Six candidates are running for four, four-year terms on the Parkland School Board.
Two candidates — Alyssa Beckwith and incumbent David Hein — appear as both Democratic and Republican candidates, having earned enough votes from both parties in the May 20 primary. Beckwith is a registered Democrat; Hein is registered Republican.
Rounding out the ballot are Democrats Matthew Weimann and Jon Macklin, and Republicans George Rivera and David Caruth.
Caruth, who failed to make the primary ballot due to a petition challenge, was the top write-in vote getter in the May 20 Republican primary, and earned a spot on the November ballot after Republican Patrick Foose dropped out of the race to run for Upper Macungie Township supervisor.
Candidates were asked ahead of the May primary to answer questions about issues facing the district. СŷƵ is reprinting some of their answers to help voters make their decision in the November election.
Responses are unedited, and candidates appear in alphabetical order.
The questions are:
- How will you seek to manage costs as the district confronts the expiration of pandemic relief funds and the potential of further federal funding cuts?
- As you seek to manage costs, what are the programs you feel are most important to preserve?
- How should school directors navigate federal education policy demands that seek curriculum changes and/or adjustments to policies that govern the treatment of LGBTQ students and immigrant families?
Alyssa Beckwith (D/R)
Alyssa Beckwith grew up in the СŷƵ and graduated from Allen High School. She attended Lehigh University to study chemical engineering and now works in project management, supporting clinical trials at Johnson & Johnson. Beckwith and her family have lived in the district since 2017, and her daughter attends Parkland High School.
Manage costs: I will collaborate with the other School Board Directors and the district administration staff to diligently evaluate the budget, shape creative solutions to meet students’ needs and redistribute funds as necessary.
Important programs: Programs that support both core academic development and well-rounded personal growth particularly our core academic curriculum, special education services and mental health services. I would want to better understand how other programs are being utilized before making any decisions on which programs should be preserved.
Federal education policy: We will continue to follow state law with respect to these demands and avoid using tax dollars on litigation costs while providing a safe environment for all of our students.
David Caruth (R)
David Caruth is senior marketing manager at Verizon, where he has worked for nearly two decades. A former Pennsylvania Army National guardsman, he is global head of operations of VALOR, Verizon’s military employee resource group. He’s also a board member of We Salute, an author, and president and CEO of Caruth Consulting. He is the parent of two children in the Parkland School District.
Manage costs: Pandemic funding was for pandemic-related needs, which no longer exists. Only 0.77% of Parkland’s 2025-2026 budget comes from the Federal Gov’t ($1.5M Title I + $0.41M Title II-IV / $248.8M). We can easily absorb this loss by a number of ways: re-bidding vendor agreements, re-working partner contracts, & lessening our top heavy administration. We could actually significantly reduce our budget overall by enacting these standard business practices to avoid the massive tax hikes and the further depletion of our reserves which we’ve seen from the current board with this school year’s budget.
Important programs: Preserving our Teachers & their tools is paramount. Our Transportation & Food Services directly follow. To manage costs, I’d first immediately hire a third-party accounting firm to go line-by-line through our expenses to identify unnecessary wants we should not be funding & focus on district needs. Next, I’d enact monthly KPI targets with weekly reporting, introducing quarterly Gap Closure initiatives I’d task the administration with achieving. Lastly, I’d vote against any future tax hikes as we mustn’t spend more than we bring in: I’d treat the district’s budget like my own, strict policing with a strong, fiscal stewardship approach.
Federal education policy: There is no navigating the federal education policy as it is the rule of law and school directors must abide, regardless of their personal and political beliefs. They are elected officials bound to adhere to the laws set forth in our country. No exceptions. If a school director feels strongly against the law, it is within their right to exercise the first amendment and speak out. As a school director, I will follow the laws of our land, whether my personal beliefs or political views align or disagree with said laws. It will be my sworn duty to uphold.
David Hein (D/R)
David Hein is finishing his third term on the Parkland School Board and running for re-election. He has served on several additional boards, including at Lehigh Career & Technical Institute, Lehigh Carbon Community College, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and the Keystone Center for Charter Change. He works in finance and accounting, with 30 years of experience in the health care and nonprofit fields. Hein lives in South Whitehall Township, and his wife and daughter are both teachers in the district.
