Three candidates were interviewed for the position of school board director at a special meeting Feb. 19 at the administration buildng.

Carol Klinger, Susan Lea and Gerald Judge volunteered to fill the seat of Robert Fischer whose resignation was announced at the Jan. 14 meeting.

School board directors are volunteers and are not paid for their involvement.

All candidates were asked 10 questions during the public meeting, including why they were interested in serving, what they perceived the responsibilties of a school board member to be, what their plan would be to become educated if they were selected, the greatest challenge facing school districts today, the greatest challenge facing Salisbury Township School District, how they would address these challenges, what would be most difficult in being a school board memeber, how they saw themselves working with the board and the superintendent, what they would do if faced with a tough decision such as cutting programs or raising taxes and what qualities, skills, experiences they would bring to the board.

Board members were then given the opportunity to ask additional questions of the candidates.

Klinger is a former teacher at Salisbury Middle School. She retired last year after over 30 years with the district.

Klinger said she was interested in serving "to put the kids in the district first." Living in the district since 1982, she knows the residents, knows what parents expect from teachers and the district, has seen what the laptop initiative has done and would like to stay connected to the kids. Klinger has two daughters who have graduated from Salisbury

Lea is the mother of two children who attend Western Salisbury Elementary School. She is also the stepmother of students who went through the district and "went on to do extraordinary things."

Lea is an attorney who is used to researching and learning new things. "I care about what happens in the district and am happy with the district." Lea wants to continue the positive education she has seen by serving on the board.

Judge has been a resident for 24 years and believes in public service, serving on several boards currently and in the past.

"I represent the taxpayer," Judge said. "I would prudently look at the board expenses, budget and income and make prudent decisions to further education in Salisbury."

Following the interviews, the board voted 7-1 to appoint Klinger to the board of directors.

Klinger will serve until December.

Interested candidates to serve on the board must submit their petition with signatures by March 10. They will then be placed on the ballot for the primary in May. For more information on petitions, contact Jennifer Kirk at jkirk@stsd. org or call 610-797-2062.