Council Rock School Board To Reorganize, Elect New Leadership

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — The Council Rock School Board will hold its reorganization meeting tonight (Dec. 7) beginning at 7 p.m. at the Chancellor Center in Newtown.

Four new board members and two returning board members will be sworn into office and take their seats on the nine member board. Among their first order of business will be the election of a new president and vice president.

For the first time in memory, Democrats will hold the majority of seats on the board, including the four Together for Council Rock candidates who ran for election as a slate in November. They will join incumbent Democrat Yota Palli to make up the board majority.

The Together for Council Rock candidates who will take their seats tonight are:

• Tracey Osecki, Region 1 (Newtown).
• Ed Tate, re-elected in Region 2 (Newtown).
• Linda Stone, Region 5 (Northampton).
• Nicole Khan, Region 9 (Newtown and Wrightstown).

Two Republicans will also be joining the board tonight. They are:

• Joe Hidalgo, re-elected in Region 4 (Northampton).
• Anne Horner, Region 7 (Northampton).

They will join board incumbents Bob Hickey (Region 3, Republican), Yota Palli (Region 8, Democrat), and Michael Roosevelt (Region 6, Republican).

Following the reorganization meeting, the board will hold a special meeting to consider the Act 1 Index for 2024-25.

The state is capping the index at 5.3 percent for next year, meaning school boards who adopt the index are limited to a 5.3 percent increase in taxes next year. Due to next year's early Primary,
school districts only have until January 4 to act on the index.

The district’s financial team is expected to brief new and returning board members on the Act 1 Index and to make a recommendation.