Board to fill vacancy

Some uncertainty apparent regarding the district’s candidate selection process By David Hulse WESTFALL — The Delaware Valley District Board of Education on Thursday is expected to fill a vacancy created by the Sept. 18 resignation of John Wladar. At their September meeting, board President Bob Goldsack sought to move on the issue quickly and the board agreed to reschedule the next work session and make the Oct. 9 session a voting meeting. A lot has happened since then. The Oct 9 meeting was cancelled due to the Yom Kippur holiday and not rescheduled. In the interim, Goldsack said an executive session meeting was scheduled for the board to interview seven announced candidates for the position including former board members and ballot candidates: Denise DeGraw Fey. Jack Fisher, and Sue Schor; and applicants Ryan Balton, Mary Gordon, (see letter , page 12) William Greenlaw, and Bernard Marasa. Sitting board members and six of the seven candidates attended. Balton, a Syracuse University student, was interviewed by telephone. All the candidates were asked a set of form questions. The meeting/forum was an unscheduled and unpublicized, executive session. Solicitor Michael Weinstein confirmed that an “interview forum,” not a meeting, took place on Oct. 2 It was unpublicized, “as far as I know,” he said. While Weinstein suspected some challenge could arise in regard to the state’s Open Meetings Law, he said the closed, unannounced session was within the board’s legal purview. He said the fact of its occurrence would be announced at the Oct. 23 meeting. At this point, stories diverge. Weinstein says there was no meeting and no vote taken. On Oct 9, Goldsack wrote that there was a meeting and “at that meeting we (the board) selected Mr. Marasa.” Goldsack is supporting Marasa (see letter page 12)as a replacement for Wladar, noting that Marasa, like Wladar is “a member in good standing with Taxpayers United,” an organization “that the voters strongly endorsed,” in the last elections. However in an Oct. 10 statement from the district office, Goldsack is quoted thanking all the candidates and concluding, ”Whichever candidate is chosen by the Board, the result with be a terrific addition to the Board.” The statement’s last paragraph reads, “At the October 23 Board Meeting, to be held at the Shohola Elementary School, the chosen candidate will be placed on the agenda and duly sworn in as a DV Board member. Weinstein said Goldsack may have believed there was a vote, but insisted there was none. He confirmed that it would not be binding “even if there was a vote.” He said there will be nominations made on Oct. 23 and a binding vote will then be taken. Weinstein said he wants that process to be open as well, so that multiple nominations can be made before any voting. What does the Open meetings law say A layman’s reading of the law could raise questions about the process . Can an executive session be called without notice? The law says an executive session may be held during or at the conclusion of an open meeting or be announced for a future time. The reason for the closed meeting “must be announced at the open meeting either immediately prior or subsequent to the executive session.” Forum or meeting? The law defines a meeting as “any prearranged gathering... by a quorum of the members... for the purpose of deliberating agency business or taking official action.” The law does provide for an executive session to discuss matters of appointments, but only of employees. That section, 65Pa.C.S.A 708(a)((1) does “...not apply to any meeting involving the appointment or selection of any person to fill a vacancy in any elected office.”