School board appoints two replacement members
BUTLER TWP — The Butler Area School District board of directors appointed Cecilia Tomko and Phil Heasley on Monday, May 22, to fill the unexpired terms left by the resignation of two board members last month.
Both appointees ran to be on the board in the primary election and received enough votes to move on to the general election in November.
Heasley, of Center Township, said he ran for school board to ensure that every student in the district “gets the education that’s right for them, regardless of their abilities or circumstances.”
Tomko, of Butler Township, said she feels it’s a responsibility to teach students the tools they need to learn anything in life, “from gardening to government” and how to think logically to reason and problem solve.
Bill Halle resigned from the board April 30, after a 17-year-old’s father obtained a sexual violence protection order against him two days prior to that, claiming Halle had a sexual relationship with the minor.
Regenold Griffin resigned April 24, citing personal reasons for leaving the board. Both terms expire at the end of the year.
During the committee of the whole meeting, the school board heard three-minute presentations from eight people who applied to fill the seats on the board, highlighting their experience and qualifications for serving. At its May 8 meeting, board members discussed the potential of appointing candidates who ran in the primary election, because they could fill in school board seats at the start of 2024.
School board president Jennifer Cummings said candidacy wasn’t a requirement for an applicant to be appointed, but board members likely would take it into consideration.
Cummings and district superintendent Brian White urged the rest of the applicants to get involved with the school district in other ways, like by applying to be on one of the district’s advisory committees.
“Some of our advisory committees are in desperate need,” White said.
The board also appointed member Gary Shingleton to serve on the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV board of directors, and member Mary Waggoner to serve on the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School’s Joint Operating Committee.
Halle was a member of both boards, so the board needed to choose replacements.
The board also appointed members Al Vavro and Nina Teff to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
