The six candidates elected to the West Chester Area School Board in November were sworn in Monday night at the board’s formal reorganization meeting. Ed Coyle, Karen Miller, Vince Murphy, Linda Raileanu, Maureen Snook and Sue Tiernan were given the oath of office and joined current members Maria Pimley, Heidi Adsett and Sean Carpenter. Through Pimley took over presidential responsibilities temporarily while the candidates were sworn it, Murphy was unanimously elected by the board as president for a one-year term.
Adsett was then elected for her second term as vice president by a unanimous vote. During public comment, resident Steve Sobieck asked the officials to cast their votes on the state Senate Bill 327 proposed by Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19th, of West Whiteland. The bill would abolish the current election process for the school board that requires candidates to go through a traditional primary and receive a party nomination. Should the bill pass, candidates would get their names on the ballot by submitting nomination papers with the signatures of a minimum number of qualified electors, 250 in the case of the West Chester Area School District. The names of these candidates would then appear independent of any party affiliation on the ballots at the time of the election. The legislation has supporters and critics. School board meeting dates for 2012 were also finalized at the meeting and are listed on the district’s website. All future meetings will be held in the auditorium of J. R. Fugett Middle School at 500 Ellis Lane in West Chester until further notice.
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