BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Six candidates for Parkland School Board worked to shape the final weeks before Election Day in a forum organized Monday by the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County.
The League of Women Voters regularly holds candidate forums ahead of local elections aimed at giving voters more information to take to the polls.
“We're always out there trying to increase the voting population, especially for younger people, and we also, of course, want people to understand issues,” said Barbara Williams, the forum’s moderator. “This is more important in your day-to-day life than even state and federal elections.”
During the hourlong event, held at Lehigh Valley Public Media’s Bethlehem headquarters, Williams asked the candidates seven questions composed by a League of Women Voters committee.
Among the six candidates are two solely Democratic nominees, teacher Matt Weimann and stay-at-home dad Jon Macklin, plus two solely Republican nominees: David Caruth, a marketing manager, and George Rivera, managing partner at a restaurant.
Two candidates won both Democratic and Republican nominations in the primary: Alyssa Beckwith, director of partnerships for a pharmaceutical company, and David Hein, a business administrator for Lehigh Career and Technical Institute and the only incumbent board member seeking another term.
They are competing for four openings on the board — all four-year seats.
Main issues
The four Democratic nominees – Beckwith, Hein, Weimann and Macklin – are running together as “For Parkland,” though none of the slate’s members mentioned their joint effort Monday night.
Candidates began the forum by identifying the issue they most want to address as a school director.
For Hein, that would mean pursuing new rules for cyber charter schools, while Caruth would aim to cut spending. Weimann would focus on helping high-achieving students improve their test scores further; Rivera would work to improve special education programs and shorten the wait for students to receive services.
Two candidates, Macklin and Beckwith, said they would chiefly work to continue the district’s past successes rather than make any specific change.
The four members of “For Parkland” endorsed Vision 2030, the district’s plan to expand capacity in sixth through 12th grades, in large part through a major addition and renovation project at Parkland High School.
Rivera, however, suggested the high school expansion should be scaled back, and called for axing plans for a new athletics lobby and updated library. Caruth said he supports the project, but the district should not raise taxes to pay for it.
All six candidates agreed that Parkland should thoughtfully bring generative AI into the classroom, teaching students how to use the potentially transformative technology while bearing in mind its shortcomings.
Caruth went further, suggesting AI could streamline the district’s operations and reduce costs.
You can watch a livestream of the broadcast on the PBS39 YouTube channel or here on LehighValleyNews.com.
The forum will be broadcast on PBS39's over-the-air channel at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, and at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21.
