SCRANTON — In the next three weeks, the Scranton School Board must eliminate a $2 million budget deficit.
In the coming years, the board and administration must restore trust, find fiscal solvency and improve academic outcomes.
A group of women — the most to ever lead the district — say they will make it happen.
Last week, four women, all political newcomers, took their seats on the board. Sarah Cruz, Catherine Fox, Ro Hume and Tara Yanni each won four-year terms in November and join past President Barbara Dixon and new President Katie Gilmartin.
The school directors will work closely with new Superintendent Melissa McTiernan and Chief Recovery Officer Candis Finan, Ed.D.
“I am thrilled to see these new female faces at the table,” Gilmartin said. “It’s very exciting. The way women communicate will really be an asset to the complicated nature of the decisions we have to make right now and the responsibilities that rest on our shoulders.”
The six female school directors will work with Vice President Tom Schuster, who won his second four-year term. Two other seats to be appointed by the board — a two-year term also won by Schuster last month and a seat soon to be vacated by city Councilman-elect Mark McAndrew — could bring the number of women even higher.
The new directors reflect a growing trend of more women seeking — and winning — office locally and nationally. In January, Scranton will have its first female mayor, Paige Cognetti, and its first elected city councilwoman in years, Jessica Rothchild, also the first openly gay council member. Lackawanna County will have its first Democratic female commissioner, Debi Domenick, just four years after the election of the first female commissioner of any party, Republican Laureen Cummings. Cruz is the first Hispanic person to serve on the school board and believes she is the first minority to win election in Scranton.
“It’s an awesome opportunity for women in these positions to make a major difference,” McTiernan said. “Between the school district and the city, it’s a change in times.”
The new school directors understand the challenges because the issues are not new, McTiernan said.
“Anybody in a position now that is coming on the board realizes the challenges we have set in front of us, but also the opportunity to make a difference and make a change. There’s an energy. For as many challenges as we have right now, people are ready to turn this place around.”
The six women on the board each represent a different decade — from Fox in her mid 20s to Hume in her early 70s.
“I think we have an opportunity here to really make all the changes and make that difference,” Finan said. “We’ve been on the right road, but I know with the new leadership, everyone is newly committed to making Scranton a better place all around. We want to build something we’re going to be very proud of. Instead of just rowing the oars backwards and upstream, we’ll turn it around and say, ‘What can we do?’”
Superintendent Melissa McTiernan
Age: 45
Family: Husband, Bob; two stepchildren.
Education: Scranton Preparatory School; bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from the University of Connecticut; master’s degree in education from Wilkes University.
Experience: Teacher in Connecticut and Pocono Mountain School District; assistant principal, principal and chief academic officer in the Scranton School District.
Amid a demanding schedule of practices and games, Melissa McTiernan prepared for life after basketball.
A member of the 1995 NCAA national championship basketball team at the University of Connecticut, the humble leader — Missy Rose at the time — student taught in a first-grade classroom. The children began bringing in posters and trading cards featuring the point and shooting guard, Miss Rose.
“I just felt like I could make a difference and be a role model,” she said.
McTiernan now calls district administrators and school directors her teammates.
Appointed to acting assistant superintendent in August after the sudden departure of Superintendent Alexis Kirijan, Ed.D., McTiernan became superintendent last month. She wore her national championship ring for good luck that night. Her contract, which runs through June 2024, includes a salary of $150,000 the first year with 2.5% yearly raises.
McTiernan doesn’t remember a time when she didn’t play basketball. With two older brothers, from the time she could walk, she had a basketball in her hands. On the court, including from Hall of Fame UCONN coach Geno Auriemma, she learned lessons on being a good teammate, overcoming adversity and leading by example.
She brings those lessons to her new role. During a recent administrative meeting, she repeated the quote that also appears on every email she sends: “Champions keep playing until they get it right.”
The quote by tennis great Billie Jean King is a reminder of the work that remains ahead.
“The team we’ve put together, everyone is on board,” McTiernan said. “We’re making everything right.”
Chief Recovery Officer Candis Finan, Ed.D.
Age: 69
Family: Husband, Thomas; two children; five grandchildren.
Education: Honesdale High School; bachelor’s degree in secondary education-English from Penn State; master’s degree in reading from University of Scranton; doctorate in administration supervision and urban education from Fordham University.
