The Boyertown School District is is divided between Montgomery County and Berks County and school board representation is divided into regions.
It has a total of six open seats among three regions, one of which carries a two-year term.
As a public service, even after being published, these previews will be updated online if additional candidates submit responses to the questionnaire.
All candidates were invited through an article in The Mercury and social media posts to answer 10 questions in an online questionnaire. The first five of which asked about basic information like work experience and education. The subject questions were:
• What role would you like to see public schools performing for society heading into the future?
• Do you believe the use of bathrooms, locker rooms and ability to play on school athletic teams should be determined by the sex assigned to a child at birth? Please explain why.
• Do you believe the unpleasant aspects of American history — things like slavery, lynching and the forced migration and suppression of the culture of Native Americans among others — should be taught alongside the nation’s more celebratory and traditional history? Why or why not and to what extent?
• What is your opinion of the growing influence of outside organizations and political action committees in school board matters? Have you received contributions or endorsements from a PAC or PACs? If so, which?
• Please outline your views on the use of vouchers, tax credits, or other sources of public funding, for use in paying tuition at non-public schools.
What follows are the responses of the candidates, by region, in the order in which they were received.
Region 1
Region 1 is located entirely in Berks County and includes the boroughs of Bally, and Bechtelsville, Colebrookdale Township, Earl Township and Washington Township and as well as voting precinct 1 in Boyertown Borough. It has one open seat with a four-year term and one open seat with a two-year term. Incumbent Christine Neiman easily won the Republican ballot line for the four-year seat, and will face Krista Elyse Arndt, who won the Democratic line.
For the seat with the two-year term, incumbent Marianne Scott won the Republican line and will face Michelle Sweisfort, who won the Democratic line.
None of the candidates in this region responded to the The Mercury’s online candidate questionnaire.
Region 2
Boyertown’s Region 2 straddles Montgomery and Berks counties and is comprised of the Borough of Boyertown’s Voting Precinct 2, all of Douglass (Berks) and all of Douglass (Mont.) townships. There are two open seats with four-year terms in the general election.
Incumbent Lisa Hogan and Joseph Piccione won the Democratic ballot lines in the primary, while incumbents Roger Updegrove and James Brophy won the Republican lines.
Neither Updegrove nor Brophy responded to the candidate questionnaire.
Joseph Piccione
Joseph Piccione, 40, lives in Douglass (Mont.) and has never held elected office before.
He holds a bachelor of arts in history, with a teacher certification, from West Chester University.
He is a teacher of U.S. history and AP world history and a former soccer and track coach.
Piccione wrote that “public schools should be preparing students to be life-long learners with the skills and knowledge that they may need to be successful in a world that will be ever-changing. We must teach them to think critically, and adapt to change in order to meet that goal of success.”
On the subject of gender, bathrooms, locker rooms and athletics, Piccione wrote “running in Boyertown I saw firsthand the legal battle over this issue and know that the decision over this is not actually in the hands of school board members. The case of Doe v. Boyertown held that BASD’s policy of transgender students using the facilities that match their gender identity does not violate the rights of other students. The case was upheld on appeal to the 3rd Circuit and the Supreme Court did not take the case, making it the controlling precedent for schools in our area. Changing that policy would invite litigation that would undoubtedly be a waste of taxpayer money as the courts have been clear on this matter and there have not been any known issues with the policy being misused or abused.”
On the teaching of American history, Piccione wrote: “I am a historian and history teacher. The goal of history in education is to give students a window into the past in order to better understand how we got to our present and then build a better future. I believe unequivocally in teaching the truth of history to students. Our nation’s history gives us many things to be proud of along with many negative examples to learn from in order to not repeat or relive the mistakes of the past. Obviously, we need to teach these matters with age-appropriate language and context, but whitewashing and papering over the uncomfortable aspects of our nation’s past will not give our students the knowledge and information they need in order to understand the world around them or build a better one for their own futures.”
“The polarization of our politics has trickled down to local races and is causing serious issues as boards are mired in political arguments and culture war issues instead of working to give the students of the district the best possible education,” Piccione wrote in response to the question about the increasing influence of national political action committees.
“School board races are supposed to be non-partisan and I believe they should be. Unfortunately we are seeing organizations such as Moms for Liberty involve themselves in school boards sowing chaos, which is squandering taxpayer money and harming children’s education. I have received assistance from Boyertown Forward, a local PAC that is working to elect pro-public education candidates in Boyertown School District and an endorsement from Run for Something, an organization that aims to elect candidates 40 years of age or younger to elected office to represent a more youthful voice in government.”
