Palmyra Area School District superintendent Dr. Bernie Kepler responded to a LebTown request for comment Monday regarding the process to fill three school board vacancies.
Three board members – board president Jill Martin, as well as Alicia Haldeman and Cynthia Spondello – submitted resignations on Friday, June 12. But Kepler said the 30-day period in which vacancies must be filled has not yet begun.
“The vacancy occurs and the 30-day period will begin when the board accepts the resignations,” said Kepler in an email to LebTown.
The 30-day period is stipulated in the commonwealth’s School Code, which states that:
If, by reason of a tie vote or otherwise, such vacancy shall not have been filled by the board of school directors within thirty (30) days after such vacancy shall have occurred from the qualified electors of the district, the court of common pleas of the proper county, upon the petition of ten or more resident taxpayers, shall fill such vacancy by the appointment of a suitable person from the qualified electors of the district if the term of the vacant office so long continues, until the first Monday of December after the first municipal election occurring more than sixty (60) days after the vacancy shall have occurred.
A meeting scheduled for June 25 was postponed due to not being able to meet a quorum.
The district had previously asked residents interested in serving to submit a letter of interest and a resume detailing their qualifications for the position to Mike Frentz, board secretary, at mike_frentz@pasd.us.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 6. Palmyra Area School District, like other districts in Lebanon County, does not have regularly scheduled meetings in July.
All three resigning board members had less than two years remaining in their terms.
Appointments to the positions would last until Dec. 6, 2027, following the 2027 municipal election. Martin and Haldeman held seats with four-year terms; Spondello held a seat with a two-year term.
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