001Good evening everyone and welcome to the 28th annual Student Union's Board of Education Candidates Forum. My name is Miriam Holloway and I am the 2020-25-2026 President of the Lancaster High School Student Union. In front of me is Jelani Kachove, the Student Union President-Elect for the 2026-2027 school year. Jelani will be serving as a timekeeper for tonight's question and answer session. The purpose of tonight's program is to allow for each candidate running for trustee of the Lancaster High School District Board of Education the opportunity to express his or her personal opinion in response to questions that will be asked by members sitting here tonight. We will offer a question and answer period where anyone from the audience can come up and ask a question that will be answered by the candidates running. The reference is running
002for three positions on the Lancaster Board of Education. Board members are elected. Board members are elected at large and will serve a three-year term from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029. I will now introduce each candidate and read a short biography that they have prepared. Will each candidate please stand as I introduce you and then we will begin the question and answer session. Our first candidate is John Salarico. He served the community as a member of the Lancaster Board of Education. As a Lancaster parent, he has embraced every opportunity to be present and engaged. From volunteering at PTO events. To cheering on students at concerts, performances, and school presentations. Witnessing the district's programs in action at the ground level has only deepened his commitment to the community he serves. With a background as a
003local business owner, Mr. Salarico brings a practical understanding of organizational leadership, fiscal responsibility, and decision-making to the board table. Throughout his tenure he has applied this expertise to the district's planning and budgeting processes, and has served in key roles including the healthcare committee, audit committee, and school district. and has served in key roles including the healthcare committee, audit committee, and school district. and has served in key roles including the healthcare committee, audit committee, and school district. safety committee as well as holding holding delegate rights with the new york state school boards association he most recently stepped into the role of board president a position that has expanded his understanding of school administration and reinforced his passion for meaningful collaborative leadership mr zellerico is seeking re-election to build on the progress lancaster has made and to
004keep the district moving forward from landmark capital projects that united the community to preserving and growing outstanding educational artistic and athletic programs that lancaster families count on he remains focused on the work ahead at home mr zellerico has been married for 15 years to his wife jennifer a dedicated educator who was taught in the buffalo public school system and now serves as a professional development specialist at boces together they are proud parents of the daughter currently in fifth grade at william street school having a child in the district gives mr zellerico a personal investment in lancaster success and a first-hand perspective on the hopes and concerns of local families he takes great pride in the relationships he has built with students parents and staff he remains committed to being an accessible engaged and forward-thinking leader
005for the lancaster community thank you mr tellerico our next candidate is katie piro my name is katie piro and i am honored to be a candidate for the lancaster school board i'm a proud to pew wildcat now raising the next generation of lancaster legends my husband john is a trained engineer for css and we have three sons in the lancaster central school district dominic is a fourth-grader andして is a senior student of the school board in the administration of the school board this is the fourth-grader in the school board and she is a fourth grader at William Street, Ben is in a self-contained third grade classroom at Scholle Elementary, and Sam is a kindergartner at Hillview Elementary. As a parent of a child with special needs, I have firsthand experience navigating the school system, advocating
006for services, working closely with educators to ensure my child is supported and able to thrive. I understand the importance of individualized support, clear communication, and strong collaboration between families and schools. I have participated in important conversations, celebrated meaningful progress, and worked through challenges alongside dedicated educators, strengthening my commitment to ensuring every child is seen, supported, and able to reach their full potential. Professionally, I serve as a senior development manager within the American Cancer Society, where I focus on community engagement, relationship building, and fundraising. I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Political Science from the University of Buffalo, and bring more than 20 years of experience in non-profit and healthcare-related organizations. I have been actively involved in the Hillview PTO for the past five years, and currently serve as a district PTO representative, helping
