One Director resigns, another newly elected at Southern Columbia Area School Board
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CATAWISSA RR - The Southern Columbia Area School Board said farewell to one director and greeted a new one at Monday evening's regular meeting.
The board unanimously accepted the resignation of Director Timothy Benner, who had been on the board since October 2007.
In the general election last week, Benner won one of four seats on the Catawissa Borough Council. Since he cannot serve on both boards, he resigned from the school board .
The resignation of the Region II director was approved along with other personnel items. Directors Dave Stellfox and Timothy Vought made and seconded the motion, which passed unanimously, 7-0. Benner and Director Eric Stahley did not attend the meeting. The resignation was effective immediately. The board will advertise for a replacement.
The board welcomed newly-elected director Jennifer Shoup, who won the Region II position with 276 votes in the general election, in which she ran unopposed. Shoup won a write-in campaign in the primary election when incumbent director Paul Starr chose to not run for re-election. Starr was appointed to the board two years ago.
"Most people look at this as a thankless job," said Shoup after the meeting. "I look at this as an opportunity to work with other people in the area and make the best decisions for the children."
Shoup, 38, of Catawissa, has 15 years worth of education experience at the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit where she has held four positions, the last being an alternative and special education supervisor. Last month, she was hired by Bloomsburg University as the director of elementary and secondary education.
Shoup said she will bring her experience and knowledge to the position, adding that she thinks the board should be comprised of people with various backgrounds and knowledge bases. With her background, she said she can focus on special education, curriculum and evaluating staff and programs.
On the district's $20 million building project, Shoup said changes are definitely needed, but she will need to study the project more to be knowledgeable.
Shoup has two children, Mark, 3, and Hunter, 7, who is a second-grade student in the district. She has lived in the district for 10 years.
In other business:
- The district will reimburse the Pennsylvania Department of Education $369,980 for a previous building project in order to be eligible for a large PDE reimbursement of nearly $3 million for the current building project.
- There was an executive session before and after the meeting for discussion of litigation issues.
- Sen. John R. Gordner (R-27) will be the special guest speaker for the high school Veteran's Day program at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. The program is open to all veterans and high school students.
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