You can also read about Jesse’s interim appointment to the State College School Board in the Centre Daily Times and StateCollege.com.

Speech to SCASD
1 July 2025

This was my speech to the State College Area School Board as part of my application to fill an empty seat on the board. I was successful. I was sworn in at the July 21 board meeting. My appointment lasts until November 4 and I am still on the ballot in the general election on November 4 for a four-year term on the board. In my talk, I answered a series of questions from the board which are in boldface.

My name is Jesse Barlow. I live in the Borough of State College. My talk is built around the questions in your memo.

My background, experience, and connection to SCASD.

I am a Professor Emeritus of Computer Science and Engineering at Penn State where I served in a job I loved for 42 years. I have degrees in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics including a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Northwestern.

I served on State College Borough Council for eight years, four years as Council President, one year as Chair of the Centre Region Council of Governments. My main interaction with SCASD was on the Solar Power Purchase Committee Working Group. During that time, I had other interactions with members of the school board. My two children obtained most of their elementary and secondary education from SCASD schools: my daughter Hilary graduated from Delta, my son Zack from State High.

I also serve on the Centre County Advisory Board for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. Many of the human relations/civil rights issues discussed there arise in our schools. All of these experiences brought about an interest in SCASD and our K-12 school system.

Do I see myself serving the district in the future beyond this interim role?

Yes. I am on the ballot for a four-year term this fall.

Are there any particular issues I hope to work on or in which I have a special
interest if chosen for the vacancy?

I intend to be engaged in all issues affecting SCASD, but I shall focus on three issues.

The first concerns the district’s building plans. We need to build a new Park Forest Middle School. We have needed it for a long time. I am supportive of the necessary upgrades to our other schools as well. We have the best school district for miles, but it won’t stay that way if we neglect our buildings.

The second is SCASD’s interactions with the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth provides about 20% of our funding; they should be providing more and the courts have told them to increase funding. And I am told it may be necessary to go back to court again to make our legislature do its job. Although I am not a diehard opponent of charter schools, our legislature
has grossly underregulated them. The recent scandal involving cyber charters highlights this issue.

The last is human relations which I discuss in my answer to the last question.

What prompted me to see this vacancy on the board?

Education has been at the center of my professional life. I benefited greatly from a good K-12 education in a university town school district in Lawrence, KS. My children benefited from the educational opportunities here in SCASD. The mission of SCASD is “To ensure every student has opportunities to grow, thrive, and fulfill their potential through caring, responsive education.” My motivation is to work toward a school system where all, whatever their social backgrounds and skills, can thrive.

That is why I believe it is essential that we follow up on Dr. Terri Erbacher’s report on suicide prevention.

That is also why diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are essential to the district. I spent a lot of my eight years on State College Borough Council advocating for human relations/civil rights issues. I pushed for the DEIB officer that the Borough now has and an oversight board for its police department. I worked to extend the Borough’s strong human relations ordinance to cover Ferguson and Patton Townships and Millheim Borough. I know I am preaching to choir when I say that it is essential that SCASD continue its commitment to equity, inclusion, and belonging especially at a time when the federal government is abandoning and even thwarting these efforts. I have seen the world before school districts worked on human rights. The exclusion and isolation of marginalized groups from that time is something no one should want to return to.

I hope I get a chance to work with you to provide a good education to the students of this district. And thank you for listening.