The Salisbury Township School District School Board held a special meeting July 8 with the intent of selecting a candidate to fill the vacant board seat left by the premature departure of Courtney Gibbs, which she announced at a meeting June 22. About 30 community members joined the school board on Zoom to watch the selection process.

To start the meeting, Board Secretary Michael Taylor reviewed the interview process. There were eight interviewees, who met the following qualifications of Pennsylvania citizenship, good moral character, at least 18 years of age and a resident of the Salisbury school district for at least one full year. Interested parties were directed to submit letters of interest to the board. Those who met all of the above standards received invitations to interview with the board during the special public meeting.

The eight individuals who met the criteria were Tiffany Reither, Thomas Spinner, Valerie Ackerman, Carlo Jose, Catherine Spisszak, Mark Simmons, Rebecca Glenister and Samantha Dorney.

The interview consisted of six preselected questions for each candidate and response time was limited to 15 minutes each in order to keep the process moving in a timely fashion.

After all the candidates responded, the board would have a forum to publicly discuss the candidates and ask follow-up questions. At that time, the board would accept nominations for candidates from the pool of interviewees. Once all the nominations were heard, the board president would initiate a roll-call style vote. Five votes or more were required to declare a candidate a winner. If during the initial vote, no nominee received five or more votes, a runoff between the two candidates with the most votes at that point would occur. This process would continue, with more follow-up questions asked by the board, if the vote results did not yield a clear majority.

The six questions the board asked of the interviewees were the following:

1. Why are you interested in serving on the board?

2. What are the challenges facing the Salisbury township school district?

3. If you are the successful candidate, what do you see your role being in solving these challenges?

4. How do you see yourself working with other members of the board and leadership team?

5. In reviewing board-related issues, what kind of data would you need to help you make decisions?

6. What qualities, skills and experience would you bring to the board?

After the first round of questioning was completed, board members did not have any follow-up questions for the candidates. At this time, the floor opened for nominations. Board member Joseph Gnall nominated Simmons, Mary Zeigler nominated Glenister, Sarah Nemitz nominated Spisszak and Carol Klinger nominated Dorney. After the initial vote, no clear winner emerged; however, Simmons and Glenister received the bulk of the votes and would be required to runoff against each other until one received a clear majority of five or more votes.

At this time, the floor opened to additional follow-up inquiries by the board members. Gnall asked, “What do you think is one of the biggest challenges for students, day in and day out, (without the present COVID-19 situation in play) and what can the board do to help?”

“Mental health issues are not something to overlook. (They are an) increasing issue in our schools and this pandemic is not going to help,” Glenister said.

Simmons responded he believed the isolation dynamic in our current world, which is then tied to mental health and safety at home, is a prevailing issue. If he were a board member, he would work to help make sure kids are establishing meaningful connections.

Board member Samuel DeFrank asked, “How would you address or focus the issue with charter schools?”

Simmons’ response focused on bringing the special aspects of a Salisbury education to the fore, with programs such as Project Wonder, which offers an “out of the box” alternative education option. “At Salisbury we offer a private school education in a public school setting,” Simmons said.

Glenister offered the solution of educating the community about what charter schools both do and don’t offer when it comes to education, as well as what it actually costs the district when a student enrolls in a charter school. She would like to be able to explain, in detail, how much money actually leaves the district when a student transfers to a charter school.

The results of the second round of voting came in with a total of five votes for Glenister and two votes for Simmons, making Glenister the clear winner of the vacant board seat.

Simmons graciously accepted Glenister’s win, saying, “I appreciate the opportunity and I absolutely look forward to supporting the board and school district in any capacity I can.”

“I want to thank everybody for being willing to make the contribution to the public and to the district for representing the kids, teachers, entire staff and community. I’m impressed with everyone that came and made an attempt and appreciate everyone for doing so,” Board President George Gatanis said.