ALLENTOWN, Pa. — What seemed like an uncontested Allentown School Board race for a two-year term has recently become competitive.
That’s thanks to write-in votes in May’s primary election for Robert “Bob” Smith Jr., 63, a former longtime school director who’s hoping to rejoin the board.
Smith will be the Republican nominee for the two-year seat, according to a letter he received from Lehigh County’s Office of the Election Board.
LehighValleyNews.com viewed a copy of the letter.
Smith is a former ASD parent who works in the health field with brain injury patients. He served on the board from 2003-19 and was board president five times.
He will face off against current school Director Robert “Nick” Nicholoff, 29, who ran unopposed for the two-year seat in the Democratic primary.
A New Jersey native, Nicholoff is a human resources manager at Silgan Containers manufacturing plant.
Nicholoff also has a background in social work, having served previously as a domestic violence counselor. He worked on group facilitation and curriculum design in that role.
Nicholoff was appointed to Allentown School Board last August after former school Director Daysell Ramirez resigned just six months into her four-year term, citing tensions with other board members and the district administration.
Smith and Nicholoff are competing to finish out what would have been the last two years of Ramirez’s term.
“I’m actually a bit happy because to me it feels undemocratic to run unopposed for any political position,” Nicholoff said.
Smith said it’s important that Nicholoff has an opponent and doesn’t get a “free ride.”
“Of course, now, he’ll have to answer questions and have a campaign, and I think that’s good,” Smith said. “People have a choice now.”
In addition to the race for the two-year term, Smith will be a Republican nominee in November to compete for a four-year school director seat, too.
Nick Nicholoff's priorities
Nicholoff said he will begin campaigning more actively now that Smith has entered the race.
That will include sending out campaign mailers and continuing to speak at public events about his platform, he said.
“I’m aware that Bob is a very vocal personality in the community, and I understand why he wants to return to the board,” Nicholoff said.
“But I'm doing work that I think I should be able to continue to do for the remainder of the term.”
“It’s my core philosophical belief that policy creates the [framework] within which everybody has to live and grow."Nick Nicholoff, Allentown School Board candidate
As for the issues that are important to him, Nicholoff pointed to fiscal responsibility and maintaining positive relationships with the unions that represent district employees.
Last month, the district passed its 2025-26 budget with no tax increase. That’s the third consecutive year the district has held the line on taxes.
As for union relationships, the district is in negotiations with its custodial and maintenance workers, who are represented by Teamsters Local Union No. 773.
Nicholoff also stressed his dedication to district policy work. He’s currently chairman of the policy committee.
“It’s my core philosophical belief that policy creates the [framework] within which everybody has to live and grow,” he said.
“And I want to create the greatest possible framework that is conducive to the success of students and staff [and] any person who’s affiliated with or working within the district.”
Nicholoff highlighted his work creating new policies, such as Policy 824, which he said protects students from predators.
The “Maintaining Professional Adult/Student Boundaries” policy spells out the conduct, social interactions and electronic communication that adults in the district are prohibited from engaging in with students.
Nicholoff also said he has the goal of updating any policy created or updated before the year 2000. Once that goal is reached, he would focus on any policies created before 2010, and then, before 2015.
By the time Nicholoff leaves the school board, he’d like to make sure there’s no policy that’s more than 10 years old, he said.
Bob Smith's priorities
As for his reason for running, Smith said he wants to oversee the construction process for the district’s new East Side school for kindergarten through eighth-grade students.
In February, ASD bought 16.7 acres for the school site at the former Allentown State Hospital property for nearly $15 million.
“They already made a mistake by overpaying for it, but that’s over with. We can’t look back, we got to look forward.”Bob Smith, Allentown School Board candidate
That deal came with the developer’s promise to help the district with the extension of utilities and securing services needed for zoning and land use permits.
Smith was critical of the deal and said the district should have gotten the land for free.
“They already made a mistake by overpaying for it, but that’s over with,” Smith said. “We can’t look back, we got to look forward.”
Smith said his 16 years of board experience would be an asset as the district manages the construction process for the new school, which will be at Hanover Avenue and Northridge Drive.
Smith said he was on the school board when the district built Hays Elementary School — that project was on time and under budget, he said.
Smith also pointed to transparency, safety and employee relations as his priorities if elected.
He said the school board needs to be more responsive to community members with concerns. As a taxpayer, Smith has had trouble getting some of his questions answered by school directors, he said.
As for safety, Smith said there’s a gang problem at Allen High School that needs to be addressed by the district.
Anti-violence activists have long said the area between Allen and Raub Middle School is a hotbed for gang activity.
Additionally, Smith said he supports raises for the district’s custodial and maintenance workers, who are negotiating a new contract with ASD. Their last contract ended June 30.
Smith also raised concerns about employee retention in ASD and Superintendent Carol Birks’ focus on hiring administrator positions.
“The retention of teachers is horrible,” he said. “We’re losing principals, we’re losing teachers.
“They need to start emphasizing and prioritizing hiring teachers and lay off [hiring] the administrators a bit.”
Four-year terms up for grabs
Smith's entry into the race for the two-year term won't change the campaigning he's already been doing, he said.
Smith is one of four Republican nominees for a four-year term on the board. There's four of those seats up for grabs, in addition to the two-year term.
If Smith were to win both the two-year term and a four-year term in November, he would choose which one he wants to serve out, according to the district’s solicitor.
The other candidates up for a four-year school director seat include: Evette D’Amore, Tom Houck, Ceretta Johnson, Dianne Michels, Denzel Morris and David Zimmerman.
Michels cross-filed and secured both a Republican and Democratic nomination. She’s a registered Republican.
In addition to Michels and Smith, the Republican nominees for the four-year terms are Houck and Zimmerman.
In addition to Michels, the remaining Democratic nominees are D’Amore, Johnson and Morris.
