Southern Lehigh School Board race features 10 candidates, dueling slates
One slate signed pledge that includes vow to evaluate alternatives to the transgender restroom policy.
In 2021, a slate of four Republicans, backed by local and outside PAC money, swept the Southern Lehigh School Board race on a platform that resonated with parents frustrated over school closings, mandated masking and learning loss associated with the coronavirus pandemic.
Since then, school board meetings continue to be passionate gatherings with parents and residents speaking for or against ending mandated mask policies, a proposed policy banning classroom signs interpreted as being politically or culturally divisive and, in March, whether transgender students should only use restrooms aligned with their biological birth gender.
This time around, five seats are up for election – enough to completely transform the nine-member board as four incumbents opted not to run again.
Ten candidates are in the running, with most cross-filing, meaning they will appear on both ballots. Only Republicans and Democrats can vote in the May 16 primary.
This list includes one incumbent, Republican Emily Gehman, and one Democrat, Melissa Torba.
All other candidates are Republicans: Eric Boyer, Paul Deebel, Timothy Kearney, Candi Kruse, James Pica, Danelle Roy, Maria L. Schantz and Lance M. Tittle.
Boyer, Kearny, Kruse and Gehman are being supported by Southern Lehigh Community Partners, a group that says the election is important because new board members will make decisions that will have lasting impact on school infrastructure, staffing, curriculum and safety.
“Southern Lehigh Community Partners is committed to electing board members who will tackle these issues with a student-first approach, focused on improving the quality of education and school experience for our kids — not on furthering extremist politics or personal ambitions,” the group said on its website.
Deebel, Tittle, Roy, Schantz and Pica are running on a slate. Their names appear on yard signs saying they are “True Republicans.”
They have been endorsed by the Lehigh County Republican Committee, Joe Vichot, chairman of the GOP committee, said.
They also have been endorsed by a group called Southern Lehigh Putting Families First and by the Southern Lehigh Grassroots PAC.
Deebel, Tittle, Roy, Schantz and Pica signed a 2-½-page pledge called “My Commitment to the SLSD Community,” according to Vichot. The pledge is being promoted by Southern Lehigh Putting Families First and the Southern Lehigh Grassroots PAC.
“These are the principles of our great group of candidates. These are core principles that will make the Southern Lehigh School District a model district for all of Lehigh County,” Southern Lehigh Putting Families said on its Facebook page.
The commitment contains six principles that include:
Making a commitment to focus “first and foremost on advancing academic excellence in SLSD schools,” ensuring students get the attention and resources they need, and deferring to parents and guardians on social, emotional and moral upbringing of their children.
Proposing and voting for a two-year moratorium on tax increases and to use surplus funds first and tax hikes last in addressing budget shortfalls.
Proposing and voting for a neutrality policy to avoid the appearance that the district supports political or social viewpoints and ensure students don’t feel “pressured, coerced or obligated” to support viewpoints they don’t espouse to.
Initiating “a curriculum review process that ensures that woke politics are not introduced or propagated within our schools.”
Proposing and voting to overturn the district’s policy of “hiding gender identity information from parents,” and adopt a resolution that states no district employee would be required to use a name, pronoun, or other identifier that is inconsistent with a student's legal name and biological birth sex.
Voting, at the first board meeting after being sworn in, on a resolution to evaluate alternatives to allowing students to use bathrooms and locker rooms or participate on sports teams that do not align with the student’s biological sex.
The Southern Lehigh School District, which has about 3,100 students in five schools, serves Lower Milford Township, Upper Saucon Township and Coopersburg Borough.
Last year, the board passed a $73,589,737 budget for 2022-23 that raised taxes by 3% to 17.2595 mills.
Here is a look at the candidates. Information on the candidates was found on their campaign websites, Facebook pages, Linkedin sites, newspaper articles, board meeting minutes and videos and other sources.
Eric Boyer - R - (cross-filed)
Endorsed by Southern Lehigh Community Partners
Boyer, who grew up in Southern Lehigh, is a parent and baseball coach. He is active in the United Way, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the East Central PA Two-Cylinder John Deere Tractor Club, and is a member of the Saucon Rail Trail Oversight Commission. His professional experience includes budgeting, contract administration and operations for PPL Electric Utilities. If elected, Boyer says he will seek ways to improve and maximize use of the district’s facilities, and explore options for offering full-day kindergarten.
Paul Deebel - R - (cross-filed)
Endorsed by Southern Lehigh Putting Families First
Paul Deebel is a married father of two district students. He has a chemical engineering degree from Bucknell University and is a sales manager for TE Connectivity – a job he says will help him find solutions and negotiate contracts. Deebel says he understands the need to listen to and consider the needs of all stakeholders. As a husband of a district employee, a parent and a taxpayer, Deebel says he can interpret issues that come before the board from many angles, and says he will be transparent. Deebel ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2021. At the time, during the covid pandemic, he told the League of Women Voters that priority must be given to returning to the classroom.
