Better preparing students for life after graduation is the most important issue facing the York City School District, said candidates for school board who responded to requests for comment.

The contested race is for four, four-year terms on the board.

Gary Calhoun, 45, a youth program worker for the City of York, said the district needs to improve education so that students are better prepared for the workforce and higher education.

"We need to start back at the beginning and redefine our whole educational process," said Calhoun, whose community service work includes tutoring music and other skills. "Our kids are falling behind."

More parents also need to get involved in school board issues, and teachers must do a better job of teaching, he said.

"It seems like our teachers are failing our students," he said.

Margie Orr, 64, a secretary, serves on the school board as a replacement for a member that left and also belongs to organizations including the NAACP and York County Community Against Racism. She works part-time for the local Community Progress Council's senior program.

Orr said she wants students in the district to receive a quality education. Some graduates of the district can't read and write, she said.

"Looking at the children's scores . . . the teachers . . . what's going on in the classrooms?" she said of important issues.

Many of the district's buildings need to be updated, she said.

Orr also said she's a homeowner

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and taxpayer in the district.

"We've got to try and hold down the taxes as best we can," she said.

Sandie Walker could not be reached for comment but did submit information to the York Daily Record online voters' guide.

"The first and foremost issue of our district is the education of our children. At this time as a whole our children are not receiving the education they need to be successful or competitive in an environment outside of the York City School District," Walker wrote for the voters' guide.

Walker said the district over the last 10 years has a dropout rate that fluctuates between 30 and 40 percent.

"I believe that our Municipality and School District need to commit to more aggressive collaboration to provide tax relief . . . it would be my duty and obligation to show citizens that their tax monies are being used to effectively and efficiently educate our children as well as enforcing accountability throughout the School District," she wrote.

Incumbents Beverly Atwater and Barbara Krier could not be reached for comment.

TWO RACES

There are two races for York City School Board, but only one of those is contested.

Full terms

There are five candidates running for four, four-year terms:

  • Beverly Atwater, incumbent, Democrat

  • Gary Calhoun, Democrat

  • Margie Orr, a board appointee who is trying for election to a full term, Democrat

  • Sandie Walker, Democrat

  • Barbara Krier, incumbent, will appear on the Republican ballot. She is the only candidate who cross-filed for the primary.

    Unexpired terms

    There are two candidates for two, two-year unexpired terms to replace Hiawatha Powell and Elmira Sexton.

  • Tom Foust, Democrat, school board vice president who lost his re-election bid in the primary but was appointed to the ballot for an unexpired term.

  • Julio Aguayo, Democrat, also appointed to the ballot