Maintain balance of talents on Lake Park 108 board

Each of the five candidates for the four 4-year terms on the Lake Park High School District 108 school board brings a unique area of expertise. Voters really can't go wrong.

Incumbent Patricia Szerlong specializes in finances, tapping into her skills as a tax revenue specialist. Incumbent Joan DiPiero, appointed to fill a term after a board member resigned in 2007, has the public relations background. Incumbent Judith Briggs' background is education, so she focuses on curriculum issues as a board member. Marty Tasch, also an incumbent, is an attorney.

Challenging is Ken Snoeck, the retired music teacher who led the marching band to 13 state grand championships. Snoeck wants to put the district on the cutting edge of technology, mentioning groundbreaking ideas such as replacing textbooks with an electronic book reader such as the Kindle. Snoeck challenges the board to take risks, even fail, in an effort to elevate creativity and revolutionize learning.

It's an exciting agenda. We rarely hear school board members or candidates talk about pushing these kinds of boundaries. And with so many years of experience in at Lake Park, Snoeck is in a position to know what might work. But we wonder whether Snoeck's forward-thinking and innovative ideas would be best utilized as a school board member.

The incumbents have been good financial stewards by balancing the budget and take pride in the school district. We like the good balance of intellectual resources in this group and endorse the four incumbents: Szerlong, DiPiero, Briggs and Tasch.

We encourage the board and administration to work with Snoeck to tap into some of his exciting ideas, possibly leading an innovation committee, for instance.