Dr.Tom Finan retires - successor chosen

MILFORD — The board of education on Oct. 22 accepted “with regret” the resignation of longtime Delaware Valley administrator Dr. Thomas Finan, after 30 years service. Finan did not attend the board meeting at the Shohola Elementary School, but the agenda listed a planned retirement to begin on or about Jan. 10 of next year. His spouse, District Superintendent Dr. Candis Finan said her husband withheld the decision until she prepared to leave for the evening meeting. “He’s very passionate about Delaware Valley,” she said. The board of education met in executive session for over an hour to interview Bryan McGraw, who was then appointed as director of secondary education to replace Dr. Finan. McGraw, 35, has served as principal at Scranton High School since 2006, and in various administrative and teaching roles in the Scranton area prior to that. A hometown Scranton boy, McGraw earned his bachelor’s degree from Kings College and his master’s from the University of Scranton. McGraw and his spouse, Katie McGraw have one child. They plan to relocate to the school district as soon possible. “We want to be part of the community and get our daughter started in the district,” he said. In other business at a fairly brief session, the board debated and then tabled a resolution that would have created a special committee on fiscal stability. Member and Finance Committee Chair Ed Silverstone, who proposed the idea, noted broad opposition to the new committee. He asked that board keep in mind the issues it would have addressed. “We dodged a bullet (with the recently approved aid levels in the state budget) this year... The state didn’t solve its problems with gaming and tobacco taxes. Things won’t be better a year from now,” he warned.