Manage costs: In order to manage costs for the district, I will continue to work with the administration to determine if there are higher return investments that fall within the guidelines of what a school district is allowed to invest in. I will also continue to advocate for fair funding and charter/cyber charter cost reform, which is way overdue and drains millions of dollars from traditional public schools each year. As our new building and expansion projects come on line, I am in favor of looking at the scope of the projects again to make sure that the size and timing is right for what the district can afford now and into the future, while realizing that as our student population grows, we need to address the capacity and ongoing maintenance of our buildings
Important programs: I believe that all our programs across academics, arts, and athletics are important to preserve. Having programs available in all three of these pillars provides a well-rounded education for all our students and provides them with opportunities to explore the things that interest them most. We need to continue to be creative in how we provide services to our students while maintaining supports for our teachers and staff.
Federal education policy: I know that Parkland does an outstanding job to meet each and every student where they are and provides them with the programs and supports they need to succeed in school and life. This is done regardless of any type of demographic label that can be put on a student. And this is one of the things that I am most proud of that we do right in Parkland. I will continue to stand with the administration to support our students with whatever they need. School directors and school districts need to follow the laws that are in place at both the Federal and State levels; however, that does not mean that we abandon or ignore our students who need help the most.
Jon Macklin (D)
Jon Macklin studied history at Pepperdine and received a master’s in health administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. He worked in the health insurance industry for more than 15 years. Macklin is now a full-time stay-at-home dad with two elementary school children in the Parkland School District. He moved to the СŷƵ five years ago, and his wife is an oncologic surgeon at St. Luke’s.
Manage costs: It is concerning that the federal government is moving to reduce and in some cases eliminate, funding for public education. While broader discussions about fiscal policy are important, cutting support for public schools is detrimental to students and families. It places an unfair burden on local taxpayers and threatens the high-quality education that the Parkland School District has long delivered; and that our community expects and deserves.
As we face the expiration of pandemic relief funds and potential federal cuts, we must be strategic and proactive in managing costs. One area of immediate concern is the significant funding Parkland is required by the state to transfer to cyber charter schools; currently between $3 and $4 million annually. These funds are diverted from our district to support entities that consistently underperform and do not offer comparable academic or enrichment opportunities for our students.
Advocating for legislative change to reform these payments is essential. Doing so would preserve taxpayer dollars, protect educational quality and ensure local funding stays within our schools where it has the greatest impact.
Important programs: I recently attended the Parkland School Board Budget Seminar, in which the district’s administration and board went through the proposed 2025-2026 budget line by line. The budget and the associated programs across the district were discussed and reviewed in granular detail. During the 8+ hours of the discussion, I can honestly say that there wasn’t a single program in the discussion that I felt didn’t provide a direct value and benefit to our students. One of the hallmarks of Parkland’s exceptional reputation as a desirable school district is the comprehensive and diverse array of programs and opportunities we provide to our students. My primary objective is to ensure that the Parkland School District maintains this exceptional level of opportunity for all of our students and families in the future.
As we manage costs, rather than cutting from student-centered programs, we should continue seeking efficiencies elsewhere and advocate for smarter policy decisions at the state level. Our focus must remain on ensuring that all students in Parkland continue to benefit from the exceptional opportunities our district provides.
Federal education policy: School directors have a responsibility to uphold federal and state laws while also advocating for policies that reflect the values of equity, inclusion and respect. When navigating education mandates, especially those impacting LGBTQ students and immigrant families, we must prioritize student well-being, ensure compliance with legal protections and maintain a learning environment where all students feel safe, supported, valued and welcomed.
Parkland must approach policy shifts with transparency, community engagement and a commitment to facts and fairness. Parkland should act with compassion towards marginalized and minority communities. Our district must continue to ensure that every student, regardless of identity, background or immigration status has equal access to not only the high quality education that Parkland provides, but also equal access to the robust resources and extracurricular opportunities available within our district.
George Rivera (R)
George Rivera is a restaurant manager. He’s been in the industry for 23 years, and he worked his way up from dishwasher to managing partner at Darden Restaurant Inc. George and his wife, Shannon, have three children, the oldest of which attends Parkland High School.
