LANSDALE >> Five new members have been sworn in, one more is resigning next week, and 2018 will bring a very different North Penn School Board than in prior years.
Newly elected members Tina Stoll, Christian Fusco, Jonathan Kassa, Jenna Ott and Mark Warren were sworn in Monday night, joining for one meeting their fellow Democrat Suzan Leonard, who will resign on Dec. 10 to become a Montgomery County district judge.
“I think there was a mandate for all of us. We were really working very well as a team on our campaign, and I think it’s really going to translate well. We are a team up here,” said Stoll.
Stoll was elected board president in a unanimous vote, after the five Democrats who campaigned together as the “North Penn Neighbors for Progress” and were elected in November were administered their oaths by District Judge Ed Levine. After being named the board’s new leader, Stoll thanked district staff for helping all five with the transition, and former members Vince Sherpinsky and Tim Kerr, who did not run again, and members Frank O’Donnell, Josie Charnock, and Pat McGee, who were defeated in November.
“Mr. Sherpinsky, Mr. O’Donnell and Mr. Kerr all served 20-some years, so we thank them for their service. Mrs. Charnock had been on the board since 2011, so she also spent quite a bit of time, and Mr. McGee was kind enough to step up last year and serve the remainder of Carolyn Murphy’s term, so thanks to all of them,” Stoll said.
After Stoll took the helm, Kassa made a nomination “in the spirit of bipartisanship” to name incumbent Republican Ed Diasio to serve as board vice president, and he and the five Democrats carried the vote. Incumbent Republican John Schilling nominated fellow Republican Terry Prykowski for the same position, and those two cast the only votes for her.
“The work ahead of us is not easy. The expectations are high, and so are the stakes,” Diasio said.
“We have 13,000 children that rely on us to make good decisions in regard to their education every day. We’ll be most successful as a team if we come together as a team of nine. I’m confident we will do that,” he said.
With two new officers named, the board then voted unanimously to accept the resignation of Leonard, who was the only Democrat on the board from the death of Murphy in late 2016 until the five were sworn in. Leonard was chosen by the voters to represent District Court 38-1-21, defeating incumbent Republican Robert Sobeck for a court seat covering parts of North Wales Borough and Lower Gwynedd, Upper Gwynedd and Whitpain townships.
“I get told, or asked, or criticized a lot of the time, that being on the school board is a thankless job. I can say from my own experience, that it’s the most wonderful experience I’ve had in my lifetime,” Leonard said.
“I also get told that nobody ever thanks me, which is not true. I do get thanked occasionally, and at this time I would like to thank Terry (Prykowski), and John (Schilling) and Ed (Diasio) for their service, and all of the newly elected people. Thank you for stepping up, and being a part of this wonderful, wonderful organization,” she said.
Leonard’s resignation letter was originally dated to take effect Dec. 7, but after lengthy board discussion she agreed to postpone that date to Dec. 10 to better fit the board’s meeting schedule. The board has 30 days to fill the vacancy from when the resignation takes effect, and the board decided to require that interested applicants submit their information by Dec. 15, and interviews will be conducted and a new member named during the board’s regularly scheduled meeting on Jan. 9, 2018.
The North Penn School Board next meets at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 11 and 14, both at the district Educational Service Center, 401 E. Hancock St. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.NPenn.org or follow @NPSD on Twitter.
