5 seek 4 seats on board
There are five people running for four open seats on the Pottsgrove School Board.
Incumbents Rick Rabinowitz, Matt Alexander and Robert Lindgren are seeking to retain their seats, while challengers Charles Nippert and Scott Hutt are hoping to take two seats for themselves.
All but two of the candidates are cross-filed, meaning they will appear on both the Republican and the Democratic ballot.
Rabinowitz won the Democratic ballot line in the spring primary and Lindgren the Republican.
In his candidate response, Rabinowitz, 54 and a technical recruiter with a master’s degree in business administration, wrote that he decided to run for office because “I had a significant number of concerns with the school district and with the board that oversees it. I felt that many voices in the school district were not being heard, and I pledged to represent those people to the best of my ability.”
Rabinowitz, who served one year as the board president, also wrote “I believe that the district has done a decent job, particularly in the last year of addressing my initial concerns. Morale at the district is greatly increased. We’ve managed to add important courses and hold taxes steady without cutting programs.”
He wrote that his “number one goal will be to continue to hold taxes steady while seeing through the transformation of Pottsgrove to a school district of choice.”
In his response, Hutt 33, wrote that he decided to run because “there are many different arenas in which I could have chosen to dedicate my time but this position affords me the ability to enhance our standing within the education system while quelling the seemingly never ending tax burden.”
He is a paralegal with McDonnell & Associates, P.C. and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
Hutt has “seven years of experience in the legal field ranging from bankruptcy to complex civil litigation and holds a master’s of public administration from Villanova University, where he is a current student.”
He said his goal, if elected is “in short, to have a top tier academic institution without bankrupting it’s community.”
Nippert, 70, who with his wife has lived in the district since 1976 and raised four children there, wrote in his response that he running because “Pottsgrove is changing and the school district must work with commis- sioners and planners so that we can continue to provide quality education at reasonable tax rates. I think that my experience as a parent and university professor in a technical field provides both professional and personal experience for serving on the Pottsgrove School Board.”
Nipper holds a PhD in chemical engineering from Lehigh University and is semi-retired, currently teaching as an associate professor emeritus at Widener University, where he served on the faculty for 35 years.
“I served seven years as chairperson of the department of chemical engineering. Also, I am a licensed professional engineer, he wrote. “Finally, I am a parent, ‘empty nester’ and grandparent to three grandchildren.”
If elected, Nippert said his most important goals are to”keep taxes low by joining with commissioners and planners as the area is developed” and “improve science and tech education in our schools.”
In his response, Alexander wrote that “when I de- cided to run four years ago, I felt that taxes and spending were out of control in the district. Test scores and our district performance overall had dropped significantly since my family moved here in 2002. I felt that my many years in quality and operations management gave me the experience needed to help guide the district to better fiscal responsibility and growth through data driven decision making.”
Alexander is a solution consultant with Veeva Systems.
If reelected, Alexander wrote that his priority would be to “continue what was started 4 years ago and see Pottsgrove become a district of choice in our area.”
In his response, Lindgren, 53, wrote that he is running “to give back to the Pottsgrove community.”
He is a civil engineer with a bachelor’s degree.
If he is reelected, Lindgren said his priority is “to emphasize and improve academic rigor i n courses and recognize student and teacher achievements.”