“I have no issue with parents choosing to send their children to private school but opting out of the public system should not allow them to take public money,” Piccione wrote on the issue of school vouchers. “Private schools do not have to follow the same rules or standards of accountability that public schools do and therefore should not receive public funds. I am committed, if elected, to working to make our public schools the best they possibly can be, but that cannot happen if funds are siphoned to schools that have no accountability or requirement to work in the public benefit.”
Lisa Hogan
Incumbent Lisa Hogan, 45, lives in Douglass (Mont.) and has been a member of the school board for four years.
She is in her senior year at Millersville University’s Bachelor of Arts social work program. Hogan is dual enrolled and is earning Master of social work credits as well.
Before being elected, Hogan “held many volunteer positions within my community,” she wrote
Hogan wrote that “I would like to see public schools educate students and prepare them for the global world that they will live and work in.”
In response to the question about bathrooms and locker room use, Hogan replied simply, “I believe that as a school board director it is my responsibility to follow the law on these issues.”
Regarding unpleasant chapters of American history, Hogan replied, “I believe that all of our history has played a role in shaping the world that we live in and is important in understanding the complex issues that we face as a nation.”
“School board races should remain nonpartisan, as the work done in the school board room should not be influenced by politics,” Hogan wrote in response to the growing influence of political action committees in school board elections. “I have been endorsed by Boyertown Forward, a nonpartisan group formed to support pro-public education school board candidates.”
“I believe that our tax dollars should be used to support public education,” Hogan wrote in response to the question about vouchers.
Region 3
Boyertown’s Region 3 is located entirely in Montgomery County and is comprised of the townships of New Hanover and Upper Frederick. It has two open seats, each carrying a four-year term.
In this race, there are no incumbents. Brad Updegrove and Matt Hook will appear on the Democratic side and Wendy Kratz and Jessica Skelton will be on the Republican ballot line. All four replied to The Mercury questionnaire.
Brad Updegrove
Brad Updegrove, 47, lives in New Hanover, and has never held elected office before.
He has a master’s degree from Marywood University in communications management and a bachelor’s degree from East Stroudsburg University.
Updegrove has spent more than a decade working in E commerce and is currently substitute teaching.
“I would like for public schools to continue preparing students to be ready for the adult world ahead. I think it would be beneficial if schools could focus on being a positive contributor within the community,” Updegrove wrote in his response.
Brad Updegrove (Submitted Photo)
“In regards to bathrooms and locker rooms I can honestly understand both sides of the argument. But I do believe that the state of Pennsylvania has already ruled on this decision; which is that students may use the bathroom or locker room that they identify as,” Updegrove wrote. “I do not believe it is worth the lawsuits to go against this ruling. I think that students should play on athletic teams that they are associated with at birth due to the unfair advantages it could cause. However, I will consider the opinions of people in the community as well as experts on the topic.”
Updegrove responded that “all parts of history should be taught in school. History can be taught without minimizing the positive aspects or the unpleasant aspects.”
“I am part of the local PAC, Boyertown Forward. This PAC was created to help local candidates, who are pro-public education, run for school board regardless of political affiliation,” Updegrove wrote. “I am concerned about the influence that national organizations are pushing into school boards as they are less informed of local challenges and community aspirations.”
“Unfortunately funding for public schools continues to decline. Using any of the above (vouchers) would take additional money from BASD,” Updegrove wrote. “A well-funded public school is beneficial to everyone in the Boyertown community even if you do not have a child in our public schools.”
Matt Hook
Matt Hook, 41, lives in New Hanover Township and has never before held elected office.
Hook holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Penn State, a masters degree in education with a dual major in special education and K-12 general education from St. Joseph’s University. He is a PA state-certified teacher in K-12 general education and special education; with post-graduate certificate in applied behavior analysis from University of Massachusetts and board-certified behavior analyst. He also holds a PA State Board of Medicine licensed behavior specialist certificate.
“I’ve been in the field of education (and special education) for just about 20 years. I’ve worked in private ABA-based residential treatment facilities, private ABA-based schools, and public schools within-district as well as out-of-district placements,” Hook wrote. “This is my 15th year working in various roles with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit. I’ve worked primarily as behavior analyst and classroom consultant but also have several years experience teaching directly with ‘emotional support’ and ‘autistic support’ programs.”
Hook wrote that “I would like to see public schools leading the way as effective educators and advocates for student academic and personal growth.”
