Incumbents fare well in East Penn School Board election

There’s unlikely to be much change at the East Penn school board next year.The five people already seated on the board appeared poised to move on to the general election in November.As of 11 p.m., seated board members Jeffrey Jankowski, who was appointed at the last school board meeting, Joshua Levinson, Ken Bacher, Paul Champagne and Allan Byrd were the top five Democratic vote-getters on Tuesday, according to unofficial results. Democrats chose five of seven candidates.Republicans had a choice of eight candidates and picked four of the same board members as their Democratic counterparts. They chose Diane Schaffer, a former Pleasant Valley school board member, over Byrd by just 86 votes.The six candidates beat out newcomers Bart Bailey and David Bocchino for one of the five, four-year seats. Naomi Winch, a mother and the president of the East Penn Democratic Club who helped found Seven Generations Charter School, ran unopposed for a single two-year seat.They’ll move on to the general election, where voters can pick their top five candidates.Joshua Levinson, a chemical engineer garnered the most votes on the Democrat ballot with 18.3% of the vote, Paul Champagne, a financial consultant, was in second place with 15.3%.Both had cross-filed and Champagne led the Republican ballot with 15.1% of the vote.Levinson said he was encouraged by the results and that the showing among incumbents could be indicative of how voters feel about the current school board.“I think people recognize we are doing what we can to get the students a positive experience within the district in addition to working on behalf of the community to get them something that meets their needs,” he said.Morning Call reporter Jacqueline Palochko contributed to this story.Morning Call reporter Michelle Merlin can be reached at 610-820-6533 or at mmerlin@mcall.com.
Source: Morningcall