Delaware Valley School (Board) Directors

Eight candidates are on the ballot of both parties for the May 17 primary elections, seeking five seats to be elected. Four of these candidates are incumbents seeking re-election. Voters in both Democratic and Republican primaries will be asked to choose five from a list, or write in other choices. The five winning candidates from both primaries will appear on the fall ballot. Taxpayers United candidates for DV board French, Kupillas, Marasa and Scheetz announce for the primary WESTFALL — Three Taxpayers United (TU) candidates last week formally announced their candidacy in the May 17 primary elections. Their statements follow and include: Diane French Diane French has served on the Delaware Valley School Board for the past three and a half years. She is an elementary school teacher in the East Stroudsburg Area School District. French has followed the Taxpayers United motto “higher education, lower taxes.” She is passionate about education and believes that all children can learn to their fullest abilities. French and fellow board members were instrumental in changing the districts’ 10-year-old curriculum and as a result of teachers, administrators and students working together, they have brought about an academic renaissance in the district, and all this was achieved without raising taxes. French, and her TU board colleagues, was also greatly involved in the board’s action to finally get clean healthy drinking water for the students and staff of the Dingman Delaware campus, which had been lacking for too long. This also was done without raising your taxes. French has lived in Pike County for over eighteen years and has a daughter, Kati, who is in her freshman year at the University of Scranton and plans to major in elementary education. French has volunteered her time as past president of the Sunrise Lake Swim Team, youth group leader at St. Vincent’s Church, a participant in Relay for Life, and has volunteered numerous hours tutoring local children. French is member of the Pike County Republican Committee, representing Dingman Township. She is also a member of the Pike County Council of Republican Women. Diane is kindly asking for your support in this upcoming primary election. John Kupillas John Kupillas was elected to the Delaware Valley School Board in the Fall of 2007. John and his wife Patti have been full time residents of Dingman Township since 2002. He is 63 years old and was born and raised in Queens,N.Y. The Kupillas’ have four grown children and four grandchildren. He graduated from Bryant High School and has earned five college credits from Pima College Arizona. He served two years in the US Army, with one year in South Vietnam as a heavy artillerymen. He is also a member of the American Legion. Kupillas retired in 2002 from Verizon after 35 years of service as a communications technician. His duties included coordination and training of other union stewards and contract enforcement with local and upper management. He was instrumental in restoring communications in the Wall Street area following the Sept. 11, 2001 attack. He has served on the Pike County Republican Committee since 2006 and was re-elected in 2010, representing Dingman Township. Kupillas has served on the Delaware Valley School Board for the past three and a half years, and as a proud member of Taxpayers United for eight years. He believes that education is a high priority and is vital to America’s future. But he has proved that a quality education can be affordable. He was the chairman of the Long Range Planning Committee for two years and was instrumental in completing the Water Project at the Ding Del Campus. Presently, he serves on the Facilities Committee and chairs the Hearing Expulsion Committee. As an incumbent, John is running for a second term. Higher Education and Lower Taxes is John’s motto, and has become the motto and goal of Taxpayers United. John Kupillas is asking your support in the May 17 primary election. Benny Marasa Benny Marasa has announced his candidacy for the Delaware Valley School Board. Benny is married to Marie Marasa and they have thirteen grandchildren, three of whom attend school in the DV school district. Benny has strong ties in the community: he is a member of the Knights of Columbus, People Helping People, St Patrick’s Choir, Friends of the Library, The Milford Garden Club, and is a member of the Local Chapter of the AARP and is Vice President of the Hickory Hills Homeowners Association. He volunteers help for the Ecumenical Food Pantry and the Tri-State Pregnancy Center. Before his retirement from Con Ed, Marasa handled multi-million dollar budgets involving maintenance, safety and security along with space allocation design and construction and vendor contracts. He is also an efficiency expert who helped eliminate wasteful spending and cross-trained employees to do multiple jobs. Marasa is a strong fiscal conservative and has been a long time member of Taxpayers United. Marasa is very pleased with progress that Taxpayers United school board directors have accomplished thus far without raising taxes, and would like to bring his expertise to the table in order to serve the taxpayers and students of the DV school district. He is in full agreement that a great things can be accomplished for the district without overburdening the taxpayer. Marasa, like the other TUA school board members, believes that this is only the beginning of a great academic surge that the district is experiencing and that together with French, Kupillas and Dr. Scheetz, teachers, administrators and students, there is no limit to what the Delaware Valley School District can achieve. Benny respectfully asks for your vote and support in the upcoming primary election. Jeffrey Scheetz Jeffrey Scheetz, Ed.D. has announced his candidacy for the DV School Board. Dr.Scheetz has devoted his professional life to the education of our children and welcomes the opportunity to serve the children and citizens of the DV School district. He has been an educator for over 41 years. During that time he has held the following positions: teacher, head coach of two sports, supervisor, vice principal, high school principal and assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. He is currently a tenured assistant professor in the professional and secondary education department of East Stroudsburg University. Scheetz brings a level of experience and knowledge as a result of his duties. He has received a B.A. and M.A. from Montclair State University and his Educational Doctorate from Fordham University. In addition to his educational background, he is a member of the Marine Corps League’s “Gung Ho” detachment and serves as Treasurer of the Dingmans Ferry Lions Club. He is looking forward to putting his knowledge and expertise to good use for the children and taxpayers of the DV School District. He respectfully asks for your support for himself and his Taxpayers United running mates.