007lead events and initiatives that support students and teachers. I am a schools and now serve as a professional development specialist at BOCES. I am a firm believer that it truly takes a village. The teachers and mentors in my own life help shape who I am, and I see that same impact every day in the lives of my children. If elected, I will focus on listening, working collaboratively, and ensuring every child and family has the services and opportunities needed to succeed. It would be an honor to serve the community and our schools. Thank you, Mrs. Piro. Our final candidate is Timothy Talbot. Mr. Timothy Talbot resides in Lancaster with his wife, Janie, an alumnae, and his son, Oliver, who is eight years old, and his daughter, Eleanor, who is five years old. Oliver is currently attending
008second grade, and Eleanor is attending kindergarten. Tim is excited to continue his involvement in the Lancaster School District, and believes that investment in knowledge provides the best interest. Tim Talbot runs a financial planning practice called Attain Wealth Planning with a team of five. In his work, he helps individuals and families plan for their financial futures and navigate important life decisions with confidence. Mr. Talbot's main goal with joining the Lancaster School Board is to support the Lancaster Central School District and provide each student with the best opportunity and with the tools that allow them to succeed. He plans on continuing to do this by collaborating with the board and the administration in order to make sound and educated decisions on what is best for the district, community, and students. Timothy Talbot holds a degree in business
009administration and maintains multiple professional licenses in the finance industry. Tim enjoys watching, spending his free time with his family, playing sports, and watching the Bills and Savers. He is also involved with WNY Make-A-Wish, who is active in providing help to those in need. Mr. Talbot is currently in his third year serving on the Lancaster School Board and serves as vice president. He believes that his background in finance and planning will continue to be an asset to the Lancaster School Board. Thank you, Mr. Talbot. We will now begin our questions and answers session. We will proceed as follows. If anybody would like to ask a question tonight, we ask you to please come up to the front where you will state your name, address, and your question. I will then repeat your question, and please remain
010standing as the candidates will answer those questions. Nobody has got anything to say? Come on. I know some of you guys have questions that you're too shy to ask. If nobody has any more questions, I will proceed to the prepared questions. Question one is, what experiences do you remember from your K-12 education? How will these experiences affect your performance on the Board of Education? The question answer order for number one is Mr. Chalarico will go first, Mrs. Piroga will go second, and Mr. Talbot will go third. The question again is, what experiences do you remember from your K-12 education? How will these experiences affect your performance on the Board of Education? K-12 education, I think a lot of people remember back to a lot of the things you got involved with. So different clubs and
011communities and people that you find, wind up finding in the future. I'm a product of public schools. I went to Maryvale, and you know, a lot of the good times that I remember were from joining the music program. I was happy to involve in music, do different sports. And those type of club activities really shaped the person that I am. They taught me how to work within a team. They taught me how to be a leader in different ways. They taught me what a leader is and what a leader isn't. And that's brought me throughout my entire life. I think in general, when it comes to education, the way that we're familiar with, whether it be teachers or friends when we're growing up, really made the lasting impact. And those are the things that I
012remember throughout my entire K-12 education. Thank you. Mrs. Pirro? I remember most from K-12 days, years that supported me over the years, and the friends and the experiences. And I think this progression, this is kind of a continuation of my life, is being a couple of adults through government and my dad, and supporting the school and making things happen and organizing things. And so once you become a mom, you kind of get siloed into forgetting about all those extra curricular things you can do. And so this opening just kind of helps to fill a void in terms of service and what can I do to help the teachers more, what can I do to help our district more, what can I do to help all the kids more. So anything that I impart, you know,
013can help in any way that's my main goal. And so I was a youth artist through K-12, and I just want to continue that. Thank you. Mr. Talbot? So I'm – excuse me. I just got – I'm trying to put my things together. I just got Invisalign, so I'm slurring a little bit. That's why. But I feel lonely. I live in a small town called Attica with actually Mr. Kandel, who was my – I didn't even come back when I was in high school. It's just kind of crazy to think about that. But for me, it's just, you know, thinking back, it's much different than life after obviously being here three years now, seeing my second grader and not my kindergartner, and seeing what they're going through. Obviously brings a lot of knowledge back for
