Seven in the running for Saucon Valley School Board
In Saucon Valley, seven candidates are vying for ballot spots for four seats on the school board in the May 20 primary.
Two longtime incumbents are running as a team – Shamin Pakzad, who is unaffiliated with a political party, and Republican Cedric Dettmar, the board’s president.
Other candidates seeking primary nods are Republicans J. Barrett Geyer, who ran unsuccessfully in 2023, Kenneth Bloss and Lynn Kasper. Democrats running are Meghan Lomangino and J. Christian Tatu.
All have cross-filed for the four-year terms except Kasper, who is only on the GOP ballot. Only Democrats and Republicans can vote in the primary for their respective party ballots.
This is the first school board election since four Democrats – saying board leadership had brought on unnecessary controversies – defeated four incumbent Republicans in 2023.
The 2023 election was held as Saucon Valley was sued over a district decision to give and then revoke permission to allow the nonschool-affiliated After School Satan Club on school grounds.
The primary comes as the board in February unanimously approved a 50-year agreement to continue to send students to the Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School. During negotiations, Saucon Valley held firm for a new funding formula that aligned with its smaller student body and objected to building an addition to the vo-tech, according to Lehigh Valley News. A satellite campus will be used instead. Pakzad was not present for the vote.
Last year, the board went back and forth on the 2024-25 budget that originally contained a proposed 2.375% tax hike. Dettmar and Pakzad voted in favor of a failed motion to hold the line on taxes. The final 5-4 vote raised taxes in the $54.7 million budget by 1% to 55.2 mills. Pakzad and Dettmar voted no, according to meeting minutes.
Here is a look at the candidates. Information was taken from campaign websites, Facebook, Linkedin, school board minutes, media stories and other information.
Kenneth Bloss, Republican, cross-filed
Bloss was owner of Hechtel Hill farm, according to his LinkedIn profile. He formerly was a vice president at ISGN. His background includes sales, finance and mortgages. He earned an education degree at what is now Kutztown University in 1971. He earned a master’s degree in program courses-education at Lehigh University in 1974.
Cedric Dettmar, incumbent Republican, cross-filed
Dettmar is a former vice president of Oracle Corp. and now runs a small business. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master’s in business from the UCLA. He is married and has two daughters in district schools. Besides being president, he serves as board treasurer and is on the board of the Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School. He was elected in 2017 after an unsuccessful run in 2013 and was reelected four years ago.
Dettmar and Pakzad have a joint campaign website to tout their accomplishments, highlighting that Saucon Valley was the only district that offered full-day, five-day-a-week and remote learning during the Covid pandemic.
Dettmar’s bio says taxes went up 30% over three years in the early 2000s but have been flat during his tenure. He said he will use his background to help steer the district through economic uncertainty.
In addition to increasing test scores, Dettmar said the district needs to attract families looking at charter schools. “[W]e need to compete or lose $12 thousand for every child attending a charter. Retaining just a few students for a single year would pay for the programs we need to be competitive,” he said.
Dettmar said he will push for more advance notice when important issues will be discussed at a board meeting. He will also ask the superintendent to announce big changes before they are finalized and to hold information meetings and take parental input.
“When this is done before a proposal is final, it is much easier to make changes and stay on schedule. This also generates a positive sentiment towards the schools rather than an ‘us vs them’ feeling,” he said.
J. Barrett Geyer, Republican, cross-filed
Geyer is a father of two who grew up in the district. He is a marketing project manager at Hagerman & Co. and has a bachelor’s degree in business manager/economics from Moravian College. Geyer serves on the district’s Vision & Branding Committee. He is a member of the Northampton County Republican Committee.
“I am dedicated to serving the students, taxpayers, and community members of the Saucon Valley School District,” Geyer said on his campaign website.
Geyer said his experience in managing complex budgets and strategic planning will be valuable to the district. He said he wants to increase parent and community involvement.
He said he supports using a challenging, appropriate curriculum that helps students reach their potential and budgeting that balances quality with affordable property taxes.
Lynn Kasper – Republican, GOP ballot only
Kasper was part of the district’s superintendent search team in 2022 and a member of the district's 2025-28 comprehensive plan steering committee, according to district documents.
She spoke out against the district’s masking policy in August 2021, calling masks harmful, according to a Saucon Source article. She does not have a campaign website or Facebook page.
Meghan Lomangino, Democrat, cross-filed
Lomangino works for One Hope Wine. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary and teaching from Susquehanna University. She is a former tutor and taught at the Lehigh University Child Care Center. Lomangino is married and has three children in district schools.
She is president of the Saucon Valley Elementary School’s Parent Teacher Organization. She was endorsed by PACE, the Pennsylvania Education Association’s political action committee. This is her first run for office.
“We need to ensure that our schools continue to inspire a love for learning while preparing our children for their future,” Lomangino on Facebook.
She said she cross-filed because “education is not about politics, it’s about people,” adding that the district must prioritize education while maintaining a sustainable budget. She said she will ensure teachers have the resources, respect and support they need.
Shamim Pakzad, incumbent, unaffiliated, cross-filed
Pakzad is a professor and chair of the civil and environmental engineering department at Lehigh University. He earned a master’s degree in engineering from San Jose University in 2000 and a a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008.
He serves on the board of Colonial Intermediate Unit 20. He is married and has two children. Pakzad was elected in 2017. At the time, one of his children attended a charter school.
On the joint campaign website with Dettmar, he highlights that Saucon Valley was the only district that offered full-day and remote learning during the pandemic. Pakzad voted against the tax hike passed in June 2024.
“The main problem with our system is not lack of money and it cannot be resolved by pouring more money into the system,” he said. Pakzad highlighted “$8 million in savings under the vo-tech agreement!”
He noted that under his tenure the district maintained and renovated facilities without hurting operations, including resurfacing the track and tennis courts, renovating the auditorium, and providing iPads to all students. Pakzad said he wants to raise the bar for all students. “To look at the failings of the educational system and blame them on demographics and family income level is not a positive approach and does not result in finding credible solutions,” he said.
J. Christian Tatu, Democrat, cross-filed
Tatu is an English teacher at Liberty High School in Bethlehem. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 1992 from Millersville University and a Ph.D. in English from Lehigh University in 2009. He received a teaching certification from DeSales University in 2022. He has taught writing and English at the college level.
“I’m running for school board because I wish to serve my community,” he said on his blog.
He doesn’t view himself as a politician. “School board directors are not paid for their services; they are volunteers,” he wrote. “By running for school board, I am volunteering to serve Saucon Valley as a school director. My beliefs about political issues at the state, national, and international level have little to do with the day-to-day functioning of the public schools my kids and your kids attend here in the Lehigh Valley.”