Six seek Northgate board seats

By JOHN DOANESix candidates are seeking both parties' nominations for five Northgate School Board seatsThere are four four-year seats available on the board, as well as one two-year seat.Two incumbents, Shirl Reinhart and Charles Miklos, will run, along with former member Lorinda Hayes, Gary Paladin, Anthony Barbarino and Marita Bartholomew. Paladin and Bartholomew have thrown their names into the hat for vacant seats on the board in the past, but have never been selected.Miklos and Barbarino are also running for the two-year seat.A resident of Bellevue for 56 years Miklos has been on the school board for 25 years, during which time he was president three times and served as vice president several times as well."I feel a deep commitment to this school district, its students, staff and communities," he said. He has been on the building and grounds committee during his entire tenure. He is the current buildings and grounds committee chairman, chairperson of the transportation committee, and a member of the food service committee, which he said created the current breakfast program that serves students in the district.His long experience on the board is an asset, Miklos says."Continuity in the position of board member is extremely important in overseeing the important elements that come together in providing education for our students."Miklos and his wife have seven children, six of whom graduated from the district's schools. Five of his grandchildren currently attend Northgate schools.He is a North Catholic graduate, and attended the University of Pittsburgh. He is retired from the Port Authority and currently drives tour buses for Lenzner.Miklos, along with his wife, started the Reading is Fundamental program through the local Kiwanis Club, in which he has been active for over 40 years. They also started the Practical Arts Awards program that recognizes industrial arts students at the middle-senior high school.Incumbent Shirl Reinhart, who is in her third term on the board, says that she enjoys being on the board and believes that she has a good reputation with the students and staff of the district."I have such a good rapport with the faculty and students," she said.Reinhart has lived in the Northgate School District for over 50 years and has been on the board for the last 12. She has two sons -- one graduated from Northgate High School, the other from Bellevue High School. She also has three grandchildren that have gone through the district.She is a graduate of Oliver High School, and is employed by Community College of Allegheny County, where she has worked for more than 22 years. Reinhart was president of the Northgate-Grant Community Center, and a Community Day volunteer. She has held various offices in the PTA, all the way up to the state level. Reinhart also noted that she is involved with the condominium association where she lives on Forest Avenue in Bellevue."I love to be involved," she said.Some of her involvement as a member of the school board has been in the area of fine arts. She chairs each year's Arts Odyssey committee, and worked toward the integration of the arts into Northgate's curriculum, something for which the district was recognized nationally."My reward is seeing what all of the kids can do," Reinhart said.Reinhart said that she disagreed with the board's decision to give superintendent Dr. Reggie Bonfield a 4 percent salary increase. It was a decision that she said she "fought tooth and nail."She would like to be around to help make some of the tough decisions that could face the board in the coming years, such as the selection of a new superintendent that will follow the anticipated retirement of Bonfield, and the possibility of the state-mandated merger of school districts proposed by Governor Ed Rendell.Paladin, a Penn Trafford graduate, went to Grove City College for two years, then obtained a degree in retail management from the Bradford School in Pittsburgh. He moved to the Bellevue area in 1990 to form the Hosanna Church in Brighton Heights, where he continues to serve as pastor.Paladin has owned a small service company, which he said handles various things but mainly deals with window cleaning, since 1981. "I understand what it means to be a business in this area," Paladin said.He and his wife Donna have five sons that have graduated from Northgate, and one daughter who currently is a freshman at the high school.Paladin has been active in the community, as a volunteer with the Bellevue Avalon Baseball Association (BABA), a volunteer Northgate Junior High School football coach, a past PTO president at Bellevue Elementary, and as a member of several Northgate committees. He was on the latest strategic planning committee for Northgate School District, as well as the Act I committee."I believe in the North Boroughs." he said. "I care about the area."The candidate said that his experience could be beneficial to the district. "I feel I have something to offer with my background," Paladin said. Paladin said that one of the biggest issues facing Northgate is economic."Financial issues are the most pressing thing," he said. Paladin said that he wants to be involved in making future financial decisions, which he said are only going to get more difficult with time.Anthony Barbarino, who has lived in the Northgate School District for 14 years, said he is running for school board in order to make sure there are proper "checks and balances."Barbarino graduated from Richland High School and has been the supervisor for Bellevue's public works department since 1997. He has two children, a son in second grade, and a daughter who will start kindergarten at Northgate next year."I care a lot about this community, I live here, I work here. I want my kids to have a good place to go to school. I work with other kids too and want the same for them," Barbarino said.He volunteers for the North Boros Panthers youth football organization, and coaches one of the teams. He also is a T-ball coach for BABA, and is an Avonworth Wrestling coach.Barbarino said that he thinks that the elementary school is doing a good job. "I do like the elementary school a lot. The teachers are doing a great job," he said. Barbarino said that he is, however, concerned with disruptions and falling grades at the high school.He said that there needs to be more discipline within the district, and that Northgate needs to be sure that the students attending school actually live within the district.Marita Bartholomew, who has lived in Bellevue for 17 years, said she also is concerned about outside students."A critical issue, I believe, is that people attending Northgate actually live in the district," she said.Bartholomew has two children attending school in the district, one in sixth and one in eighth grade. She originally is from Waynesburg, and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in communications. She was a meeting planner at Creative Convention Services in Sewickley before becoming a stay-at-home mother.She is a past PTO president at Bellevue Elementary, and is also a coordinator for the sixth grade trip to Washington, DC. Bartholomew was the recipient of the 2008 Friend of Education award, which is based on volunteer service. She is also the drama coordinator at Bellevue Elementary.Bartholomew said that she is not running for the school board with any specific agenda, but would like to help steer the district's future. "I would like to see the district move in a more positive direction," she said.She said that she knows a lot about the district and is ready to serve on the school board. "I feel like I have the knowledge to do it," she said, adding, "I'm fiscally responsible."Lorinda Hayes, who also is running, did not return telephone calls seeking an interview.