014me. Big things I think about is the support I received from a lot of the teachers, the friendships that made it along the way, and kind of discovering who I was as a person. I feel like a lot of that happens throughout the course of the year. You have an idea of what you want to do, and life has a way of telling you maybe that's not being taught. I think I wanted to be a DJ. You know, the fact that you're not doing anything. But the point of this all is it's kind of surreal being on the other side of it now, being in the district and then seeing my second kindergartner be supported in the way that they get supported by their teachers. And it really gets me emotional to see my son
015at home from school. And just they love it. You know, and that's – it says a lot about the district. Because that's how I felt when I went to school. You know, I'm pretty positive. I joke around a little bit. But I also listen. And listening to my kids talk about their day and hearing kind of the experience they had, I'm happy. And having that in the past and hearing their just, you know, it's awesome. So – but for the long and for short, it's – it kind of gives me an idea of what to look for in moving forward. And, you know, pretty happy about what way I experienced and the more I've experienced it, so probably my kids. So. Thank you, Mr. Talbot. Question number two. In your estimation, what is the biggest
016challenge that faces the Lancaster School District? If elected, how do you plan to solve this challenge? The question answer order for question number two is Mrs. Peel, Mr. Peel is number one, Mr. Talbot, and then Mr. Tariko. The question again is, in your estimation, what is the biggest challenge that faces the Lancaster School District? If elected, how do you plan to solve this challenge? I think one of the biggest challenges for I think probably many districts is evolving landscape and new needs for kids and more families moving in. People who are speaking a different language. And so all the adjustments we're making, more specialized needs. All that is in some of the areas that we're constantly reevaluating while we're doing it. How we're doing it. How do we support the school? How many social workers?
017More specialized teachers? So I think it's constantly refining and being efficient and figuring out the best way, but supporting the teachers in all of that. And I think it's a huge challenge and part of what I would do. Remember last week, special education with the EPA came to our attention. And Jordan Brimmer said that everybody wants to live in a village. Everybody really wants to be a villager. Very few people. And so I think the more we can make the community involved and a part of the district and bring everyone in to feel that, that's when people succeed. That's when kids succeed. That's when people feel heard and supported. And so whatever I can do to help that, bridge that with the community. Thank you, Mrs. Barrow. Mr. Talbot? I'd obviously echo a lot of
018what she said and I think in addition to that, I think it's important to think about the way the economy is nowadays. We have rising expenses. We have a different environment for a lot of children that go to school and I think mental health in my opinion is a challenge that we're facing now because you can't escape anymore. When I was in school, a lot of you, you could go home and shut it off. That doesn't work the same way anymore. You go home and there's a lot of benefits to it. There's a lot of challenges that arise from that as well. A big component that I've always talked about is mental health. Sometimes it's not the people that are causing waves or the loudest that have a problem. It's people that are quiet and
019don't want to talk about it. So fostering an environment that makes people comfortable on a regular basis is really important. So I think kind of those two in tandem of adapting to the different environment, you know, as far as everyday life with expenses and things like that, but also to kind of bring the focus on mental health to these kids too. Thank you, Mr. Talbot. Mr. Talbiko? I think when it comes to, like, the financial health, the things that I think about that kind of keep me up at night is just as a community, the biggest danger that I see is just ignoring the noise. And when I say that, it's very easy to get caught up in things that are happening nationally and wherever else and focusing on what is impacting us here in
020Lancaster. It's easy to get carried away by whatever news story is happening today and, you know, get angry about it or whatever else. But looking inward to our district and seeing what we can do to help our students out there. And I think we're going to have to have a lot of people that are here dealing with the real world problems instead of getting caught up in things that may or may not even be happening in our community. So, you know, again, over the last couple of years, I kind of echo what Katie and Tim have said. You know, we have required more social workers. We put a bigger impact on mental health and making sure that kids get the necessities, the necessary things that they need. If they're having issues, there's always somebody to
021talk to across that adult floor, somebody to go professional with. But I think it's really important that in general, Lancaster should continue to do the things that have gotten it to become a destination district, which is focusing on education first and the guiding principle of what's good for kids. So what's good for the teachers to help our children continue to get better as they eventually leave and get ready for life after Lancaster. Thank you, Mr. Chalarico. Question number three is, what is your stance on mental health awareness in Lancaster and how would you take extra steps to improve the social and emotional education for Lancaster students? The question answer order for question number three is Mr. Talbot goes first, Mr. Chalarico goes second, and Mrs. Pirro goes third. Question number three again is what is
