Something rotten is happening at Parkland School District. Time to change course. | letters

When Pennsylvania Senator-elect Jarrett Coleman, R-Bucks/Lehigh, announced his resignation from the Parkland School Board, I had advocated and continued to believe that the process for selecting a replacement needs to be done in an open and transparent fashion.

In reality, the process the board selected to take would all but ensure an institutional candidate would be selected to fill the vacancy. In a recent press release, President Fachianno was quoted as saying, “by doing this, the School Board stays nonpartisan”. However, the result was inherently partisan, as it renders a result that is pleasing to the board.

What is worse is that the decision to go this route and select a candidate is being done behind the scenes, thereby eliminating public comment or input. I had pushed for an open process, whereby candidates could apply and be interviewed, however that was rejected.

I was further embarrassed when questions were raised by the community regarding the process to apply, and my colleagues chose to hide behind their decision and state that that nothing has been decided.

I believe that it is time for debate on board action being done in the sunshine and allow for all stakeholders to understand where board directors stand on any given issue. There is something rotten with the state of the Parkland School District. The board leadership is askew if it fully stands behind this process to fill the board vacancy.

Finally, I will continue to fight for transparency, accountability, and good governance, which should be the norm in government.

Patrick H. Foose is a Parkland School Board director and member of the Lehigh Career & Technical Institute’s joint operating committee.