Experience: Teacher at Honesdale High School; 32-year administrator at Delaware Valley School District, including nearly 15 years as superintendent; adjunct professor at Marywood and Delaware Valley universities; consultant for McPherson & Jacobson.
Candis Finan first learned about inequity in education as a freshman at Ithaca College.
She went to the upstate New York college to major in French, after studying the language for two years at Honesdale High School. Her roommate, who grew up on Long Island, had studied French for 13 years at her school.
“I immediately felt that wasn’t fair. I came from a wonderful home, with a wonderful family in a wonderful town, but those opportunities were not the same,” she said. “That emboldened me to say, ‘I want equity.’ We have to provide programs that are fair to all and give everyone a chance.”
After Finan’s father lost his job, she transferred to Penn State and worked three jobs to pay for tuition. Having grown up teaching her stuffed animals and dolls the lessons she had learned in school that day, she decided to switch her major to education — and to always remember equity.
The Department of Education appointed Finan chief recovery officer in February and pays her an annual salary of $144,000. Her agreement runs until June, but she is open to staying longer.
“Financially, we have a long way to go, but we’re whittling away at it. Every day is a new challenge,” she said. “But it’s really about the children. I don’t say that lightly. It’s about their future. We have 13 years to make a difference in their lives. I want the best programs for them.”
The district must make its educational programs stronger and prepare graduates to compete with students from anywhere, she said.
“I’m not satisfied with what we have. We need more for our children,” she said. “Education, no matter where you live, needs to be fair and equitable.”
Board President Katie Gilmartin
Age: 41
Education: Scranton Preparatory School; bachelor’s degree in theater production, Fordham University.
Employment: Partner at Nada & Co.
Experience: Trustee of Scranton Area Foundation; treasurer of the Scranton Shakespeare Festival; board of directors for the Society for the Preservation of Tripp Family Homestead; member at large of the Historical Architectural Review Board; past president and a sustaining member of the Junior League of Scranton; advisory council of the Ballet Theater of Scranton; impact member of Women in Philanthropy; advisory council for Arts in Education of Northeast Pennsylvania.
As a young girl, Katie Gilmartin remembers hauling debris out of the Tripp House — Lackawanna County’s oldest home — as her parents worked to rehabilitate it.
After earning a degree in theater production, she worked in costume design on the TV series “Law & Order” before eventually returning to Scranton to help run her family business.
Now, the active volunteer and engaged community member will serve as president of the school board, hoping to increase communication and transparency.
A stickler for following policies and procedures, she will ensure her fellow directors understand the role of the board.
Working with the Junior League of Scranton, she helped move the organization back to its mission of community service. She helped start the annual Cinderella’s Closet program, which provides low-cost used prom dresses to girls. As a volunteer with Women in Philanthropy, she helps coach women considering opening their own businesses.
As a middle school student at Abington Heights, Gilmartin found herself comfortable behind a sewing machine or a band saw. She loved being creative and working with her own hands. With her theater production degree, she found herself designing costumes and even working as a seamstress for the Discovery Channel show “Surprise by Design” in the early 2000s.
Her parents, Nada and Michael, instilled in her a strong commitment to community. In 2005, she decided to return to Scranton and become a partner in Nada & Co., a clothing, accessories and decor store on Capouse Avenue.
“In a small business, understanding finite resources is such a big piece,” Gilmartin said. “You really understand how you can dream big but then prioritize and make responsible choices. That is something we do day in and day out.”
She’ll bring the same theory to her role as board president.
“We’ve got wonderful potential here,” she said. “If I say I’m going to do something, I want to deliver.”
School Director Sarah Cruz
Age: 32
Education: Home-schooled; associate degree in liberal studies from Lackawanna College; bachelor’s degree in English from Marywood University.
Experience: Sales associate at Boscov’s; volunteer with Scranton Fringe Festival; provisional member of the Junior League of Scranton.
On July 1, 2018, Paige Cognetti, a school director at the time, shopped for jeans at Boscov’s.
Sarah Cruz, a sales associate, approached Cognetti and told her she admired what she had accomplished on the board.
Cognetti, now the mayor-elect, encouraged Cruz to consider running for the board herself. But Cruz, whose mother is from Honduras and father is Puerto Rican, thought she was the wrong gender and skin color and from the wrong socioeconomic background.