022your stance on mental health awareness in Lancaster and how would you take extra steps to improve the social and emotional education for Lancaster students? I just feel like talking about this. So I kind of echo a lot of what John said as well. I think Lancaster does a great job of giving people the tools and a lot of resources if someone ever is in that position. And I'll get kind of one step further and, you know, just kind of pushing parents and family members just to kind of have the conversations that aren't always the easiest. You know, someone knows me and knows my mentality. Sometimes the hard conversations aren't ones you want to have, but it's important to have them instead of letting them sit and boil faster because that's what a lot of people
023want to do. And that's what I think a lot of the mental health side that, you know, I myself have really been and just seeing a lot of what Lancaster's starting to do. I think that's what I've done in the past three years for individuals that were struggling or students. It's, they do a good job, but you can always do more. You know, just because you're doing a good job now is when you can improve on it. And I think just always thinking about what you can do, you know, never, never is anyone. Thank you, Mr. Souther. Mr. Salarico? I feel like I expressed a lot of this, but one thing I just, I think about when it comes to mental health is when I was in school, I sound like a very old person,
024but. When I was in school, bullying kind of stopped at 3 o'clock for the most part, right? So you could, if you were having trouble with another kid and you got on the bus, you went home, the bullying or the issues you were having, the social emotional issues you were having kind of stopped until the next day. Now with the way that everybody gets a cell phone younger, they're connected all the time, issues, interpersonal issues, things of that nature, they don't really stop and they can go to 1-4-7. But the push in my, my push is that I want more access, more ways for kids to get access to get help if they need it, if they're having trouble dealing with, you know, some relationship at school, if there is somebody who's bullying them, if
025they're just having trouble at home, you know, maybe it's the opposite. Maybe they're having trouble at home and when they come to school, that needs to be their space where they have trusted adults that they can speak to, get help. And so, we're trying to learn different ways and different strategies to deal with those type of things. So again, like I said in my previous answer, we've done a pretty good job of hiring additional social workers and things of that nature to make sure that students do get the mental health, the mental health help that they need, you know, if they need it. Thank you, Mr. Talgico. Mrs. Keevan? I'm a firm believer in mental health counseling and doing whatever it takes to get the best out of the student. I think that's a really
026important thing. I think that's a really important thing. I think that's a really important thing. I think that's a really important thing. Doing whatever you can, as a parent, to support your child. And even if that doesn't line up with how you thought being a mom would be, you know, I have two of my three sons go to mental health counseling, and for no other reason that I've tried to raise men who are emotionally intelligent and well-rounded. And that comes from home, but I also have gotten so much support in school. I have Mrs. Korgic call me, give me 15 minutes of her time just to kind of run down the different things. can do there is nobody with more steps than mrs fulgham she is up and down the hall all day helping all
027these kids and it's so important and just recognizing it and the teachers are usually the first to recognize it it's not recognized at home and so just continuing that to educate the kids to attribute the teachings and what to look for and all the different things the more we know about it the more we learn about brain and how it works and everything it's just it's so idling and i think if you don't have to think about it all the time then it's something you don't think about but you know as a mom i don't nobody knows what they're doing when they become a mom so you just figure it out and so if i could have somebody tell me you know like you should maybe say it this way or this is how he's
028feeling and they can give up that's all it means really and so to make you feel more safe at school and like this is their community you know whatever we can do to provide for that and we support it but i think lake s is doing a decent job so far thank you mrs pierrot question number four is there a particular issue that motivates you to serve on the board of education the question answer order for question number four is mr torico then mrs pierrot then mr talbot question number four again is is there a particular issue that motivates you to serve on the board of education thanks for the question i wouldn't say that there's a specific issue that can either run again or anything like what i would say is what kind of
