Schools
School Board Appoints Temporary Member
Robert Moskaitis, a technical director for Mintec and Ph.D. chemist, was narrowly chosen over East Stroudsburg University professor and educational statistician Bonnie Green.
The Easton Area School Board, at a special meeting Thursday night, chose Democratic school board candidate Robert Moskaitis over four other applicants to fill the seat .
Moskaitis, technical director for Mintec with a Ph.D. in chemistry, will serve in the appointed position through the end of the year. When the board reorganizes, the position will be filled by the winner of the November election and will run through the end of 2014.
During the interview process, Moskaitis said the most important part of being a school board member was “a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers” and stressed the importance of financial restraint.
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Moskaitis said his children are EASD graduates, and with them now out of school for a decade, “I'm free. I'm free to do the right thing.”
Moskaitis, on the ballot for November's election, said he would consider running for a four-year term in 2014 as well.
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Bonnie Green, a former elementary school teacher turned Ph.D. statistician whose focus is how people interact in educational systems, was narrowly passed over when the board tied 3-3 on appointing her.
Board members Tim Reilly and Pat Vulcano were not present.
A clear board majority of five votes is needed to appoint a replacement school board member.
Moskaitis similarly did not initially gain enough board votes to be appointed. Nominated by board members Millie Mandarino and Jodi Hess, the vote was initially 4-2, with members Pat Fisher and Kerri Ellison, who supported Green, voting no.
After being reminded the board was under a 30-day deadline to appoint a new member, Ellison changed her vote, giving Moskaitis a clear board majority.
The other board applicants to fill the District 3 position included former EASD teacher and principal Janet Matthews, Kenneth Kasprzak, and .
Moskaitis and Matthews are on the November Democratic ticket in the races to fill the slots left by Bilotti's resignation in June and Holzberger's in July, according a recent article in the Express-Times. Running on the Republican ticket will be Castrovinci and Patrick Glovas.