Responding to a question about locker room, bathroom use and athletic participation among gender fluid students, Hook wrote simply “this is a question for legislators.”
As for teaching unpleasant chapters of American history, Hook wrote “what is ‘age- appropriate’ should always be a consideration when we work together with our families. However, ultimately, we don’t omit historical facts for convenience or fear that our children will judge us. Our kids deserve honesty and history, in all of its forms, should never be censored. History should also be taught to students in an age-appropriate way. In an age where literally any information can be available at any time to anyone, parents have a tough job and so do our schools.,” Hook wrote. “We need to partner with our schools. History should never be erased, however, parents and schools need to be adamant about the role of history and how it can and will repeat itself over and over again in every possible iteration if we do not choose to value the lessons it can give us. If we lose perspective of this, as a society, we are in a lot of trouble.”
“As an independent, I was told I had to declare a party to run, I wasn’t happy about that, in fact I still am not,” Hook wrote about the growing influence of national political action committees in school board affairs. “I joined a PAC, Boyertown Forward, because I personally am aligned with many of the most salient and important values the PAC represents. The Boyertown PAC is intended to be nonpartisan, it has included Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Whether or not it is truly non-partisan, it at least represents an attempt and it is certainly less partisan than a group of people all lined up professing a single affiliation, and a very narrow set of facts spit out by a single news network.”
Hook added, “I will say, the process of school board elections has become too political — independents like me deserve to have a voice. I believe in power of dialogue across political lines and I don’t support the two-party system. Modern day Dems and Repubs have created a false dichotomy. Beliefs are not always ‘either/or’ — I hope a day comes where this stops being foisted on all of us.”
“Schools boards all over the country argue over scraps, at least that’s my understanding. We have committed to public education in this country however unfunded mandates have crippled our public education system and has left us all pointing the fingers at one another,” Hook wrote in response to the question about vouchers.
“I believe in adequately funding public schools. I believe in school choice because there are often no better solutions for parents that have a right to (fair and appropriate public education) but isn’t locally available. Meanwhile the voucher system and the charter schools have created problems all their own, some worse than the public schools themselves. My opinion on how Boyertown’s dollars are spent are very much dependent on what the best option is for a student given their own unique circumstances. This process should not require our own programming for our own district schools losing out and if it does than it sounds like a budgetary problem, but that also means it’s a planning problem.”
Jessica Skelton
Jessica T. Skelton, 52, lives in New Hanover Township, and has never held elected office before.
Skelton replied that she holds a Bachelor of Science degree, although she did not provide the topic of study or the school which issued it, and is a chartered life underwriter.
She works in financial services and insurance.
“I recently read an interesting study named the Purpose of Education Index (PEI). The PEI is a private opinion study of the American peoples’ priorities for our K-12 education performed by a nonpartisan group named Populace,” Skelton wrote. “This study found Americans ranked college as the end goal of K-12 education as No. 47 out of 57 priorities. The No.1 priority was for K-12 education to be focused on practical, tangible skills and outcomes. While campaigning, I talked with many people. I found it fascinating how the opinions and beliefs of the myriad of people in our area aligned with the PEI. While college is very important and many students will work towards college admission, we also need to increase our efforts in preparing students for a successful, functional life with or without a college degree,” she wrote.
“Reading the questions of this survey, I saw a pattern asking for my opinion or what I believe about various topics. If I am to become one of the Region 3 school board directors, it doesn’t matter what I believe,” Skelton wrote in response to whether bathroom, locker room use and athletic participation should be determined by the sex a student was assigned at birth.
“What matters is the opinions of the residents in our district in addition to the law. My answer to this question is “yes” based on the numerous conversations I have had with the residents in Region 3. It is important for all students to feel comfortable and safe when going to the restroom and/or changing in the locker room. Regarding school athletic teams, it is paramount to provide a fair platform. Perhaps a solution to this controversial topic would be the formation of co-ed sports leagues in addition to girls and boys sports.”
“It is important to be educated about celebratory events as well as tragic happenings in American history. Knowing our complete history is vital so we do not repeat the tragic events of our past,” wrote Skelton. “How we present the information must be age-appropriate and in a manner that does not create social divisiveness. Nobody alive today is responsible for the atrocious acts of our past.”
“I have not received contributions from a PAC. I have completely self-funded my campaign to avoid being influenced by an organization and remain a free-thinker who represents the people,” Skelton wrote in response to the question about the growing influence of national PACs in school board governance. “It would have been financially helpful to have the collective funding a PAC brings in to candidates, however, not readily seeing where the funding is coming from or the influence behind it helped me choose to remain independent in my campaign.”