029drives me to continue to serve on board is to continue the work that we've done in the district to give these these kids the the best access to the best education uh the best athletics and you know prepare them for life after they leave um when i look around at all the things that are offered here it's very impressive the different college level courses the different clubs and different mps and we don't do that without not only having strong school districts but having great teachers great teachers that understand that they kind of take these kids they take these kids in their in their arms every single day for years and make sure that they get the best education possible when it's not always easy especially these days it's not easy to be an educator you're
030expected to be our coach our teacher our counselor so just in general i i come into my job on the board and try to make things as easy as possible what can we say yes to what can we do to make it easier for kids to get a good education um and to have the access that you know i may not have had at the school that i went to or a lot of us uh didn't have that one too much so i think that's a good thing thank you mrs bureau our motivation for wanting to join the board i'm just really enthusiastic about what can i do to get service to the district and so officially when i got involved with the teal i was just looking for something to get me out of
031covid really um and something that i could do that was my interest but um what really drives me now is making sure that the kids have the best experience in elementary school at william street and so if it means you know dressing up as cat and cat or surprising them with a sunday party like all those little things are things that are poor memories for them and they're remembered and it makes their them feel happy and part of something and so whatever i can do in the schools i'm in to kind of make that the field and make that vibe the culture of the school i've been spending hours doing it um so that's kind of where the i could do things here maybe but um i'm just so happy to do whatever i can
032to support the teachers and the admins and everybody and just make it really really special thank you mrs hero mr so for this year no but three years ago obviously there was my my kids were finally going to the district and being somewhat new to lancaster i live here but you know never really had to go to lancaster so it was my kind of way of being involved and learning more about the district and you know when i when i was in a school we didn't just you know it's a small town being after the things that lancaster had to offer after being here for three years it's amazing the teachers my kids have had people like that the things that i've been able to help with have been you know amazing it really has
033been and you know it wasn't always the easiest three years there's a lot of hard things that happen and you gotta handle and deal with as being a board member and that's part of the job but you know kudos everyone's running up here it's uh it's you're doing it for particularly good reasons and that's what i want to see you learn by kids of solar district that one makes for the district continues to grow and pieces are growing and continue to be a destination district for kids and i really want to continue to see that through thank you mr question five listen explain three reasons why you're running as a candidate for the board of education the question answer order for question number five is mrs bureau and mr talbot and this is marika question
034number five again is listen explain three reasons why you're running as a candidate for the board of education one of the major reasons and i mean moms all the dialogue that has a parent old schools new schools teachers everybody involved therapists social workers and i see the support that i'm getting and i i know that i'm hoping that everybody gets that but that if you're not that part of the solution is to communicate to make the phone call to send an email asking what i realized is that everything's on the same team and so how somebody's thinking is completely screwed by what their job is what their title is what their experiences was growing up and so whatever we can do to kind of bring everybody together and we were so that was a huge
035you know using for funding um another one is like i said i love community i love school community i loved school growing up um and i hope that you know i'm raising kids that young and i hope that you know i'm raising kids that young and i hope that you know i'm raising kids that young and i hope that you know i'm raising kids that young and i hope we if they want to go and they're happy to see their friends they want experience and so part of being in the communities is going to get going to the events volunteering for làm voluntary for event volunteering for that and so being part of the community means some better activities to realize that life seeing things enjoyed and learning and being excited about different things so
036whatever i think we make that happen more more and whatever supports what i do and see how you you know so if we make community barrier programs that other people also make sure that you know that they express love that ever happening then we will continue to доллар it that style pandemic when we get out of school if corinna i can do toward teachers we are always trying to go to to say yes to everything we can budget-wise and provide whatever we can do so if i can do that more then that would be great thank you mrs bureau mr so like i said before obviously obviously running obviously kids in the districts that's a big one for me um just being involved and continuing to make sure that every child in the district has