Emily Gehman - R - Incumbent (cross-filed)
Endorsed by Southern Lehigh Community Partners
Gehman is the parent of two district students. She has a degree in accounting and an elementary teaching certificate. Gehman has been employed in public schools in southeastern Pennsylvania and now works as a local business accountant. Besides serving on the board, she volunteers in soccer and musical theater. If reelected, Gehman said she will champion additional ways to create revenue for the district, such as the creation of a charitable giving foundation within the administration to help offset taxes.
Timothy Kearney - R - (cross-filed)
Endorsed by Southern Lehigh Community Partners
Kearney, who has a bachelor’s degree from Millersville University and management certificate from DeSales University, worked as a classroom teacher and building leader for more than 34 years. He says he recognizes the importance of community engagement from his time serving on a school-business partnership committee. He formed a teacher volunteer program that created engagement opportunities for staff. Kearny, who is a parent, said he is committed to fostering communication between parents and teachers, and to increasing mental health resources for students. Kearny ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2021. At the time, he told the League of Women Voters that he was a taxpayer entering retirement and thus supported “a positive climate in a fiscally responsible manner.”
Candi Kruse - R - (cross-filed)
Endorsed by Southern Lehigh Community Partners
Candi Kruse is a married mother of two children. She has a master’s degree in social sciences from the University of Chicago and an MBA from DeSales University. Kruse works at Victaulic as manager of commercial and legal affairs, a job that she says has prepared her to hold the district accountable. She is a volunteer in The Literacy Center, Women United, and the Southern Lehigh Public Library, where she serves as board president. She also teaches Sunday school. Kruse says she is committed to ensuring a quality education for every child.
James Pica - R - (cross-filed)
Endorsed by Southern Lehigh Putting Families First
Pica is a married father of two district students. He has a bachelor’s degree in athletic training and sports medicine from East Stroudsburg University. He worked in custom metal work for 12 years until he was severely injured on the job. Pica says he is a practical and objective problem solver. He values honesty and transparency, and says fiscal responsibility, the protection of family rights, and educational excellence are all equally important. On Facebook, he encouraged people to attend the March 27 school board meeting, where a spillover crowd showed up to talk about a transgender bathroom policy, which was not an agenda item. “Please consider showing up and supporting keeping the sexes separated in these spaces and helping to keep our kids from being sexualized in the false teachings promoting transgender lifestyles,” the post said.
Danelle Roy - R –(Republican ballot only)
Endorsed by Southern Lehigh Putting Families First
Roy, who served in the U.S. Army for 14 years, is a married mother of three sons, two of whom are in the military. She works at St. Luke’s University Health Network as a Technical Coordinator for Chemistry at the Anderson Campus. She said her duties – which include writing network procedures, training students and other personnel, performing competency assessments, establishing quality control measures and troubleshooting – will serve her as a school director. She believes in performance improvement and fiscal responsibility. Danelle says schools need to be a safe place for all children.
Dr. Maria L. Schantz - R - (Republican ballot only)
Endorsed by Southern Lehigh Putting Families First
Schantz is a Brazilian-born, naturalized American citizen who has lived in Lower Milford since 1970. She and her husband own and operate Evergreen Farm. Schantz has bachelor's degrees in nursing and in French from DeSales University; a master’s degree in nursing from DeSales, and a doctor of philosophy degree in Spanish language, literatures, and linguistics from Temple University. Schantz worked as an emergency room nurse at St. Luke’s University Health Network and was an assistant nursing professor at Moravian University. Schantz, a grandmother of four, retired from her clinical and academic career in 2013.
Lance M. Tittle - R - (Republican ballot only)
Endorsed by Southern Lehigh Putting Families First
Tittle is a former board chairman and auditor for Lower Milford Township. He served in the U.S. Air Force and earned a bachelor’s degree in business adminsitration. Tittle was a founding partner and president of Fabricated Alloy Products Inc. in East Greenville, retiring in 2013 to care for his wife Linda, who died in 2017 from Alzheimer’s disease. He is active in a number of community organizations and served as treasurer of Perkiomen Valley Trout Unlimited.
Melissa Torba - D - (cross-filed)
Torba has worked in the education field for 25 years, most recently at OnCourse Systems for Education. She has a bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology from Moravian University. She volunteers as travel director for Southern Lehigh Soccer. She was an assistant basketball coach at Moravian and Muhlenberg College. Torba ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2021. Through her work experience, Torba says, “I have a deep understanding of the importance of quality education in shaping the lives of our students. I am committed to ensuring that our schools provide a comprehensive education that prepares students for success.” Torba is not part of a slate but some Republicans backing Boyer, Gehman, Kearney and Kruse are encouraging others to vote for her, according to a social media post.