Alburtis, Emmaus and Macungie boroughs and Lower Macungie and Upper Milford townships

Vote for not more than four - 4-year term

On the Democratic ballot are Alisa Bowman, Alan Earnshaw, Sherrine M. Eid, Ellen Zimmer Lewis, Z. W. Munson, Adam Smith and Wally R. Vinovskis. All but Ellen Zimmer Lewis are also filed on the Republican ballot.

We asked all candidates the following question: Why should residents vote for you?

Alisa Bowman

“I live and work in the community, and I’m also the mother of a child in the district. As a result, what concerns and affects district parents and residents also concerns and affects me on a deeply personal level. My background as a former small business owner coupled with my experience as a professional in the communications field also helps me to make key decisions about budgets, contracts and legal concerns. As a board member, I will work hard to help parents and the community feel they have a voice and a stake in the district, and I also hope to address complex issues such as standardized testing and bullying. It’s my firm belief that strong schools lead to a strong community – and vice versa. I will fight to make both even stronger than they are today.”

Alan Earnshaw

“As the father of four children (one current student and three graduates), I am committed to providing a thorough, fiscally responsible education to every child in East Penn, preparing them for college, work or military service. With over 15 years of school board experience, I understand the issues and am able to balance the competing interests of all East Penn stakeholders. Through study and training, I have acquired extensive knowledge of district operations, school law, board policies and parliamentary procedure. I put my experience to work in every meeting. For more information about me, please visit my website, www.ElectEarnshaw.org.”

Sherrine M. Eid

“I graduated EHS (1993), completed a BS in biology and philosophy at Muhlenberg College and MPH in Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases at GWU. I am a civil servant and work as a biostatistician in pharmaceuticals. My children attend EPSD. We must ensure students, faculty and staff are compassionate contributors and leaders and have the environment, support, tools and knowledge to build sustainable systems in our global economy. We have to spend to educate, and the burden should not exclusively fall on property owners. I will strive to establish public-private partnerships. We will continue to innovate and produce leaders of the future.”

Ellen Zimmer Lewis

“East Penn School district residents should vote for me because as a concerned and appreciative parent of two students in the school district I have some great ideas how to make our district even stronger!

*Find and implement a state-of-the-art communication system to connect families with the administration

*Expand our leading STEM program to a premiere STEAM curriculum

*Create tolerance training for the entire community

*Develop a district-wide community service program

*Keep our extracurricular programs strong

*Pass a balanced budget that does NOT raise taxes.”

Z. W. Munson

“I firmly believe public education is the bedrock of economic opportunity and democratic values. But I also worry about spiraling costs and the real financial limits of our families, seniors and businesses. The key challenge is finding the right balance between our needs and our limits. As those who attend school board meetings know, I am a consistent, vocal advocate for our entire community on a wide variety of issues. My decisions will continue to be based on facts and evidence rather than what might be politically popular or educationally fashionable. Please give me the opportunity to continue this work. For more information, visit www.munson4eastpenn.org.”

Adam Smith

“I have chosen to run for school director so that families of school-age children have their voices included on the board. I will serve EPSD as a voice for our students as they strive to become responsible, self-directed citizens who can compete both globally and locally. I will serve as a voice for the community, using my public education experience to ensure that taxpayers’ contributions lead to higher efficiency with increased achievement. I will analyze our K-12 curriculum and encourage higher collaboration to ensure that students receive the same innovative educational experience regardless of school, grade or teacher.”

Wally R. Vinovskis

The major issue facing school boards today continues to be fiscal responsibility. Schools are challenged to focus on student achievement and improve test scores with limited resources. The school district needs to seriously evaluate what serves the core educational mission of our schools and look for reductions and efficiencies wherever possible. We simply cannot continue to raise local taxes. We need to run a tight ship while maintaining our legacy of high achievement in education.