Contested races mark Bethlehem Area School Board election

By John Best

The Bethlehem Area School Board election features contested races for three at-large seats and one seat in Region 1.

Four incumbent Democrats are on the Nov. 4 ballot with two Republican newcomers challenging them. All seats are for four-year terms on the nine-member school board.

Incumbent Democrats Shannon L. Patrick, Michael E. Faccinetto and Silagh White and Republican Heather L. Christein are on the ballot for the at-large seats. Patrick and Faccinetto won spots on the Democratic and Republican ballots in the May primary. White and Christein won on their respective party ballots.

In Region 1, Republican Michael Kastelnik is facing incumbent Democrat Winston Alozie, who won a write-in campaign in May. The seat represents Bethlehem wards 1N, 1S, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 15-3, 16, 17, and Freemansburg in Northampton County; and city wards 10, 13-1, and wards 1, 2 and 3 in Fountain Hill in Lehigh County.

Patrick, Faccinetto, White and Alozie were endorsed by Lehigh Valley for All, a progressive grassroots organization.

The Bethlehem Area School District operates 22 schools and is the sixth largest school district in Pennsylvania with an enrollment of about 13,000 students.

This year, the school board passed a 2025-26 budget of $373 million with a 4.3 percent property tax increase. The new millage rate for district residents in Lehigh County is 19.42 mills, and in Northampton County it is 63.17 mills. The vote was 8-0 with one absence (M. Rayah Levy).

The school board unanimously adopted a new cell phone policy for the current school year. Students in elementary and middle school are not permitted to use phones during the school day and must keep them out of sight.

High school students must place their phones in a designated location during instructional periods but can use them in the hallways and during lunch. District administrators recently said data is showing the policy is working, according to WFMZ.

Heather L. Christein – Republican
Christein is a certified fundraising executive who graduated from Nazareth Area School District and earned a bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University in 1998 and an MBA from Moravian University in 2021. Her son graduated from Liberty High School in 2023.

Christein said she plans to prioritize core academics — math, reading, science as well as critical thinking.

She said she would propose a policy prohibiting political or ideological discussions in the classroom. “Teachers should remain unbiased, ensuring students are free to learn without influence from personal beliefs,” she said in an email.

Christein supports a comprehensive audit of district spending and wants to take a conservative approach to budgeting to ensure transparency and accountability for taxpayers.

Michael E. Faccinetto – Democrat, incumbent
Faccinetto is an assistant principal at Southern Lehigh Middle School. He has a bachelor’s degree from Penn State and a master’s degree in education from Lehigh University. He is the school board president and has been on the board for 16 years.

“The BASD, like many other districts, is facing financial uncertainty in the next 5-10 years,” Faccinetto said in an email. “Our long-term projections indicate some difficult decisions are on the horizon.”

Faccinetto said he wants to keep student-to-teacher ratios low and support services in place while recognizing needs and concerns of the community.

“That means responsible tax increases when necessary,” he said. “It is not practical to say we will hold the line indefinitely on taxes, but when we do ask for an increase, we must be transparent and communicate the challenges we are facing with solutions and not cast blame.”

Silagh White – Democrat, incumbent
White, who is seeking her second term, is the managing director of the Ice House Performing Arts Collaborative and a part-time executive assistant to Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds. She has a master’s degree in education from Lehigh University.

She was part of the school board’s decision in 2024 to approve the $8 million purchase of The Factory, a building at 315 Columbia St., Bethlehem, as a satellite campus for the Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School, which serves students from Bethlehem Area, Northampton Area and Saucon Valley school districts.

White said the purchase will allow BAVTS to accommodate more students and offer more programs without a previously proposed $46.6 million expansion project at the main campus on Chester Avenue in Bethlehem Township.

“The most important policy vote for any school board director is the annual budget,” White wrote in an email. “This single decision dictates how resources are allocated for everything from teacher salaries to curriculum and extracurricular programs, directly impacting educational quality and the community’s tax burden.”

White plans to focus on students’ mental health. “While no single policy will ‘correct’ the issue, new policies — such as restricting electronic devices during learning time, adhering to restorative practices, and increasing mental health services — can support students’ learning,” she said.

Shannon L. Patrick – Democrat, incumbent
Patrick was first appointed by the board in 2011 and won her seat in the 2013 election. She is the board vice president and was the Hanover Elementary School PTA president for three years.

According to a candidate platform on Lehigh Valley for All’s website, Patrick plans to address the housing crisis and work with community partners to solidify programs and assistance for families in need of help.

“Students need a stable place to live,” Patrick wrote. “They cannot be successful and learn if that is not the case.”

Patrick said she will seek to ensure fair funding for public schools from state money and she will work for charter school reform as well. “We cannot continue to send money to for-profit schools that have no public oversight,” she wrote.

Patrick also said immigrant communities should be treated fairly and the school district and city should continue to welcome everyone.

Winston Alozie – Democrat, incumbent
Alozie was appointed to his seat in 2020 and he was elected in 2021. He won the Democratic nomination as a write-in candidate. He is the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club in Bethlehem. Originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, Alozie graduated from Freedom High School and attended Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. He did not respond to an email request seeking comment for this story.

Michael Kastelnik – Republican
Kastelnik did not cross-file in the May primary. He said the school board is typically filled with Democrats or candidates who cross-file, which is permitted in school board races. He said he wants to give voters a different option – “a complete outsider from the government school system.”

Kastelnik is a clinical therapist with Integrity Counseling Services, which specializes in therapy for Catholics. The goal is to provide therapy from a Christian perspective that may differ from other therapists’ world views.

He said he plans to bring his life experience as a therapist and as someone with Christian values to the school board.

A major focus would be to listen to the electorate about what they are looking for in their school board and develop sustainable solutions to the school district budget, Kastelnik said.