037a good experience and that's a very positive environment um like i said before i'm a very positive person i feel like you choose to be positive and you know the glass isn't always half empty it can be half full or whatever way you want to put it that makes you feel a little better and second big reason is i found the work for three years there's a lot of stuff that we've been working on and i feel like we there's a good projector and we want to kind of keep that going and then lastly you know i really do feel like i'm a good listener if we talk i try to listen to everyone it doesn't matter what your opinion is how you feel how everyone can feel valued and feel like your opinion counts
038and i try to kind of go that keep that same mentality and everything that i do you know even if we have different opinions or feel something a different way there's some common ground you know we can agree to disagree sometimes and move forward and that's fairly important so thank you mr talbot mr taylor i think first and foremost i'm a i'm a dad in the district and my daughter is going to middle school next year and she's excited and i've seen all the teachers and i've seen all the things that she's done in the last six years and she's really kind of coming to her own as a little person as a little adult being you know and that comes from the community of people that a couple of different teachers she's had so
039first and foremost you know again i'm dead in the district that's my number one reason it's initially my daughter's experience with overwhelming the positive and i think that's the same experience for the rest of the kids you know i talk often in my own family with my daughter about having a servant's heart so you want to serve other people in the community and come back to the temple so i want to continue the good work that we're all waiting to do and the trajectory we're on is pretty excellent ignore my estimation we can always be tired of all these things that come back but for the most part i believe the district is heading in the right direction and not providing for the student and lastly take the bags off you know kind of my
040why is to make sure that students in the district always have the ability to find their people find their niche find their people because those relationships build character and build you into the adult that you intentionally become thank you thank you as we reach the halfway point of the uh pre-prepared questions i would like to open the floor again to any questions from the audience if anyone would like to come down and ask a question i want to see some teachers in the back a little pity on us don't make a big on you i tried question number six do you support the proposed 2026-2027 school budget please explain your answer the question answer order for question number six is mr talbot goes first mr taylorico goes second and mr spiro goes second mr taylorico
041goes second mr taylorico goes second mr taylorico goes second mr spiro goes third question six again is do you support the proposed 2026 2027 school budget please explain your music yes i i do support it obviously we've sat through like three months of budget you know going through what we're doing how it's working and you know it's uh it's kind of one of those things where a lot of the hard work happens behind the scenes you know there's there's a lot of networking pieces a lot of special education pieces for an ever changing environment that constantly requires you to adapt and change And a lot of that work into what we do on a regular basis and how stuff happens. Obviously, there's a lot of pieces that involve teachers and things like that on a
042regular basis out of there. So obviously, other things too, improvement projects, things like that that are happening on a regular basis that you see every day. And a lot of the work that we've put into the budget even, because I've been on board for the past three years, there's a lot of, I feel like they say when I first joined the board, I was working proactively, not reactively. And I think that's a lot of what this board has done is they've tried to improve and always looking ahead to pull their growth backwards. Anything else you wanted? Mr. Tarito? I do support the budget a lot. A lot of the things that Kim said. It is a well put together budget. It maintains the programs that the kids are used to and the staffing levels. And
043it funds the school district and all the additional programs that the community needs to have. So I think that's a lot of what we've done. And I think that the community needs to come to its back from the school. And obviously it's one of the reasons that a lot of people move here to get their kids to go to Manchester. So we support the budget and I do hope the community will come around the last few days and vote yes for it. Thank you. Mr. Tarito. Mrs. Carillo? I do support the budget. I believe in everybody who's worked towards this year with the budget. I think that if it continues to put the students first and staff and teachers. in the circle, figuring it all out together. I think that perhaps you're just realizing that
