Four Candidates Will Run for Two Nazareth School Board Seats

The Nazareth School Board has two seats open for election this year in “Region 1” (Bushkill Township, Tatamy and Palmer Township/Upper, West) and four candidates are running.

Of those candidates, two are incumbents -- Lorin Bradley, current board president, and Kenneth N. Butz Jr., an eight-year member of the board.

The other two candidates are Chris Miller, a former history teacher in the Bethlehem Area School District, and Jacob Allen, a soon-to-be 2011 graduate of .

All four candidates cross-filed as both Democrats and Republicans. That means they will appear on both ballots in the May 17 primary.

School board members are allowed to cross-file; in fact, a candidate for school board does not even have to be a registered voter.

The Nazareth School Board will face some tough decisions over the next few years, especially over budgets.

On March 8, Gov. Tom Corbett proposed an 8.8 percent reduction in public school spending by the state. Corbett's budget counts on administrators and teachers to accept a pay freeze and calls for axing pay bumps when teachers get master's degrees.

These proposals could resonate for years to come and, no doubt, will become campaign issues.

Patch contacted the candidates and sent them each a questionnaire so voters can get to know them better.

A copy of the exact questionnaire is attached.

The answers, in their entirety, will run tomorrow, May 6.