East Penn Invested Citizens and the Lehigh Valley League of Women Voters hosted a Meet the Candidates Night for the upcoming East Penn School Board Primary Election 7 p.m. April 24 at the Macungie Institute, 510 East Main St.

Candidates include Carol Allen, Ken Bacher, Paul Champagne, Charles H. Ballard, Christopher A. Donatelli, Richard Mathesz and Wally R. Vinovskis. All candidates have cross-filed party registration, registering as both Democrat and Republican. Thus the parties' respective primaries will likely determine the general election, if five candidates receive both the Democratic and Republican nomination. Cross-filling is not wholly uncommon in school board elections, as they are assumed to be non-political.

There were plenty of district residents at the event; however, the forum was poorly attended by the candidates.

Of the seven school board candidates running for five open positions, only incumbent Bacher, Champagne and Mathesz were present for the moderated question and answer forum.

Questions were a gamut of topics and hurdles facing the district including charter school funding, optimal class sizes, the possible implementation of full-day kindergarten and potential budgetary cuts.

The proposed district budget for 2015-2016 raises property taxes 3.78 percent and has not yet been approved by the board. When asked what programs candidates would eliminate due to fiscal restrictions, all three present candidates asserted eliminating academic programs was a final resort.

"I would not seek to currently cut any programs from the district budget," Champagne said. "That does not mean I don't support ways to reduce the expenditures where appropriate."

"We've already made significant cuts to the budget," Bacher explained, who currently serves as the board's vice president. Bacher later clarified, "[They] are a combination of cuts to building/administration budgets and adjustments due to having more information now than we had in January," referring to the number of expected staff retirements.

Responding by email, candidate and incumbent Ballard affirmed, "Only in the case of extreme economic difficulties would I advocate cutting any programs benefiting our students. In the case of such difficulties, I would concentrate on programs that affect the smallest number of students or having the least effect on academic opportunities."

One particularly contentious budget item has been the addition of a school resource officer at a cost of an estimated $100,000, the funds which have already been allocated to the current proposed budget.

"We've actually had a few lively discussions about the SRO," Bacher said. "I think it's a position the administration feels very strongly about. I don't believe personally they've provided enough guidance and vision about how it's going to change the school positively to make me excited about it."

Bacher later clarified his concerns of the increased arrests of juveniles, effectively creating a "school to prison pipeline."

Mathesz, a veteran corporate security expert of 36 years, disagrees.

"Kids can trust them…we need the right person in that particular role," Mathesz said. "Kids can reach out to the person tell them [security concerns] with confidence. We need to keep our community safe."

It was nearly the only point of contention at the forum, with all three candidates consistently in concurrence with one another and the board's decisions. The present candidates had endorsed one another, along with absentee candidates and incumbents Ballard and Vinovskis, effectively creating a five-candidate coalition.

Candidates Carol Allen and Christopher Donatelli are also jointly running.

Allen has been a vocal opponent of Pennsylvania's PA Core Program. In a written statement provided due to her absence at the forum, she laments, "I believe our childrens' education faces some challenges now and in the near future, not just financial, but also what I believe to be continued [sic] overreach by the Federal and State governments into the classroom, most recently by "No Child Left Behind" and now with "Common Core/PA Core Standards" and data collection."

Champagne indirectly rebuked that assessment at the forum, asserting, "The district has always maintained control of the curriculum…I've always viewed it as the locals' responsibility to set the curriculum, be in charge, oversee how the teachers implement their various systems that they need…So I don't view Common Core, PA Core as the issue. It is continued control by locals that is important [and] to remember we have that."

Rev. Wally Vinovskis was contacted to participate in this article, but did not reply by press time.