Kathleen Pratt, who previously served on the Gettysburg Area School District Board of Directors from 2017 to 2021, and who has been serving on the board as a replacement for Cynthia Ayers who resigned earlier this year, has been elected to a second term – earning more votes than any other candidate in the Nov 4 election.
Pratt will rejoin the board for a 4-year term at its Dec. 2 reorganizational meeting.
Pratt said she was “humbled” by the strong support she received and views the results as a mandate to continue advocating for public education.
“When I saw the outcome, my first thought was, ‘People have put confidence in me, and I will deliver,’” Pratt said.
Pratt said her decision to run again was driven by deep concern over potential federal cuts to Title I, a major source of funding for reading specialists and other services supporting the district’s most vulnerable students.
Each of the district’s K–5 schools employs a reading specialist funded through Title I. “I can’t imagine a world in which a student who struggles to read isn’t given the intervention our nation is capable of giving them,” Pratt said. “Losig that funding would mean losing essential support for the kids who need it most.”
Although federal decisions regarding Title I have fluctuated, Pratt said the district is planning for the possibility that those funds may disappear in the 2026 budget cycle. With a $77 million district budget, losing more than $1 million in federal Title I support would have a significant impact.
“Some people say, ‘It’s only a million dollars,’ but that’s a massive amount of money we will have to find somewhere,” she said. “I do not want to see our students suffer.”
Pratt praised Business Manager Belinda Wallen and emphasized that the board will need to evaluate spending carefully in the coming years. “It would be pompous of me to say I have the perfect plan,” she said. “The board is a team, and the best decisions will come from participative leadership.”
While the state budget was delayed this year, Pratt said she is cautiously optimistic that state funding will remain stable. She applauded Gov. Josh Shapiro for his support of public education but urged state lawmakers to adopt a timeline that avoids forcing school districts to finalize budgets before knowing how much state funding they will receive.
As she prepares for another four-year term, Pratt said she intends to stay “laser focused” on fiscal stewardship while protecting programs essential to student well-being. “In times of economic constriction, we must prioritize the ‘need to have’ over the ‘nice to have,’” she said.
Pratt, widely regarded as a collaborative and steady presence on the board, said she is committed to helping the district navigate what could be a challenging financial period. “Our students deserve stability, opportunity, and strong public schools,” she said. “That’s what I’m here to work for.”
