The North Penn High School (NPHS) Auditorium will be the scene of a Town Hall “Q and A” for the North Penn School District (NPSD) Board of School Directors candidates in the upcoming November election to discuss issues in the community and schools on Wednesday, October 16 at 7:00 pm.
Twelve school board candidates vying for six open seats in the November 5 election will have a chance to share their views with the community at the Town Hall Debate. The staff of The Knight Crier, NPHS’ student-run newspaper, will serve as debate moderators in a Q and A format that is expected to last about 90 minutes.
The Town Hall will be completely student-run. Staff members from The Knight Crier will act as moderators, timekeepers, narrators, organizers, publishers and coordinators.
The format of the Town Hall will be a question and answer session. A staff member from The Knight Crier will provide a brief summary of the topic to give the audience background on the issue in the North Penn area. Questions submitted by community members and generated by The Knight Crier staff will then be asked. Topics of discussion will include Budgetary Philosophy; Facilities and Renovations; School Environment; Class Size; and Diversity. Following the initial question and answer, the moderators will monitor a brief discussion.
The Town Hall Debate is open to all members of the North Penn Community of all ages. Doors open at 6:30 pm and the Town Hall begins promptly at 7:00 pm in the NPHS Auditorium. The event will be similar in scope and structure to the 2017 board candidates Town Hall.
“I think it’s important to hold an event like this because in this political climate, I think it’s easy for students to feel disheartened and powerless, and they feel they can’t affect any of the issues they hear about in the news,” Knight Crier editor Alexis Bamford said.
With a current school board breakdown of seven registered Democrats and two registered Republicans, the six seats up for election can certainly affect that balance. Locally, many elections in recent years have seen changes in political party leadership. The school board election is a rare local election in which all residents of the entire NPSD have a say on each candidate.
“When you think about a citizen’s ability to make meaningful change it’s not always going to be at the highest level of government, it’s going to be at the local level,” Bamford explained. “Local officials are our most direct connection to government. This is an opportunity for you to be heard; your voice matters, and these officials care what you have to say.”
Candidates from both the North Penn VIEWS and North Penn Neighbors for Progress parties will all be attending, including Daniel Bell, Jennifer Breen, Karen Calvanese, David Kresge, Michelle Rupp, Ned Smith, Elisha Gee, Wanda Lewis-Campbell, Timothy MacBain, Juliane Ramic, Al Roesch, and Cathy Wesley.
Community question submissions are encouraged, but must be submitted ahead of time by emailing the question, along with your name and town to [email protected] by 4:00 pm on Wednesday, October 16.
For those unable to attend, the Town Hall will be live broadcast on North Penn Television (NPTV) on local Comcast Channel 28 and Verizon Channel 29 and live streamed at www.northpennnews.org.
For more information about the North Penn School Board Town Hall Candidate Debate, please contact The Knight Crier staff at [email protected].