Now, Cruz is the first Hispanic person to be elected to the Scranton School Board.
“I’m honored to be the first,” she said. “It’s very humbling. This is something I never thought I’d do. ... The last 14 months of my life, it’s been like me just watching myself outside of my body doing this and amazing myself. It’s almost something otherworldly that’s motivating me to do this.”
In Scranton, about 55% of the district’s 10,000 students are from minority backgrounds, and 31.4% are Hispanic.
Born in Brooklyn, Cruz grew up in Dunmore. She understands differences in cultures, traditions, faiths and communication.
Cruz doesn’t drive and walks most places from her home near Green Ridge corners — about 45 minutes to her job at Boscov’s. She understands the walks children face to get to school. While on the public bus, she talks to residents about their struggles. Worried about potential bullying because of the color of her skin, Cruz’s mother home-schooled her in high school.
In June, she took a week of vacation from her job at Boscov’s and visited each school in the district, meeting with principals and learning about needs. She walked or took a bus.
“I really wanted to have as much knowledge as possible,” she said. ‘When things come up, I’ll be able to picture the schools in my mind. I’m not just making decisions. I will hopefully approach them with logic, reason and transparency.”
School Director Barbara Dixon
Age: 65
Family: Husband, Rick; three daughters; eight grandchildren.
Education: West Scranton High School; bachelor’s degree in business education and accounting and master’s degree in school leadership, Marywood University.
Employment: Retired Scranton principal; retired co-owner of Station Square restaurant in Olyphant; works for brother’s company, JZ Tours.
Experience: Former adviser for the Future Business Leaders of America and student council, other school groups.
First as a typing and shorthand teacher, later as a principal and now as a school director, Barbara Dixon remembers educators who made a difference in her life.
She hopes she made a similar impact.
“I never saw myself as a politician. But a lot of former students started asking me to run for school board,” she said. “They told me things they remembered. I’m a board member, but I’m an educator. I’m always going to be an educator at heart.”
As board president for the last two years, Dixon led a board with high turnover that often found itself mired in controversy and the subject of public disdain.
“But we all came together. We realized the importance of the hard decisions. We united. We all knew we had to move forward,” she said. “It’s sad to see people leave who we worked with. But it’s exciting to bring new blood. Everyone has different backgrounds.”
At West Scranton High School, Dixon taught business, accounting and marketing and developed a business plan program for students. She advised the Future Business Leaders of America club and student council.
She wants to make sure future students have similar opportunities.
“We have a lot of tough decisions ahead. There is a learning curve,” Dixon said. “It’s OK to disagree with each other, but in the end, we have to make the best decision to move our district forward and follow our plan.”
School Director Catherine Fox
Age: 27
Family: Daughter, Hayleigh, 7
Education: West Scranton High School; bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Scranton.
Experience: Student life coordinator/veterans advisor and adjunct professor at Lackawanna College; board member for Day Nursery Association.
Growing up, Catherine Fox always told her dad she wanted to be president of the United States. If that didn’t work out, she’d settle for mayor.
“I love Scranton,” she said. “I knew I wanted to do good.”
Her dad, William Fox (not the tax collector), encouraged her to apply for a vacant seat on the school board last year. Her 7-year-old daughter, Hayleigh, is a student at Neil Armstrong Elementary, and Fox said she wanted to improve education for her daughter and classmates. She also wanted to make schools more “parent-friendly” and increase family engagement.
The mother and daughter knocked on doors together across the city, and Hayleigh accompanied her to school board meetings and recovery plan updates. Hayleigh sat quietly, often coloring and drawing, as others called her an example of what matters in the district.
Fox became the top vote getter in November.
“Anyone can do it who wants to do it. It’s a political position, but it shouldn’t be. It’s about the children,” she said. “It’s not like I did anything tremendous in my life to stick out more. ... I never thought I’d win. I never thought I could do it.”
Fox learned a strong work ethic from her father, who owns National Pastry Bake Shop in North Scranton. As a teenager, she worked at his previous shop, William’s Bakery in Dunmore, making hoagie buns at 4 a.m. on the weekends. The second oldest of six children, Fox still has siblings in the district. Her mother, Cynthia, passed away two years ago.
