Deadlock looms in Lehighton; one seat open on school board

Lehighton Area School District is bracing for a potential deadlock on its board of directors in the wake of November’s general election results.

On Monday night, board members voted unanimously to authorize solicitor William Schwab to petition Carbon County Court if the board is unable to appoint a ninth board member at its Dec. 4 reorganization.

New board members Gail Maholick, Joy Beers and David Bradley, along with incumbent Richard Beltz, have voiced opposition to Lehighton’s decision to build a new $33 million elementary center, which will house all of its K-5 students, and shut down four existing elementary schools.

On the other side of the aisle are pro-elementary center board members Andrew Yenser, Steve Holland, Wayne Wentz and Larry Stern.

Maholick won a four-year term and a two-year term in November’s election, meaning she’ll have to choose one of those seats.

“I think most people believe this will be a very divided board,” Schwab said Monday night. “It was a hotly contested election and I don’t know if we’ll even be able to reorganize on Dec. 4. We certainly hope it never comes to that, but I asked the school board to approve the authorization to petition the judge to fill the final seat just in case.”

The district is less than two years removed from its last board deadlock.

Following the death of William Hill Jr. in 2016, a board stalemate landed the decision in President Judge Roger Nanovic’s lap, when he chose David Krause, who was voted out in the primary election this year.

The board also passed a motion authorizing Schwab to discuss school legal matters, waiving attorney client privilege, with newly elected board members at any orientation workshop.

Schwab said in past years new board members have sometimes met with department heads before officially taking office.

“In order to do that and bring them up to speed, we needed this motion,” Schwab said.

In his last meeting Monday night, Krause relinquished his position as board vice president. Stern was unanimously tabbed to fill the role.

“Being that I am going off the board, I’m doing this in good will for the district so that it has a better chance to reorganize next month and have some consistency moving forward,” Krause said.

Gloria Bowman also served in her final meeting as board president, having lost in November’s general election.

“It has been an honor to serve Lehighton for the last four years, and I know it will continue to grow and be its best always,” Bowman said. “All of the administration and staff work diligently each day for our students and I know there will be a sustained commitment from those who helped process our vision to move the district forward into the 21st century. To the new board members, let us unite for the betterment of the community. Teamwork accomplishes much more than individuals.”

Following her comments, Bowman received a standing ovation from the nearly 20 guests in attendance.