Lehighton names new special services director
Samantha Kistler
The next director of special services in Lehighton Area School District will be one of its own.
Samantha Kistler was hired Monday night at a salary of $92,000 to replace Mark McIntyre, who resigned effective Oct. 31.
Kistler is in her seventh year with the district, having worked as a special-education teacher and most recently as a high school life skills teacher.
“I’m overall looking forward to serving the students and staff of the district,” Kistler said. “Having been here and having those connections, I think will give me an advantage in the transition.”
Lehighton Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said eight people applied for the position, four were given interviews and two finalists were brought in for second round interviews.
The interview committee then recommended Kistler for the position.
“Samantha brings with her a wealth of knowledge and a willingness to continue to learn, which is key with all the changes to the law that come along with special education,” Cleaver said. “She presented a great plan on how to move the department forward.”
Kistler’s hiring passed by an 8-1 motion, with only director David Bradley dissenting.
Bradley said he took issue with the fact that no board member was on the interviewing committee.
“I don’t think we should abdicate our authority and rubber stamp recommendations without receiving any data,” Bradley said.
“I don’t think anyone voting here tonight has even met this person.”
Kistler, however, has been in the district for over six years and Cleaver said that experience will play a key role in her potential success.
“She understands the district, understands the dynamic and it should make for a smooth transition,” Cleaver said. “We were excited to award her the opportunity to be part of our administrative team.”
Bradley also questioned why board members were not sent resumes from applicants for the position.
According to Cleaver, it was to keep personal information private, which he said has been a problem in the past.
“In the past you have posted resumes, phone numbers and other personal information,” Cleaver told Bradley. “Their current employers may not know they are applying for positions. Actions of the past have shown releasing those resumes is an unsafe practice.”
Comments
The board approves the budget for the position and votes to approve the hire and that is enough....they should not be interviewing mid-levels. The accountability for the hire lies with the superintendent who reports to the board. Besides, the article points out that in order to maintain the candidates privacy they needed to keep the resumes away DB due to his past inappropriate handling of them.
The point is, you don't sacrifice having a functional organization with clear lines of reporting to get some imagined accountability which would actually lead to less accountability.
https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/lehi/Board.nsf/vpublic?open#
“I don’t think anyone voting here tonight has even met this person.” His vote was to disagree with the process for "this" hire, which I agree. By-laws and policies are ALL subject to change "AT ANY TIME" by vote. If the by-laws are governed by Roberts Rules, the rules can be temporarily suspended for this issue. And as far as policies go, that is an easy fix. You call it a showboat vote simply because of a personal bias against DB. I don't know DB or the new HIRE, my decision to support his vote and his opinion in this particular matter is only commonsense accountability to thousands of taxpayers. DB is a board member voted to serve by constituents. Nothing more to be said unless you and others are not happy with his election to serve. Try to remember when a person is paid with public funds, much of who they are AND their past and present performance shall be placed before the very people they serve. Having served in the public sector, having had oversight of conduct and performance of public sector employees and having witnessed information that public employees thought should have remained confidential and was printed in the press after successful court challenges for that information, I have a good handle on what should be public accountability regardless of bad policies or by-laws that ARE NOT in the interest of taxpayers. My opinion.
Absolutely, if he doesn't like the by-law then his recourse is to introduce a measure to change it and have the board vote. If they don't trust the super to make appropriate hires then they need to replace the super. But voting against a hire on the basis that the superintendent followed the written procedure makes no sense though.
But still, why the hell would the board need to meet a mid-level hire?!?!?!?! If we were talking about a principal maybe I could see it but this is just silly.