“The most important responsibility, for all schools, is to give every student the opportunity to reach their full potential.”

Larry believes the largest constraint placed on Penn Hills Schools and the community in meeting that responsibility is financial.

The inability of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to adequately fund education places a huge obligation on many taxpayers with a fixed income. In a community with an aging population, Penn Hills retirees are carrying an unnecessary burden. All the issues: funding of charter schools especially cyber, facility and property management, staffing, and most importantly curriculum must be evaluated in terms of affordability to the Penn Hills residents.

A recent decision by a Pennsylvania court will require the Commonwealth to find a way to meet its constitutional obligation to support equitable funding to all schools. When a new funding system is passed into law, financing of the Penn Hills schools is likely to change. The school board will be asked to respond to this challenge. An understanding of finance will be necessary. Larry’s education and experience align with that challenge.

Other current issues relate to curriculum, library materials, and discipline management. Politicians have begun to weigh. Covid has shown that unseen forces can materialize rapidly. How the school board, teachers, staff and administration react will define the future.

Larry moved to Penn Hills in the fall of 1987, and he still lives in the same house.​

Larry loves Penn Hills for its diversity, convenience to downtown Pittsburgh, and its recreation, health care, and educational opportunities.

He has a bachelor’s degrees in sociology and accounting. He also has a master’s degree in public health from the University of Pittsburgh. He retired in 2017 as Chief Financial Officer at Asbury Heights, a life care community in Mount Lebanon now affiliated with UPMC.

In 2019-20 he was one of six census field managers who oversaw 1,500 enumerators and supervisors in Allegheny County, many from Penn Hills. The participation of the Penn Hills community was much better than other communities in the County.

Other areas where Larry has experience include grant application development and performance reviews for health care and social welfare organizations locally and nationally. Also, he has assisted various Federal agencies in reviewing and grading grant applications that will direct funds to the awarded projects.

A vote for Larry is a vote for financial stability and accountability. We are accountable to the children.