044we're all working toward it together. Figuring it out. I'm going to leave you with it. I think that if everybody keeps their children at the center, what can we do for them? Thank you, Mrs. Green. Question number seven. What concrete steps or experience would you bring to the Board of Education in order to better the communication between the school district and the community? The question answer order for question number seven is Mr. Chilirico, then Mrs. Puro, then Mr. Tulloch. Question number seven, again, is what concrete steps or experience will you bring to the Board of Education in order to better the communication between the school district and the community? I think from going to the community to do whatever you want to do or anything else that's very out there in the community and very
045accessible by volunteers for schools pretty often, I like to, if I can, invite new things from different teachers or anything that I do like to show up and show my support. I'm always there if somebody has a question. But I think that available and personal and visible to the community is what I'm going to continue to do and continue to enroll around the school board. Thank you, Mr. Chilirico. Mrs. Puro. The question is, question number seven, is what concrete steps or experience, will you bring to the Board of Education in order to better the communication between the school district and the community? Professionally, that is part of my job, is for the teacher to know that you're communicating with people and rallying people and getting them to support your cause and your journey. And so
046I think that lends itself really nicely to being on the board, that, you know, everyone's coming together. And I think sometimes when there is miscommunication and misinterpretation, as a board or as an administration, the thing is, most people just want to be heard and understood. And so if you just take a step back and hear everything they're saying, you realize that you're all not the same thing, too. So I think taking those steps in terms of being listening with open ears and being, you know, supportive and sympathetic to everybody's situation is the best way to go about it. And then communicating clearly and consistently. And that's how, you know, we try to do that. Even as a small PTO, all the kids know what we're doing. They know where the money is being spent. That
047we're transparent about everything. Everything comes from the meeting. If we want to, we can ask anything. And so that's, you know, that's just how you learn. We want people to feel invested. Thank you, Mrs. Farrell. Mr. Talbot? So for me, the big thing that I would say is, obviously, the way I kind of think about myself, in general, is to always be moving. I'm not the kind of person that wants to stay stagnant. And I would say there's one concrete thing that would make me be the best candidate. But what I will tell you is I will always be trying my best to do better than I did the day before. And I like to have that mentality that I would think, you know, you should always be looking to do better. And I feel
048like even as a school board, we've been doing that for the past three years. We're always been looking to do better. And, you know, even in this past three years, I... I own a business. And just building a business and listening to different people and different mindsets that, you know, everyone's different. That wouldn't have something else that motivates them that doesn't motivate someone else. And it's about finding what works for someone may not work for you. And that's okay. So that would be, I'd say, the biggest thing for me. Thank you, Mrs. Talbot. Question number eight. Do you support the push for students to actively take part in AP classes at an earlier age? Please explain. The question answer order for question number eight is Mrs. Piero, then Mr. Talbot. Then Mr. Talbot. Question number
049eight again is, do you support the push for students to actively take part in AP classes at an earlier age? Please explain. Supported for some children, obviously, and some not. And I think that that's up to the discretion of the teachers, the guidance counselors, the kids, and the parents. And so as long as the opportunities are there for the kids who are ready to be given courses and understand it, and... feel like they're going to succeed, then they should absolutely have that opportunity. But realizing that not everybody learns the same way or performs the same way, that they're not feeling like they're less than. And so just making it as equitable as you can make it. That's not pushing. Just realizing where kids are and making sure that there is open communication between all the
050parties on what's expected, what isn't expected. You know, is this really the right choice for money? Is this really the right choice for the best practice? Is this really the right choice for the parent? And so for me, I think that's really important. Because sometimes, you know, high schoolers don't want to listen to their mom when they say, you know, you shouldn't take that. So, like, any input from teachers or guidance counselors has always, you know, helps the situation. But I'm fully in support of that when it's necessary and the child is ready for it. Thank you, Mrs. Pero. Mr. Talbot? Yes to that. I think a big thing that one guesser does is they give you a lot of tools to really help you deal with that. And I think that's going to be
