Cuts in programs at Greensburg Salem School District are one of the focal points of a primary campaign where three incumbents and five challengers are battling for four school board seats.

Running are incumbents Lynn Jobe, Jeffrey Metrosky and Lynna Thomas along with Sara Deegan, Desmond Grace, Autumn Jevicky, Emily Miller and Heather Shearer. All have cross-filed and will appear on both Democratic and Republican ballots Tuesday.

Ronald Mellinger Jr., board president, is not seeking another term.

Deegan, 41, of Greensburg, hopes to bring skills to the board that she uses as a community engagement librarian for Greensburg-Hempfield Area Library, applying for grants and raising awareness of library programs. The mother of two elementary-age children, she said she wanted to become a school board member after feeling frustrated that petition efforts failed to persuade district officials to avoid the recent program cuts.

She said the district should develop “more sustainable and equitable ways to allocate resources,” with an eye toward reinstating programs.

Deegan said she has developed her campaign platform with the support of Voice of Westmoreland, a nonpartisan grassroots activist organization. She is an advocate for diversity and inclusion in hiring at the district.

“Data shows that racially diverse role models in the classroom benefit all children, regardless of race,” she said.

As a regional representative on Pennsylvania’s Career Ready PA Coalition, she said she’s learning about career readiness and workforce development and is considering how to apply those approaches in Greensburg Salem while also teaching students soft skills.

Grace, 42, of Greensburg, is an elder care advocate making a repeat bid for a school board seat.

“We haven’t seen a real return in quality and value, considering the amount of work parents and community members are putting in to supplement the district’s cheapest-option fiscal methodology,” he said.

He said he would like to “challenge the curriculum structure and work from top to bottom to streamline the transition of coursework and classes offered to students.”

Grace also called for long-term planning for the district. “We cannot sustain another 10 years of annual cuts just to say to the community, ‘I didn’t raise your taxes,’” he said.

Jevicky is a Greensburg Salem graduate and parent who works as a precision medicine oncology diagnostics manager. She said the budget cuts motivated her to run for a school board seat.

She said the board should be more proactive in strategic planning for the district, addressing the needs of students of differing learning styles and socio-economic backgrounds while exploring “alternative ways for funding the district in lieu of continual cuts to academic programs.”

If elected, she said, she hopes to identify gaps in the district’s educational approach and consider creative funding approaches.

Jevicky called for greater transparency in board actions. She said the district needs to address its deteriorating buildings and suggested constructing a recreation building at the high school.

Jobe, 60, of Salem, is a district retiree who served 35 years as a teacher, coach and athletic director. She was appointed to the school board in March 2020. She said her actions on the board are informed by “the culture, inner workings and student needs of the district.”

She said the board needs to support a full spectrum of educational programs while enlisting community involvement and considering “the fiscal position of the district’s residents.”

“We need to continue to look for ways to increase revenue without burdening the taxpayer,” including promoting new development and business starts in the district, she said.

Jobe called for a strategic plan to address buildings that need attention. She stressed the need for students to develop communication and teamwork skills and suggested offering more apprenticeships and internships.

Metrosky, 54, a two-term incumbent from Greensburg and board vice president, wants to continue serving on the board to keep the district on track for becoming debt-free in five years.

“That will free up nearly $3 million in the budget every year, keeping that money right here in Greensburg Salem,” he said, noting the board faces the challenge of providing students a quality education without raising taxes every year.

Metrosky said working 32 years in manufacturing, currently as materials coordinator for Dura-Metal Products Corp., has provided him a “can-do” attitude toward problem-solving. He said Greensburg Salem was able to replace the high school roof more economically by rescinding an initial bond proposal for financing the project.

He added that the district needs to provide students “a road map” to well-paying careers in skilled trades.

Miller, 43, is a Salem homemaker who has enrolled two of her children in the district while educating two others at home. Serving on a district parent advisory council, she said she wants to “increase the educational rigor and expectations, especially in reading and writing.”

Also president of the high school wrestling boosters and former secretary of the district band parents, she favors reinstating the elementary band teacher position and a bus for after-school activities while considering “ways the district can address its financial concerns without raising taxes or losing programs.”

She said the district should explore “best practices” for helping Greensburg Salem’s many disadvantaged students. Miller said students need to develop communication and leadership skills and said she would like to see a Junior ROTC program at the district.

Shearer, 41, of Southwest Greensburg, works in medical billing while raising two children who are district students.

She has been involved in her daughter’s elementary school as a homeroom mother and PTA member.

Shearer advocates “getting back to the basics of education” while setting higher academic standards for students. She said district instruction should be geared toward “teaching kids how to survive in the real world,” not toward preparing them for standardized tests.

“We need to bring back subjects that are not being taught at the elementary level,” she said.

Thomas, 53, of Southwest Greensburg, is a special populations counselor at Westmoreland County Community College who previously worked in public schools.

She is completing her first term on the Greensburg Salem board, representing the district on the Westmoreland County Committee on Legislative Action. She has two children attending the district’s high school.

Thomas said Greensburg Salem has the educators in place to help students reach their graduation goals. “We just need to maintain that and give them all the support they need,” she said.

She said the district must find a way to keep its buildings safe and functional while supporting offerings such as the music and library programs “without overtaxing our taxpayers.”

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