NEW CUMBERLAND, W.Va.-The race for Hancock County school board features a longtime incumbent, a former educator, a bank executive, a former transportation director and a mother with a background in computer science.

Five people are running for two seats on the May 10 nonpartisan ballot, including board President Jerry Durante, Terry McAtee, Caroll Rosenlieb, Tim Reinard and Gabriela “Gabby” Fighiroae.

The top two vote-getters will win, as long as there are no more than two board members in any magisterial district-Grant, Clay and Butler. School board members assume office on July 1, the start of the fiscal year, and serve for four years.

The race comes at a time of declining enrollment, tighter budgets but better test scores for Hancock County Schools.

Jerry Durante

Durante, of New Cumberland, is running on his record, including two tenures on the school board-1974-1986 and 2006-present.

“I feel that it has been an honor to serve the community and students of Hancock County, and if re-elected, I will continue to strive for educational excellence,” he said.

Retired from Weirton Steel, Durante has also been a teacher, athletic director, school business manager and transportation director for Hancock County Schools. In 2010, he was appointed to the executive committee of the West Virginia School Board Association.

During his terms on the school board, Durante was instrumental in securing funding for the construction of the John D. Rockefeller IV Career Center and, more recently, funding for $37 million in capital improvements, including the construction of Weirton Elementary School.

“I am very interested in seeing the current building and renovations brought to successful completion, providing for some of the best school and athletic facilities in the state,” he said.

Durante also stressed the importance of academic achievement on the part of students and excellence on the part of faculty and staff.

“It is extremely rewarding to see the professionalism exhibited daily by the administration, teachers and support personnel,” he said. “The advances in our students’ performance, our technological inroads and curriculum upgrades have been exemplary.”

A graduate of Weirton Madonna High School and Franciscan University of Steubenville, Durante also completed post-graduate studies in education administration at West Virginia University.

He and his wife, Lucille, have two children and five grandchildren.

Gabriela Fighiroae

Fighiroae, 48, of Chester, is running as a mother and as a critic of the current school board.

“I have common sense,” she said, “and common sense is lacking around here.”

Fighiroae and her husband, Simion, immigrated to the United States from Romania in 1999. She became a citizen in 2004. The couple moved to Hancock County in 2007, when they took over ownership of the Country Corner store in New Manchester.

Fighiroae said board members should have children in the school system and should be limited to two terms. She said the current board seems out of touch with parents’ concerns and defers too much to Durante.

“There are five members on the board, but only one talks. … They don’t participate,” she said.

Fighiroae and her husband have become regular attenders of the board meetings since they started advocating for a later start time for middle school and high school students.

While the couple has been vocal about wanting a change in the school day, Fighiroae insists she is not a one-issue candidate. She believes there can be better stewardship of taxpayer money. She thinks too much emphasis is placed on sports, to the detriment of academics. And she believes the board is not receptive to new ideas.

She points to the current policy of allowing five minutes for individuals to address the board and 10 minutes for groups as being insufficient. “They don’t do right by the people of Hancock County,” she said.

Fighiroae is critical of past board decisions-everything from the sale of Newell Memorial Field to the Hancock County commissioners in 2012 to the elimination of the Weirton bus garage in 2014. “I don’t think that was well-thought-out,” she said.

As for the stadium sale, she said the offer from two private citizens should have been considered over commissioners’ because it involved more money.

Fighiroae said she is “good at math” and would use her background in business and management to guide her on the board. She is a graduate of the Politehnica University of Bucharest (Romania).

The Fighiroaes have two children, Cristian, 12, and Simona, 10.

Terry McAtee

McAtee, 64, of Weirton, can’t seem to get enough of Hancock County Schools. An educator for 38 years, she retired in 2013. Now she wants to serve on the board.

“I loved my job-every minute of it. I thought another way to stay involved in Hancock County was to run for the board of education,” she said.

A 1969 graduate of Weir High School, McAtee earned her bachelor’s degree at West Liberty State College (now University) and her master’s in elementary education at West Virginia University.

Her entire career was spent at Weir Middle School, first as an eighth-grade teacher (West Virginia history), then as assistant principal, then as principal. She also served as athletic director and cheerleading coach.

McAtee said she would use her position on the board to seek the best for students and employees, both professional and nonprofessional.

“I’ve been in every position in Hancock County. I know what the teachers go through, what the administrators go through. The bus drivers and custodians. I’ve looked at the job from many different angles,” she said. “I think that would be relevant to being a board member.”

To be a good board member, she said, “you have to be fair, to have good communication skills. You have to be willing to listen to all sides. And you have to stand by the decisions you make.”

Tim Reinard

Reinard, 65, of Weirton, also has a background with Hancock County Schools-first as a board member in 2005 and 2006, then as transportation coordinator.

Both positions prepared him for further service on the board, he said. “I talked to a lot of parents who voiced concerns that I had to investigate and make decisions on. Not every decision was popular, but I always sided with the safety of the students and made sure I communicated to the parents what went into my decision,” he said.

A graduate of Weir High School, West Liberty State College and Franciscan University of Steubenville, Reinard was appointed to fill an unexpired vacancy on the Hancock County board in 2005. After winning election in 2006, he resigned to become transportation coordinator for the district.

“I believed, and still do believe, that this change was for the good of the school system and the safety of the children,” he said.

Reinard described his approach to board work as a combination of open-mindedness to the public and attentiveness to student well-being and achievement.

He said voters have raised three issues with him over the course of the campaign: board communications with the public, administrative costs and student safety.

“Not everyone has direct knowledge of the workings of the board, and we must take time to communicate to the citizens on their questions and concerns,” he said.

Teaching at the college level for 11 years, Reinard said he has observed both the academic strengths and weaknesses of Hancock County high school graduates.

“The students from Weir High and Oak Glen that attended my class were good in some fields and better in other respects. But students from other high schools were even better in other skills,” he said.

Caroll Rosenlieb

Rosenlieb, 47, of New Cumberland, said her interest in a board position was spurred in part by being the mother of three Hancock County students and by her experience in banking and finance.

“Being a volunteer and watching my own children grow, I realize we cannot waste any time in giving them our full attention. Whatever we have to do to help them in the future is not time wasted,” she said.

Rosenlieb, senior vice president of lending for Hancock County Savings Bank, said the board needs someone with a background in accounting “now more than ever.” An annual budget of $43 million requires careful board stewardship, she said.

“I see a good team as being a group of people with different strengths. … It takes a diverse group,” she said. “With my financial background, I feel I can bring that strength to the board.”

A 1987 graduate of Oak Glen High School, Rosenlieb earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a specialization in accounting, from West Liberty University. In addition to her 24 years at the Chester bank, she worked as internal auditor for a bank in Wheeling.

“As a taxpayer, I want to make sure our money is spent well and spent for the students the best we can,” she said, noting that she wants to “eliminate waste.”

Although Rosenlieb has served in various capacities with the schools over the years, attending board meetings and watching the board interact with the public has opened her eyes, she said.

“All parents and interested parties should have an opportunity to be heard and should have a platform to voice their concerns. I encourage that. I think communication is key. Listening is part of communication,” she said.

“When I sit in those board meetings and I’m listening to the concerns or kudos … I feel that I should never dismiss people’s concerns. I should look at the information and have that open dialogue.”