{"id":1460,"date":"2025-10-15T11:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T11:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/1460\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T11:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T11:19:07","slug":"in-saucon-valley-school-board-candidates-talk-budgets-cell-phones-transparency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/1460\/","title":{"rendered":"In Saucon Valley, school board candidates talk budgets, cell phones, transparency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: This story first appeared on Armchair Lehigh Valley<\/a> and is being published on themorningcall.com<\/a> as part of a partnership with the website, which aims to give voters factual information in a nonpartisan way to help them make informed decisions at the polls. Armchair Lehigh Valley is run by Publisher Katherine Reinhard and editor Robert H. Orenstein, two former Morning Call employees. Learn more about Armchair Lehigh Valley and subscribe here<\/a>.Oct 14, 2025<\/p>\n

Six candidates are seeking four seats on the Saucon Valley School Board in a race where they have given their views on budgets and taxes, cell phones, transparency and keeping the district educationally strong.<\/p>\n

Two longtime incumbents are running as a team \u2014 Shamin Pakzad, who is unaffiliated with a political party, and Republican Cedric Dettmar, the board\u2019s president. In the May primary, they were the only candidates who won the Democratic and Republican nominations.<\/p>\n

Other candidates are Republicans J. Barrett Geyer, who ran unsuccessfully in 2023, and Lynn Kasper. Democrats running are Meghan Lomangino and J. Christian Tatu.<\/p>\n

In June the board unanimously approved a $59.2 million budget for 2025-26 that kept the tax rate at 55.2055 mills. The board used $4,175,759 from the fund balance to close a budget gap.<\/p>\n

For the 2024-25 school year, the board raised taxes by 1%. Pakzad and Dettmar voted no.<\/p>\n

In response to requests for a recognition day for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk<\/a>, Dettmar\u00a0on Sept. 23 proposed creating a working group\u00a0to look at developing a teaching activity related to Kirk\u2019s support for free speech and the rejection of violence.<\/p>\n

Lomangino was asked to be part of the group, which also included board member John Conte, who proposed the idea, board member Bill Broun, two teachers and a community member who also proposed a day of recognition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe working group formed and has concluded without resolution,\u201d Dettmar said in an email to Armchair Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n

This is the first school board election since four Democrats, saying board leadership had brought on unnecessary controversies, defeated four incumbent Republicans in 2023.<\/p>\n

The four seats are for four-year terms. Here is a look at the candidates. Information was gathered from campaign websites, social media, school board minutes, news articles and email interviews.<\/p>\n

Cedric Dettmar, incumbent Republican<\/p>\n

Dettmar is a former vice president of Oracle Corp. and now runs a small business. He earned a bachelor\u2019s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master\u2019s in business from UCLA. He is married and has two daughters who recently graduated from the district. He serves on the board of the Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School. He was elected in 2017 after an unsuccessful run in 2013 and was reelected four years ago.<\/p>\n

Dettmar and Pakzad have a joint campaign website to tout their accomplishments, highlighting that Saucon Valley was the only district to offer full-day, five-day-a-week and remote learning during the COVID pandemic.<\/p>\n

Dettmar\u2019s bio says taxes went up 30% over three years in the early 2000s but have been flat during his tenure. He said he will use his background to help steer the district through economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n

In addition to increasing test scores, Dettmar said the district needs to attract families looking at charter schools. \u201cWe need to compete or lose over $17,000 for every child attending a charter. Retaining just a few students for a single year would pay for programs we need to be competitive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dettmar said he will advocate for discussing important issues at the full board meetings, which would be live-streamed and recorded on YouTube. More routine matters would be discussed at committee meetings. He also favors a new communications position to elevate awareness of important issues and events.<\/p>\n

Maintaining political neutrality on a school board is likely not entirely possible, but he pledged to work with fellow members no matter their politics.<\/p>\n

Dettmar and Pakzad agree on barring cell phones in class and using the fund balance, rather than a tax increase, to balance the budget.<\/p>\n

J. Barrett Geyer, Republican<\/p>\n

Geyer is a graduate of Saucon Valley and the father of two district students. He is a senior marketing strategist at Hagerman & Co. and has a bachelor\u2019s degree in business management\/economics from Moravian College. Geyer serves on the district\u2019s Vision & Branding Committee and served on the Lower Saucon Township Parks and Recreation Committee. He is a member of the Northampton County Republican Committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am dedicated to serving the students, taxpayers, and community members of the Saucon Valley School District,\u201d Geyer said on his\u00a0campaign website.<\/p>\n

Geyer said his experience in managing complex budgets and strategic planning will be valuable to the district. He said he wants to increase parent and community involvement.<\/p>\n

He said he supports using a challenging, appropriate curriculum that helps students reach their potential and budgeting that balances quality with affordable taxes.<\/p>\n

Geyer also said the board\u2019s Academics and Personnel Committee is surveying teachers and staff about the effects of cell phone use.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I believe whether or not a child carries a phone is ultimately a family decision, cell phones and other devices cannot be allowed to interfere with instruction or contribute to bullying,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

On the district budget, he said while enrollment declined by about 15%, the budget has increased by more than 40% to nearly $60 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat imbalance isn\u2019t sustainable. More than two-thirds of our budget is tied to salaries and benefits which means our bigger focus should be on enrollment,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

Lynn Kasper \u2013 Republican<\/p>\n

Kasper was part of the district\u2019s superintendent search team in 2022 and a member of the district\u2019s 2025-28 comprehensive plan steering committee, according to district documents.<\/p>\n

