LANSDALE – The North Penn School Board will have one returning leader and one new one another year begins.
All nine school board members voted unanimously Dec. 3 to keep current board President Tina Stoll in that position for another year, and to nominate board member Christian Fusco for the post of vice president.
“It was really nice to have everybody’s support. It’s a great team; it’s really a team effort, and I am very appreciative that everybody was supporting me,” said Stoll.
Stoll and Fusco were two of the five Democrats elected in November 2017 as part of the “North Penn Neighbors for Progress” team, and one year ago the newly elected members chose Stoll to act as board president and incumbent Republican Ed Diasio to act as board vice president.
“Ed and I spoke last week, and he has a lot of work commitments coming up this year, so we thought it might be a good time for him to step back from his leadership position,” said Stoll.
She credited Diasio with steady leadership of the board’s finance committee, and for helping show the ropes to the five new members elected in 2017, and three more appointed following resignations over the course of 2018.
“With the seven new members of the board, (Diasio) was really invaluable to use, with being the experienced one. I will always be grateful for him for his assistance,” she said.
Fusco has acted as chairman of the board’s education, community and policy committee for the past year, leading lengthy public discussions on issues that drew lengthy public discussion, like whether to implement full-day kindergarten and needed building upgrades.
“Being on the education, community and policy committee, I think, has really helped me prepare for a leadership position among this group because I’m so in the know about the important educational endeavors that we’re taking on, the policies that are being considered,” Fusco said.
“It’s one of the committee meetings that’s widely attended by the community, so it’s a nice opportunity to interact and dialog, with a little bit less structure than we have here, but certainly I think it prepares you for being able to address both the good and the bad, of what people see coming down the road,” he said.
He and Stoll both thanked district administrators for helping new members learn the ins and outs of all things North Penn since they were sworn in.
“Even though I’ve been going to school board meetings for ten years, it’s still different sitting on this side of the table, versus sitting in the audience,” Stoll said.
She and Fusco both said they plan to keep the conversations going in 2019 about big projects the board has studied and debated over the past year, including renovations to Knapp Elementary School, a large renovation to North Penn High School currently being designed, and reexamining the district’s cultural proficiency practices and policies.
“Having been here for a year, it’s been an overwhelming experience, but I feel like after a year, we are finally getting settled and learning the ways of how to get things done,” Fusco said.
Once the two leadership posts were filled, Stoll then took nominations for the position of board liaison to the North Montco Technical Career Center’s joint operating committee, a position currently held by Diasio. Diasio nominated board member Juliane Ramic, and the rest of the board approved unanimously.
Before Stoll was reappointed, board member Jonathan Kassa was named the temporary board president, just long enough to accept nominations for the permanent post. He and Stoll swapped seats before the nominations were made, then swapped back after she was reappointed, and Kassa joked “it was good while it lasted.”
Superintendent Curt Dietrich presented one personnel item for board action, a contract for Shannon M. Schmidt to be the district’s new assistant director of human resources, which the board also approved unanimously.
Stoll and Director of Business Administration Steve Skrocki also announced several changes to various board committees: Fusco has now been added to the board’s personnel committee in a position traditionally held by the board’s vice president, and member Elisha Gee has also been added to that committee.
The ECP committee led by Fusco has had new board member Tim MacBain added over the summer, and new member Juliane Ramic was added to the board support services committee meeting, all of which had not yet been formally ratified.
Skrocki and Stoll also announced an updated board meeting schedule for 2019. All meetings will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the district Educational Services Center, 401 E. Hancock St., on the following dates: Jan. 8 and 17, Feb. 12 and 21, March 12 and 21, April 9 and 18, May 7 and 16, June 11 and 20, July 9 and 18, Aug. 6 and 15, Sept. 10 and 19, Oct. 1 and 17, Nov. 12 and 21, and Dec. 2 (6:30 p.m.) and 12.
The North Penn School Board next meets at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 13 at the district Educational Services Center, 401 E. Hancock St. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.NPenn.org.
