Published: May 10, 2009 11:27 pm      

Six vying for seat on N. Cambria school board

NORTHERN CAMBRIA — Six candidates – three incumbents and three challengers – are vying for four seats on the Northern Cambria school board.

They range from Ted Pawlikowski, an incumbent who is a longtime former teacher in the district, to challenger Annette Chunko, a 1976 Northern Cambria graduate who returned to this area 10 years ago and is working as a business analyst.

All six candidates have cross-filed for the May 19 primary, meaning they will appear on both the Democratic and Republican tickets, as state law allows.

The top four vote-getters in the primary will win the nominations for the four-year terms.

Incumbents Delvin Lockard, John Sedlock and Ted Pawlikowski are trying to hold onto their seats. Newcomers on the school board primary ballot are Chunko, Sherry Atkins and Robert Tomallo.

Lockard, a self-employed contractor for 29 years, is probably best known for making national headlines when he was blocked from bringing groundhog cookies to an elementary school.

A year later, the Punxsutawney native was allowed to distribute the fattening cookies, provided he also passed out an apple with each one.

He also was the only school director who voted against the district’s $15.1 million budget last year, which required an average $22 property tax increase.

If re-elected, his goal is to “make decisions that provide the best education for all students with as little burden on the taxpayers as possible,” he said.

Incumbent Ted Pawlikowski, a former teacher in the Northern Cambria district, put forth a similar theme.

His teaching experience “gives me a good understanding of what is needed to provide our students with the best form of education possible. At the same time I feel I have an obligation to our district’s taxpayers to see that their tax money is spent wisely,” he said.

Incumbent John Sedlock cast a preliminary vote against the budget increase last year, but after cuts were made, he voted for it on the second round.

Sedlock did not respond to a request for further comment.

Chunko, who holds a degree in business management from St. Francis University, has worked at the university’s Small Business Development Center for the past 10 years. The center provides consulting to new and existing businesses.

She said her business experience and knowledge of planning and budgets qualify her for the office of school director.

She said she has “the ability to work independently or as part of a team,” and her campaign slogan is “education for excellence economically.”

In addition to Sedlock, not responding to requests for information about their campaigns were Atkins and Tomallo.