051a huge benefit for your kids. tools to succeed and making a lot of these AP courses accessible and kind of almost expected in some way that if you're ready it's there for you and i think a lot of them talk about they're preparing students for a white doctor lancaster and if you can get them as ready as you can uh you know to go to the next step they're always going to better off for that so thank you mr talbot mr talley i like the fact that there's an opportunity to take the courses um further um again i'll kind of echo what katie said in the fact that if the student wants it and they are teachers agree that they are ready to do so the opportunity should be there so i appreciate that there
052is an opportunity to take some ap courses earlier um then you know i i may have had the opportunity to do so so um i do like the fact that ap courses are available again it's uh it's a decision based on the student and whether or not they are ready to do so again i do like the fact that the opportunity is there is that student can handle it thank you mr salguito as we conclude with the prepared questions i'd like to open the floor for the final time to anyone who would like to come up and submit any questions to be answered this is like a stampede everyone's ready to come submit some questions come on you guys i know you have some thoughts about what was said today participation grades are going down
053all right with that thank you to everyone for listening to the prepared question answer periods at this time we'll begin to close our form with each candidate having a one-minute closing statement we'll begin with mr salarico first of all thank you so much for doing this you did a wonderful job thank you for trying to get the audience involved and it's appreciated um i'll say just thank you everybody for being here i appreciate that the teachers came i appreciate the members of the community came it's nice to see people take an active role in seeing what's going on with uh school and coming to meet us if you haven't really got a lot of time to talk to us in johnny i hope that the community comes out and supports the three of us on
054election day i hope that the community sees the merits of this budget and sees that it continues to do the great work that we've been working so hard on over the last couple of years and i i look forward to continuing to be a small part of what makes lancaster great so i hope everybody comes out again on election day thank you very much thank you mr talerico and next we have mrs pierrot i just wanted to say thank you to everybody um this is you know not that you just think of us well miss america but um this was really nice and if i can express that you know the children are always first and you know in everyone's home the kids are you know obviously first and so i think lancaster does really
055the job at always thinking about this kids and the students and everybody first and whatever I can be part of that and help you know make a change in the future because everything changes so much every day um but I have seen so many great educators and administrators in my five short years here that um you know they inspire me to to care more and to you know Miss Cindy she did an art session last week like she was a pro and she is a pro but like giving that of her time was like amazing and the kids thought it was so cool and there are so many great things that go on in our schools and I think sharing that information with the community just brings them in even more even if they don't
056have school so anything I can do to be part of that and just make it the best experience and raise successful human beings that's all thank you Mrs. Pirro and finally we have Mr. Talbot all right obviously I'm gonna echo what a lot of uh kind of said here I just want to say thank you to everyone not even just for today just the past three years has been a lot of names and I have some that still talk to keep them all trapped but throughout the past three years I've met a ton of great people great teachers um you know great fellow candidates and uh fellow board members and it's just been really honored to spend the last three years and I really spent the past I don't know three months deciding if I
057did want to run here because you know it wasn't the easiest at times but I really do feel like sometimes you make a difference and I think that's what I've learned from the work towards that and I think plus this really my one and one-in-a-half year little bit is kind of the way that life is because of this virtual experience and it has been a great experience in terms of finding those great tutors and especially in kids I want to thank just as far as being a part of this event as my time is attached to it that's the project for that I really do enjoy it so I appreciate everyone for taking my time to come out um I wanted to go up and ask myself a question if I could I would have
058just so you know I don't know if I could have done or not but um but that means that you know um I really appreciate it and obviously hope to see you all at the bucket vote and hopefully yes to support the children and the district and and all that stuff so oh thank you thank you Mr Slovud Thanks you on behalf of the Lancaster High School High School Student Union, I would like to thank the candidates and the attendees for their interest in our schools and their future. Our hope is that this evening's forum was informative and helpful. Good luck to all the candidates, and please remember to vote on Tuesday, May 19th, right here at the Lancaster High School Java Gym from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. This concludes our program. The Board
059of Education meeting will begin momentarily. Thank you all for your attendance.