School Director Discord Over Officer Nomination

Monday's school board meeting welcomed new members to the board, and challenged tradition right out of the gate. 

The meeting, held at , began by swearing in newly elected members. Newcomers J and were sworn in with re-elected board members and Lindsay and Lycett take the seats vacated by Mike Eddinger, who decided to not run for re-election, and Bill Miracle, who was defeated in his bid for re-election. 

It was the election of school board officers that highlighted a shift in board tradition. When the call for vice presidential nominations yielded Dimmig, Gunkle took issue with the nomination.

"I just want to say I am very disturbed how this process came about, with private negotiations behind the scenes," said Gunkle. "There were three public meetings and his name was not [mentioned]."

Traditionally, Southern Lehigh board members submitted their names for consideration to a single board member, who then informed the board. This year, board members were asked to submit their names to Miracle. 

This tradition, however, was one that Dimmig vehemently disagreed with. "I didn’t feel I needed to turn my name into Bill Miracle," said Dimmig. "Nomination should be in [open public meetings]."

"As Mr. Dimmig pointed out, there is a tradition of discussion between board members [who want to run for office] to avoid a public event such as is unfolding right here," explained board president Thomas McLoughlin to those in attendance.

However, as board member Bill Hayes pointed out, the tradition is not part of school board bylaws. 

"It's part of the culture and part of the process, but nothing is in writing," said Hayes. "Even though Dimmig's nomination didn’t follow what we consider to be protocol, it’s nothing we can challenge. There is nothing that precludes Jeff [Dimmig] from throwing his hat in the ring any time." 

After Dimmig nominated Gunkle for vice president, the board voted between the two by secret ballot. The board ultimately voted for Dimmig, 6-3. Gunkle will serve as board treasurer.