 seats

Four Yough School Board incumbents and one challenger are running for four seats on the board in the Nov. 4 election.

Three of the incumbents — Matthew Gardner of South Huntingdon, Linda Knor and Monica Ustazewski, both of Herminie – won on both the Democratic and Republican tickets in the May primary. The fourth incumbent, Jared Filapose of Sewickley, only captured a Republican nomination. All four are Yough High School graduates.

The fifth candidate, Democrat Jason Cooper of West Newton, topped the Democratic ballot in the May primary with 599 votes, but his vote count was almost 200 less than Knor’s tally as the last-place finisher on the Republican ballot. Cooper did not cross-file. Filapose finished last on the Democratic ballot in the May primary.

Jason Cooper

Cooper, 46, said that with less than a third of Yough’s students testing proficient in math and less than 60% proficient in reading, someone needed to run against the incumbent board members to engage in a conversation about how the district can do better educationally.

Cooper, who lost his bid for a seat on the school board in the 2023 primary, is president of the West Newton council. He said he would not retain both elected positions.

He said he wants to expand advanced placement and the dual enrollment exposure that allows students to earn college credits. The district should improve career readiness programs by connecting classroom learning with local workforce needs through agreements with businesses.

A graduate of Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Cooper earned a bachelor’s degree from the former California University of Pennsylvania and a master’s in business from Purdue Global University.

Jared Filapose

Filapose, 56, current school board president, said is seeking his third term to continue the progress the district has made.

“I want to continue the great things we have been doing,” such as establishing the Yough Helping Hands Foundation, which has raised about $80,000 for the community.

In the past eight years, the district has been able to cut its debt from $48 million to about $29 million, said Filapose, who is vice president of sales for Basic Carbide in Lowber.

“Our goal is to bring the debt down to close to zero,” Filapose said. “Why change what is working,.”

He graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

Matthew A. Gardner

Gardner, 53, vice president of the board, said he is seeking a second term to continue with the way the district is being managed, and keeping the real estate taxes under control.

“We’ve done well in running the district” and working with the administration, Gardner said.

Gardner, who has an engineering degree from the University of Pittsburgh, owns a trucking firm. He said brings to the board an extensive managerial background with international corporations.

Linda Knor

Knor, 74, is seeking her second consecutive term after having served for five consecutive terms from 1996 to 2017. She returned to the board in 2021.

She is a retired assistant operations director for a nonprofit organization. She said the current board has maintained a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility while ensuring resources are directed toward high-quality educational programs for the students.

Monica Ustazewski

Ustazewski, 46, who is seeking her second term on the board, said she wants to continue on building on the progress the current board has made with initiatives over the past four years.

Yough has provided free lunches to all students across the district, ensuring that children do not go hungry, said Ustazewski, who is self-employed in real estate.

The district has been able to obtain more than $15.8 million grants to enhance and improve the schools and facilities. Ustazewski went to Career Training Academy after graduating from Yough.