Manage costs: If elected, I intend on applying the same approach I utilize when managing the costs of the business I operate. I will seek to understand every line of the budget. Once I have become a subject matter expert, I will determine which budget lines could potentially be improved based on two things:
a. If this particular line item is removed or reduced, will it negatively impact our staff’s ability to provide an exceptional education?
b. If the answer is no, then actions should be made to reduce this particular line item to appropriate more funds towards new building projects.
When you think about the vast number of variables to manage throughout the district, I am confident that we can collaborate to reduce certain costs down. Indiscriminately just cuttings costs is not a long-term solution. But, when you consider how most companies, we seek services from look at us as a “government-funded” entity with endless funds, a certain level of assertiveness needs to be applied when approving contractual work.
Important programs: This is a very easy question to answer. The most important programs are the ones that provide the true American high school experience which in my opinion are Arts, Theatre, Sports, Mathematics, Science, Tech, Music or any other program that encourages creative thought processes.
To me these programs encourage our children to broaden their minds and be creative, social, and grow into well-rounded individuals.
In elementary school I competed in the “Math Counts” competition and finished in the top 25% out of 250 participants. I utilize what I learned in the mathematics program provided by my elementary school daily, so I fully understand the benefits of programs that encourage lifelong lessons.
Federal education policy: I am unsure how a school board director would have the authority to not follow any federal policy. 5 years ago, there were many guidelines and mandates that we had to follow whether we agreed with them or not. There were people that either supported the mandates or did not but despite your opinion on how things should have been handled, everyone had to comply or be subjected to consequences. Time has passed and now we have new topics of potential contention that despite our personal feelings of how things are to be handled, we will have no choice but to comply. I am deeply unsure how valid my opinion is in regard to these two topics as it appears to be a potential leading question sparked by national headlines and could potentially be deemed as politicized. All children are gifts to this world and deserve to be protected at all costs. I plan on honoring this under the guidelines laid out by federal law.
Matthew Weimann (D)
Matthew Weimann is a teacher in the East Penn School District. He’s taught for 14 years, switching into the field from his previous work managing a home painting business. He holds a master’s of education from DeSales University. Weimann’s daughter attends Springhouse Middle School, and he credits the district’s early childhood intervention programs and speech classes for enabling his daughter, born deaf, to be completely mainstreamed into classes and activities.
Manage costs: I’ve been a teacher for 14 years. During the first few years I had to long term sub. I filled in for teachers who needed time to recover from medical emergencies as well as maternity leave. Each new substituting gig had to be approved by the school board.
I mention all of this because it illustrates an important responsibility of a school board. Staffing is the largest part of any school district’s budget. The salaries and benefits of Parkland employees make up 74% of the budget.
I’m pleased with the way Parkland refused to lay people off during the pandemic. Instead, like several other forward thinking districts, Parkland used federal funding to hire new staff to help struggling students. This was wise. In order to manage cuts in funding, I suggest not filling the contracts of retirees. Instead, make lateral moves.
Important programs: On April 25th, I attended an all day Parkland Budget Seminar. This meeting of school board members, school district administrators, and department heads was open to the public. I had to take time off of work to attend, but it was well worth it.
I was able to witness explanations of budgetary decisions. For example, graphs showing the ages of our transportation fleet, costs associated with upkeep versus new purchases, and reasons for expenditures were shared.
At the end there was a time when the board discussed ways to save money. I was particularly proud of the board that I am preparing to join for striking down the idea to cut the late bus.
This busing program provides students who can’t get picked up by a parent with a way to get home after athletic activities and after school events. It is an icon of public education and equity.
Federal education policy: The school district must follow the law. There are federal court cases, amendments, and state/local laws that govern the topics mentioned above. If school board directors in any district decided to do something that goes against those court decisions and amendments, the district would be sued, thereby wasting taxpayer dollars on frivolous, unnecessary lawsuits. Policies coming from the federal government are not always clear in what actions can and should be taken. The Parkland board is lucky to have a very thorough solicitor who advises them on the specifics as new information comes forth from the federal government.
All that being said, I believe students need to feel safe and secure in order for any learning to occur. The old teaching adage rings true, Maslow’s hierarchy comes before Bloom’s taxonomy. I would do everything within my power to make sure every single student is as safe as possible.
