Turner chosen for vacant board seat

PHOENIXVILLE » Things added up right for Susan Turner.

A Schuylkill Township engineer who teaches math at West Chester University, Turner was chosen Monday from among seven applicants to fill the vacancy on the Phoenixville School Board.

It took the school board more than four rounds of voting to finally get to the point where Turner received more votes than the second candidate, Maureen Buckley, each of whom received six of eight votes on several rounds of voting.

During the voting, all seven candidates were nominated by various sitting members, but voting

ultimately narrowed the field to Turner and Buckley.

Because the interview and voting were done remotely, even after Turner was selected, she could not participate in the meeting because the law requires she be sworn into office in person.

Turner will replace Lori Broker, who resigned Aug. 24 citing family issues.

Broker was elected in 2017, and the term on the seat she vacated expires in December 2021.

Originally, eight people had applied to fill the post. They were Lee Reedy, Chris Marshall, Lisa Longo, Susan Turner, Maureen Buckley, Kendra O’Donnell, Robert Rodriguez and Charles Miller.

However as the Monday night meeting got underway, Longo, a former board member, used the public comment period to withdraw her name

from consideration.

Since she decided against running for reelection to the board in 2019 and unsuccessfully sought countywide office, Longo has been critical of the current school board. In particular, she has criticized the board’s public revelations concerning the investigation of financial improprieties by the former finance director and the forensic audit released in April.

Last week when she was interviewed, Longo faced some pointed questions, particularly from board members Laura Reed and Christopher Caltagirone.

Monday night, Longo said those questions had weighed heavily on her mind over the last few days and led her to conclude she would have a hard time working with the current board.

In other matters, Superintendent Alan Fegley reviewed the coronavirus infection rate metrics the district will use to consider

allowing some athletic competition and a return to partial in-person instruction.

A decision on whether the metrics are adequate to allow those measures to move forward is scheduled for Oct. 12.

However, in the wake of several public comments pressing the board to reinstate fall sports sooner, board member David Golberg tried to convince the board to move that decision date closer.

“We can’t wait that long. By the time we get around to making a decision, there won’t be any fall season left,” Golberg said.

“I am very dissatisfied with the speed with which the district is moving on this,” said Golberg, who described the procedure being followed as a “slow roll.”

However, he failed to convince the other board members and was the only member to vote yes on his motion to full reinstate sports with no health guidelines Sept. 28.