She spoke out against the district\u2019s masking policy in August 2021, calling masks harmful, according to a\u00a0Saucon Source\u00a0article. She does not have a campaign website or Facebook page.<\/p>\n

Efforts to learn more about her campaign platform by phone, email and at her home were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Meghan Lomangino, Democrat<\/p>\n

Lomangino is a preschool teacher at Pleasant Valley Preschool in Springfield Township, Bucks County, and a representative for ONE HOPE Winery, based in Napa Valley, Calif. She earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in elementary and early childhood education from Susquehanna University. Lomangino is married and has three children in district schools. She is president of the Saucon Valley Elementary School\u2019s Parent Teacher Organization. This is her first run for office.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to ensure that our schools continue to inspire a love for learning while preparing our children for their future,\u201d Lomangino said on\u00a0Facebook.<\/p>\n

She said the district must prioritize education while maintaining a sustainable budget and that she will ensure teachers have the resources, respect and support they need.<\/p>\n

She said she is concerned with a rising rate of administrators either leaving the district, retiring or transferring to other district buildings.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on my research of school board minutes, the graduating high school seniors had five principals in the last four years,\u2019\u2019 she said on her campaign website.<\/p>\n

Lomangino said cell phones are distracting for adults and could be a problem for students.<\/p>\n

Teachers \u201chave to decide if enforcing the policy by taking the phone away would cause a bigger or longer drawn out problem than the problem of the student having a phone on their person,\u2019\u2019 she said in an email.<\/p>\n

On the 2025-26 budget, she said it was sound judgment to use the fund balance to avoid unnecessary loans or debt that may have been incurred with the vo-tech expansion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure many families, like my own, are seeing other expenses increase in their daily life so the ability to not increase taxes was welcomed \u2026 It is good that we are spending from what we had to put towards updated curriculum, salaries and benefits, and capital improvements,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

On board politics, she said, \u201cIt is important for school board members to act in the best interest of its stakeholders. We are able to cross-file because school board directors are representing the people in their community, not their own personal politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shamim Pakzad, incumbent, unaffiliated<\/p>\n

Pakzad is a professor and chair of the civil and environmental engineering department at Lehigh University. He earned a master\u2019s degree in engineering from San Jose University in 2000 and a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008.<\/p>\n

He serves on the board of Colonial Intermediate Unit 20. He is married and has two children. Pakzad was elected in 2017.<\/p>\n

On the joint campaign website with Dettmar, he highlights that Saucon Valley was the only district that offered full-day and remote learning during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main problem with our system is not lack of money and it cannot be resolved by pouring more money into the system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pakzad said when students enter his class at Lehigh, they are not allowed to use phones and must excuse themselves from the classroom if they do.<\/p>\n

The district already has a policy prohibiting cell phones during instruction but inconsistent enforcement is a problem. It places students \u201cin a guessing game\u2019\u2019 about which teachers enforce the policy.<\/p>\n

He does not favor a tax increase unless it is essential.<\/p>\n

Pakzad said the district\u2019s fund balance level, about 25% of the annual budget, is much higher than the approximately 6% recommended by credit agencies to have access to the best financing terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cRevenue in the district has been higher than expenses for much of two decades,\u2019\u2019 he said, so more money can be drawn from the fund balance rather than further taxing property owners.<\/p>\n

He said the school ideally should maintain political neutrality, though demanding it could discourage potential candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there is one in this race who can claim [neutrality] more than I do. This is based on my nonpartisan background and my work in the last few years in trying to form consensus across the political spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted that under his tenure the district maintained and renovated facilities without hurting operations. Pakzad said he wants to raise the bar for all students. \u201cTo look at the failings of the educational system and blame them on demographics and family income level is not a positive approach and does not result in finding credible solutions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

J. Christian Tatu, Democrat, cross-filed<\/p>\n

Tatu is an English teacher at Liberty High School in Bethlehem. He earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in English in 1995 from Millersville University and a Ph.D. in English from Lehigh University in 2009. He received a teaching certification from DeSales University in 2022. He has taught writing and English at the college level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m running for school board because I wish to serve my community,\u201d he said on his\u00a0blog.<\/p>\n

Tatu said he has two areas of concern \u2014 transparency and making sure teachers, not technology, are instructing students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first is that our board needs to exercise more oversight over the school administration and make sure significant decisions are made after full and open discussions at the board\u2019s regular public meetings, not in committees and executive sessions,\u2019\u2019 he said in an email.<\/p>\n

He noted, \u201cThe law requires the district to post the proposed budget for comment each year before voting on it. This year, we had members of the public complain that only a very broad summary of the budget was available for public review.\u201d<\/p>\n

On his second concern, he said, \u201cWe should not be automating the critically important work that teachers do by purchasing expensive software programs that cost our taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars while simultaneously diminishing the role of our teachers.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll advocate strongly for these two [issues] and make sure that all stakeholders in our community have a voice,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

When it comes to cell phones, he said, \u201cThe board is currently taking a \u2018go slow\u2019 approach in reviewing its policy on personal electronic devices in school, which I believe is wise. However, this issue offers a perfect example of the need to get input from all stakeholders \u2014 including (and especially) our SVSD teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s Note: This story first appeared on Armchair Lehigh Valley and is being published on themorningcall.com as part…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,227,836,182,139,50,432],"class_list":{"0":"post-1460","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news","11":"tag-education","12":"tag-election","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-top-stories-tmc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}