WHITEHALL, Pa. — A former Whitehall-Coplay School Board member will return to fill the seat of a school director whose resignation was accepted Monday.
Joe Shields received the board's unanimous vote. His appointment begins Jan. 1, and runs until December 2025.
Before the vote, the board voted, also unanimously, to accept "with regret" the resignation of Director Allison Schultz.
"I'm just happy to be back. I'm grateful that the board wanted me to come back and fill the rest of this term."Joe Shields, interim school director for Whitehall-Coplay
"I was asked by the board to fill a vacancy that was left by a resignation," Shields said.
"I'm a previous board member, and they were looking for someone to come back that could fill a position that already knows how the board operates.
"So I agreed to fill the rest of this term until the end of this coming year."
Shields has served in the position several times before, starting in 2017. He said it gives him a way to be involved.
"I like it because I like the opportunity to participate in the community," Shields said.
"I initially ran in 2017 because we were one of the last districts that didn't have full-day kindergarten, and that was something that was important to me to get on.
"We just love Whitehall. And you know, we have kids and two kids in the districts, and I just wanted to do something to participate."
He has a daughter in third grade and a son in second grade.
"I'm just happy to be back," said Shields, a union sheet metal worker in the construction industry. "I'm grateful that the board wanted me to come back and fill the rest of this term."
New assistant middle school principal
Also Monday, the board approved the appointment of a new assistant principal for Whitehall-Coplay Middle School.
Andrew Czekner is a graduate of West Chester University and has a master's degree in reading with a reading specialist certification from East Stroudsburg University. He also holds a master's degree in educational leadership from Delaware Valley University, and is pursuing a doctorate degree at Lehigh University.
He will start with an annual salary of $105,000, according to school board documents.
