May 05, 2009 (The Citizens' Voice - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Lake-Lehman School District is continuing three years of negotiations with the teachers union and working on plans for a $1 million expansion and renovation to Ross Elementary.

Incumbent Charles J. Balavage and political newcomer Dr. Kevin J. Carey are vying for one open board seat in District 1, while Christopher Bo Kreller and Michael Sikora are competing for the seat that board member John Oliver III, who is not running for re-election, is leaving open in District 2.

In District 3, where two seats are open, are incumbent Andrew Salko, David Paulauskas and Russ Johnson. Board member Harold Grey is not running for re-election. All of the candidates for seats on the Lake-Lehman school board have cross-filed on both the Democratic and Republican ballots.

Balavage, of Harveys Lake, is a contractor and has been on the school board for nine years. A former board president, Balavage said his focus is getting the contract with the teachers union settled, as well as providing students with an education that will prepare them for the future.

Beyond settling the contract, he wants to expand curriculum offered by the district and maintain infrastructure.

Balavage wants to keep a close eye on district spending, such as the Ross Elementary renovation and expansion. To trim unnecessary costs, he is willing to go line by line through budgets to find areas were the district can eliminate or reduce costs without affecting quality.

"My goal is to try to watch the taxpayer's dollar and provide the best education we can for the young people," he said.

Carey, of Noxen, is a physician with a family practice in Trucksville and three children in the school district. This is his first time running for the board, and said his wife gave him a push by telling him not to complain about problems if he wasn't going to do something about them.

"It seems like there was a time not long ago when it seemed the school board, teachers, parents and administration was all on the same side," he said, "but now there seems to be an adversarial relationship." He wants to improve communication and get everyone focused on a common ground, the education of the children, so they can do what is best for the students. He advocates the same approach for finding a solution to the ongoing contract negotiations.

Kreller, of Sweet Valley, is the owner of Northeast Courier Service and an associate pastor at River of Life Fellowship in Lehman. He is the father of four children; three are in school and one will start kindergarten in the fall. He ran for the board in 2007, but withdrew his candidacy because of work constraints.

"With what's been going on here in Lake-Lehman, I just want to see the district come together with the teachers and meet on common ground," he said.

Kreller's focus would be settling the teachers union contract so the district can concentrate on other issues. Although he has a degree in education, he said he is not siding with either party, but wants to see a fair agreement for the teachers, district and taxpayers.

Sikora, of Sweet Valley, is a special education teacher with Crestwood School District, and his wife is a special education teacher with Lake-Lehman. He said he wants to focus on long-term planning for the school district.

He says the selling of the former Middle Level Education Building points to a lack of planning. When the district sold the building, Sikora said, enrollment projections were low, but now the district needs more space. He wants to plan ahead, financially, educationally and physically so the district can meet the needs of future students.

"The biggest point I'm telling people right now is we have given away a building and we shouldn't have," he said.

Sikora is hopeful that the current board will settle the union contract, but if elected he said would abstain from voting since his wife is a district employee.

Johnson, of Hunlock Creek, is a technical manager for Frontier Communications and his wife is a sixth-grade teacher at Lehman-Jackson Elementary School. They have one child in the district and two graduates. Johnson said his goal, if elected to the board, would be to put the Lake-Lehman focus back on the children.

"A big thing for me is to make sure the school district gets back to focusing on education, continues to provide a quality education and makes sure we are good stewards of the public tax dollars," he said.

Johnson sees room for compromise on the teachers union contract and feels that a middle ground can be reached if personal interests are put aside.

"It's time to start putting egos and personalities aside and put the kids in the forefront," he said.

Paulauskas, of Jackson Township, is a microbiology business specialist for bioMerieux, and is running for school board for the third time. He is the father of one Lake-Lehman graduate and one sophomore.

He wants to settle the contract negotiations quickly, but not at the expense of taxpayers who cannot afford to pay high taxes. Paulauskas also wants to work with state representatives to put employee health care into the hands of the state, which would be better equipped to handle it.

Paulauskas said he has experience with group purchasing organizations because of his job and could help Lake-Lehman and local districts from purchasing groups that can buy items in bulk and save money.

"The school districts need to be run like businesses," he said. "They have to become much more efficient." Salko, of Shavertown, is a project manager for Arrow Land Solutions LLC, a consulting firm in Pittston, and is finishing his first four-year term on the school board.

Along with quickly and fairly settling the teachers union contract, Salko wants to get the Act 93, Administrator Compensation Plans, contract settled, and help the district create a 10-year strategic plan. He is hopeful that the union contract can be settled before the election.

"I'm running again to further emphasize the important role educators, and the quality education they provide, play in shaping the futures of our children," he said. "The education field as a whole has lost the respect and regard it once had, and I believe this needs to be restored." emoody@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2051 To see more of The Citizens' Voice or to subscribe to the newspaper, visit http://www.citizensvoice.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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