SUS
Q
Vol. 77 No. 42 November 2, 1977
Railroad House was King Tut, shown above.
Midnight Halloween surprise
for Marietta
Star Trash
The most extravagant
Halloween party in Lancas-
ter County included a
surprise parade through
the streets of Marietta
shortly before midnight last
Friday.
The parade passes Gay Street.
The Marietta police es-
corted about 250 outlan-
dishly-garbed revellers in
an eerie procession from
the Railroad House to
Shank’s Tavern and back.
[continued on page 2]
Susquehanna Times & The Mount Joy Bulletin
MARIETTA & MOUNT JOY, PA.
The five candidates for
three positions on the
Donegal School Board
answered questions from
the public at a forum
sponsored by the Donegal
Education Association (tea-
cher’s union) last Thursday
evening at the high school.
The two Democratic
Party challengers, Jeff
Hartzler and Gerald Bar-
nett, were on the offensive.
Hartzler attacked what he
called ‘‘the erosion of
commitment to quality
education, and the erosion
of public confidence (in the
school board). ‘‘Barnett
called for ‘‘reassigning
priorities. Let's decide
what’s important, and
spend only what’s left on
sports and related activi-
ties,”’ he said.
The Republicans (incum-
bents William Landis and
Jere Duke, and newcomer
Edgar T. Jones) defended
the importance of sports
and other extracurricular
activities. They also indi-
cated that, if people
wanted more input into
school board decisions,
they should simply attend
board meetings, or person-
ally phone school board
members, rather than elec-
ting new representatives.
Here is what the
candidates had to say on a
number of issues:
Sports & extra-curricular
activites
Barnett: ‘‘I don’t advo-
cate eliminating sports,
which can be important
building blocks for chil-
dren. But let's consult with
the people on how they feel
before we decide to spend
any extra money on sports.
After all, the most impor-
tant thing is basic educa-
tion. We have to prepare
our children for the real
world.”
Jones: ‘‘Extra-curricular
activities are very much a
part of learning to live in
today’s world.”
Landis: ‘‘If we believe in
extra-curricular activities
we must support them.
Would anybody really want
to deprive the band kids of
the chance to play in the
band so the taxpayer could
save 75 cents or a dollar a
year? If it were put to a
vote, would anybody be so
penurious as to
them?”’
Hartzler: ‘“We have to
put the basics first. There
are high-school graduates
who murder the English
language, and who can’t
make change for a $2 bill.”
Duke: (After citing a
study which seemed to
demonstrate that active
children learn faster than
sedentary children) ‘‘There
is a correlation between
physical activity and class-
"
room success.
deny
On communicating with
the public:
Barnett: ‘If elected, I
would consider a motion
assigning school directors
to attend parent-teacher
group meetings on a
rotating basis.”” Mr. Bar-
nett also would like to see
the board meeting agenda
published before meetings.
Hartzler: ‘‘Besides com-
municating with the public,
the board should get to
know the teachers.’’ Dr.
Hartlzer’s suggestions for
improving communications
with the public include:
moving the citizen input
time to the beginning of
board meetings ‘‘so people
don’t get the impression
that decisions have all been
made before they’ve had a
chance to be heard from’’;
semi-annual public forums
to get ‘‘creative input’’
from citizens; liason people
to work with parent-teacher
groups; better publicity for
board activities; better
rapport with the teaching
staff gained by ‘‘listening
to the teachers’’; and
publishing meeting agen-
das in the newspapers.
Jones: ‘‘We have a
communications problem,’’
Mr. Jones said. His
solutions: getting accurate
reports of the meetings in
the local and Lancaster
papers, encouraging people
to attend board meetings,
and reassuring people who
feel ‘“‘intimidated’’ by the
formality at board meetings
and encouraging parent-
teacher groups to send
written reports of their
meetings to the board.
Landis: ‘You are sup-
posed to vote for somebody
you know and trust
personally, so you can call
him up and talk to him
rALPIT M
nR.De. ’
MOUNT
School Board hopefuls queried
when you want some input
into school board activities.
That’s the way representa-
tive government is sup-
posed to work. If some-
thing is bothering you, call
me, even if you didn’t vote
for me. That's my job, and
I'm always willing to
listen.”
Duke: ‘‘Lots of groups
pressure the board for
different things. How do
you reconcile the need to
provide good, balanced
education and extracurri-
cular activities without
bankrupting the taxpayers
the answer is -- listen to
the people.”” Mr. Duke said
that he attends PTA
meetings whenever he’s
invited, and does ‘“‘a lot of
talking to everyone who is
interested’’ in school pro-
blems.
Would a full-time busi-
ness manager, with a
business background rather
than an educational back-
ground, save money for the
district, and would you be
willing to cut the extra-
curricular activities fund in
half finance hiring such a
manager?
This question was asked
of Dr. Hartzler, who has
proposed hiring a business
manager with a business
background, (Hartzler has
not recommended cutting
the activities fund in half.)
Dr. Hartzler cited the
Editorial
aNY! IR
: nOX 1040) “nn2
: DPA L739
JOY ' .
UEHANNA TIMES
FIFTEEN CENTS
.success of St. Louis
schools, which asked busi-
nessmen to volunteer their
skills to solve the schools’
financial crisis. The busi-
nessmen succeeded.
Dr. Landis answered the
same question: ‘‘No, I
would not eliminate activi-
ties for our children to gain
worthless advice.’” He
maintained that the board
and present administration
have done an excellent job
of cutting costs and added
that ‘“‘we have not missed a
nickle of interest’’ in
short-term investments of
school money.
How do you defend,
budget-wise and in terms
of energy waste, the new
lights on Donegal athletic
fields?
Mr. Duke noted that
increased attendance at
football games and money
from admission to night
soccer games ‘‘more than
offsets the cost of electri-
city.” The lights are used
for practice as well as
games, he said, because
PP&L bills the school for
23 hours of use, even if the
lights are used less often.
Dr. Landis reminded
listeners that the lights
were paid for by the
Parents Booster Club, and
said, ‘‘Nobody who’s not
interested in sports is
paying for them.”
Democracy is working
in our township
We are happy to see that
there are very few uncon-
tested offices in this year’s
local elections.
Running for public office
isn’t easy, and once a
candidate is elected, he or
she often finds that the
responsibilities of the job
outweigh the pleasures.
The public expects a lot
of its elected officials, and
people complain loudly
when they disagree with
the men and women they
have elected.
That is the way things
should be; it’s part of
making democracy work.
Competition is also part
of the democratic process,
so it is very encouraging to
see that so many people
are willing to take up the
burdens of politics.
When only one candidate
runs, we are just a step
away from a situation of
total apathy, in which no
one is willing to serve the
community.
The Susquehanna Times
thinks every candidate
deserves a round of
applause. Whether they
win or lose, their efforts
have helped make our area
a better, place to live.