“According to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, there are tax credit programs available for corporations who pay PA income tax. In general, donations are made to a scholarship organization and in return the donors are awarded tax credits. The donations are used to help fund scholarships for students to be used at private schools,” Skelton wrote in response to a question about school vouchers.
“I see no problem with the state issuing tax credits to corporations for such donations. School vouchers are different from tax credit programs. Vouchers would be paid to parents and allow them school choice for their children. Currently Pennsylvania does not offer a voucher program; however, voucher programs are possible in the future. At this time in Pennsylvania, students may withdraw from public school and enroll in a charter school at no cost to the student. The school district sends funding to the charter school. Last year, the Boyertown Area School District paid over $5 million to charter schools,” wrote Skelton. “If the state funded a voucher program (Governor Shapiro is considering a voucher program funded by the state, not the school districts) it may be possible to eliminate the requirement of the school districts to fund charter school attendance. If that were the case, I would be pro-voucher. There would be no funding made by the school district and the excessive amount we are currently paying to charter schools could be eliminated.”
Wendy Kratz
Wendy Kratz, 50, lives in New Hanover Township, Boyertown and has never held elected public office.
Kratz holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Grove City College
She currently works “as an administrative assistant at Genesis Women’s Clinic where I have the privilege of being part of a team that provides both emotional support and material assistance to local mothers in need. In my previous life before children, I loved teaching fifth grade. I also have experience teaching in a preschool and working as a middle school learning support paraprofessional. My life’s greatest work, however, has been raising my twin sons alongside my husband.”
“As we head into the future, public schools should continue to provide the educational foundation students need to become productive, contributing members of American society. We need to get back to the basics of reading, writing, and mathematics so that students can develop the critical thinking skills they need to be able to discern what is true and good in an increasingly deceptive culture,” Kratz wrote in her response. “This is how we protect all of our students from becoming victims. Through our public school system, we also need to teach civics and an appreciation of the freedom we are blessed with as Americans. Public schools need to graduate students who will be educated voters with an understanding of how our government functions. Finally, we need to help students identify and develop their gifts and talents. Bringing out every student’s best is our best hope for the future health of our society.”
“Yes, I firmly believe that the use of bathrooms, locker rooms, and the ability to participate on school athletic teams should be determined by a child’s revealed sex at birth. School policies such as this should be determined by the safety and privacy needs of most students,” Kratz wrote. “If any students feel uncomfortable with this policy for any reason, single-person bathrooms should be made available for them to use. As for athletic teams, one of my son’s baseball coaches used to say that to get better at baseball, they needed to get bigger, faster, and stronger. Well, males are generally bigger, faster, and stronger than females, making them better athletes. They have a biological advantage over females and should not be allowed to participate in girls’ sports because it is neither fair nor safe.”
“Students should be taught all aspects of American history with consideration to what is age appropriate. We cannot learn from our mistakes and failures without first acknowledging them. When studying our historical evils, such as slavery, it is important for students to also learn that there were always Americans fighting hard against these injustices,” Kratz wrote. “That is the beauty of living in a free country; we all have the freedom and responsibility to help ‘form a more perfect union.’”
Kratz wrote that the growing influence of political action committees in school board elections “is a topic that I am still learning about as this is my first time running for an elected position. I wanted to remain independent in my campaign and chose not to accept or ask for any financial contributions. If elected as a school board member, all my decisions would be based on what I believe to be the best for Boyertown students. That being said, I was included on the Moms for Liberty voter guide. I follow their Facebook page and share their belief that exposing children to sexually explicit images in school libraries is harmful to them,” Kratz wrote. “I think most people, especially parents, share this opinion because it is common sense. Also, the 1776 PAC sent out mailers with my name on them. I did not authorize these mailers and was surprised when I first saw them. I am not a member of either of these organizations, but I do appreciate their support for Republican school board candidates in our area.”
On the subject of school vouchers, Kratz wrote “this is also a topic where my opinions are in progress as I am trying to learn more. At this point, I can understand both sides of the debate. I realize that most children will attend public schools, and public schools are currently not being properly funded to meet the needs of all students. However, I also do not believe that more money is always the answer to every problem. Furthermore, some students are failing in the public school environment and need to have other options available to them. It’s possible that the use of vouchers could help these students to find a better fit in a private school. I also believe that competition is healthy and fosters accountability.”
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Source: Berkshire mont
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