Following the recovery plan, directors will not have the freedom experienced by their predecessors, Fox said. But directors can amend the plan if needed, if the district secures additional funding or if circumstances change.
Fox will work with administrators and teachers she credits with providing her formative experiences and life lessons. She’ll even work with Paul Dougherty, director of secondary education/technology/operations, who suspended her as a student at West Scranton Intermediate School. Fox’s “bad friends” told her to draw on a bathroom stall and immediately tattled on her. She found better friends and can laugh about it now.
“We all want change. Now we have to work toward it,” Fox said. “I just want to see the community come together for the greater good.”
School Director Ro Hume
Age: 72
Family: One daughter; two sons; five grandchildren.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in English literature and anthropology, minor in education from the University of Sydney; graduate diploma in film and media from the University of Canberra.
Experience: Script producer and freelance writer in Australia before moving to Scranton; political activist; volunteer with literacy programs and Discovery MI Preschool.
Ro Hume didn’t want to run for Scranton School Board.
The Australian native who followed her daughter to the United States tried to recruit people to seek seats on the board, knowing directors will face decisions that will have major impacts throughout the city. Everyone turned her down.
After leaving the March meeting disgusted over a split vote to select a school director for a seat on the Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit board, she knew she needed to do something. The next morning — one month after becoming a U.S. citizen — she picked up petitions to get her name on the primary ballot.
“I had lost faith in the existing board. ... You can sit on the sidelines and complain or you can get in the game. I got in the game,” she said. “I felt it was a contribution I could make to a city that has taken me in and treated me very warmly.”
Hume, a former script producer and freelance writer in the Australian film and television industry, had only heard about Scranton from “The Office” up until a decade ago.
Hume attended meetings with the three other board newcomers. Hume’s daughter, Stacy Nivert, served as Sarah Cruz’s campaign treasurer.
“Women have a different dynamic in the way they work together,” she said. “We tend to work more in consensus. With the right women, when you build that mutual trust, ego becomes far less of an issue.”
Hume wants to see the district leave recovery as a “vibrant, modern, efficient school district giving the best education to our kids” and hopes to start a research and innovation committee to see how the district can improve and change.
“It won’t be fun, but there is work to be done and we have to do it,” Hume said. “It’s the Iditarod. We all have to be pulling the harness in the same direction, or we won’t get out of recovery. ... We’ve got the right team, it’s going to be great.”
School Director Tara Yanni
Age: 52
Family: Husband, Rich; two sons.
Education: Oxford High School in New York; associate degree from Keystone College; bachelor’s degree in business administration from Mansfield University.
Experience: Billing specialist at Coordinated Health Scranton Orthopedics; previous work in health care administration; West Scranton Little League volunteer, PTA volunteer, booster clubs.
Tara Yanni spent time as a homeroom mom and sports booster club mom and helped run school fundraisers.
Now, with her sons in college, she has the time to make a greater impact.
“Both of my boys got great scholarships to their colleges. They had great teachers,” she said. “I had time with my kids. I loved every minute of it. Now I can pay it forward.”
At West Scranton High School, her older son, Bryce, was president of the drama club and had a part in every play. Her younger son, Drew, played sports.
“I want those things to stay in our school district,” she said.
With a background in analyzing financial reports and account ledgers, Yanni said she looks forward to examining budgets and other documents.
She wants to improve morale among the district’s employees. Last month, the district investigated a report of Yanni making a phone call to human resources to inquire about an assistant baseball coach job for her husband. Yanni said she regrets making the call, and directors said they are ready to move past the issue.
“I wanted to run and be part of this. It’s something historic. We have a chance to bring the district into financial solvency. It’s really a chance to be part of history,” Yanni said. “I truly believe our children deserve a financially stable public school system. Together, without any of the politics involved, we can really accomplish things.”
Contact the writer:
shofius@timesshamrock.com;
570-348-9133;
@hofiushallTT on Twitter
How to apply for seat on board
The district will accept applications for a two-year board seat — also won by Tom Schuster — until Dec. 13 at noon. The board will appoint a new member at the Dec. 16 meeting, which will follow the financial recovery advisory committee meeting at 4 p.m. and a budget and finance committee meeting at 5:30 p.m. at Isaac Tripp Elementary School. The board will announce details on how to apply for Mark McAndrew’s seat once he resigns. School directors serve without compensation.
