By Zorian Edwards, Editor-In-Chief, and Kaylee Reynolds, News and Features editor
Disclaimer: The Panther Press is not endorsing any particular viewpoint or side of this matter, all commentary will be turned off to prevent heated discussions in our comment sections. The purpose of this article is to give the public a brief overview of what happened during the Oct.2 voting meeting, what events led up to the decision made, and to answer the big questions asked by the community.
The PENNCREST school board held a special voting meeting to vote for a new superintendent on Oct. 2. at Cambridge Springs High School. The CSHS auditorium was filled with over two hundred people, fourteen of whom were registered to speak to the board beforehand.
All but one of the registered speakers asked that the board table the vote. The vote was tabled with a vote of 8-1 due to the manner the position was advertised.
What key points did the registered speakers bring up?
The registered speakers all managed to bring up the same key points which would include the students’ education, the board not handling the voting situation in a timely nor organized manner, the way the board members communicated towards one another, and the disrespect from them over not cooperating with them.
Who were the applicants for Superintendent?
The applicants for this position included two members within the district and one from outside the district. Ken Newman, who is the current assistant superintendent of PENNCREST, Patti Fiely, who is the Director of Student Services at PENNCREST, and lastly Dr. Smith, who is the principal of Belle Valley Elementary School.
What is the timeline?
Sept. 6- Superintendent of PENNCREST, Dr.Glasspool accepts the position at Belle Vernon.
Sept. 11- School board member Fred Bryant forwards an email from his personal email account to Dr. Glasspool, school board member David Valesky, and Board President Luigi Defrancesco. The email forwarded is from Dr. Smith, thanking Fred for their discussion the previous day and including his resume.
12:05 p.m. Board Secretary, Cynthia Paxton forwards a separate email to the board with Dr. Smith’s resume.
Sept.12- Dr. Glasspool reached out to all six internally qualified candidates; two staff members were qualified and interested. Some internal candidates were deemed unqualified by the board.
Additionally, one external candidate, Dr. Smith, was qualified. Interviews were set up shortly afterward.
“I advised all board members present on Sept. 21 that I would not support any external candidate until the position was fully posted and a good faith recruitment effort had been made,” Board member Threasa Croll (Lugo) said. “Internal candidates should have taken first priority.”
Sept.21- Interviews were conducted. Board member Jeff Brooks was the only board member not present. Interviews concluded by 8:30 p.m.
“I will not support any outside candidate and feel it is unethical to even hold this very selective interview.” Brooks said, “If we need to move to outside interviews, he can go through the process with other candidates on equal footing. I will wholeheartedly support either internal candidate if the rest of the board can agree. If we try to bring forth the outside candidate, I will vocally oppose his hire and the process.”
10:30 p.m. Fred Bryant sends out an email asking to cancel the action the board had agreed on previously.
“I recommend we hold off on advertising the superintendent position and instead advertise we’re prepared to vote.” Bryant said in an email to Dr. Glasspool, “In spite of his lack of experience in some areas, I believe Dr.Smith has the vision and drive we need to accelerate student and faculty performance.”
Sept.22- 9 a.m. After the board decided to open up the position to external search, Mr. DeFrancesco reached out to the superintendent and ordered the district to advertise for a special voting meeting on 10/2.
“I meet with my district Monday to discuss the transition,” Dr. Smith said in an email to Dr. Glasspool. “Will get there as soon as I can.”
Sept.25- Dr. Smith and Dr. Glasspool discuss; Smith told his district to post for his position as soon as possible. Nov. 1 will be his start date, according to Dr. Smith.
Dr. Smith emailed his staff at Belle Valley detailing how PENNCREST will vote to approve him and his resignation.
Sept.25 to Oct.2- Several community members and board members ask if a decision has been made and further questions regarding this situation. They were met with no response from the board Chair, Luigi Defrancesco, who called the meeting.
“Emails show several community members and board members ask if a decision has been made.” Brooks said, “Mr. DeFrancesco did address all issues. There has never been an explanation as to why the meeting was called if there was no consensus and why the external search was called off.”
Where can I find more information about the situation?
Erie News Now covered this event after it happened you can find their coverage here and here.
Our local newspaper wrote an article on this event shortly after it took place, you can find their article here and published an article about the work session tonight, you can find their article here.
Official voting meetings are always recorded by Armstrong and broadcasted on their TV channel, these recordings are also found on their YouTube channel. You can find their recording here.