By Matthew Saari
The Whitehall Board of Education held a special meeting last Thursday with the intent of adjourning to executive session but before board president Frank Barber Jr. could do so the board came under fire from a district resident who alleged that school administrators were playing favorites when they hired a teacher for the coming school year.
“I had some questions about the physical education position that you hired somebody for,” said Pat Rushia who sat in the audience.
The position was vacated with the departure of Nicole Valastro, who taught health and physical education in the high school, and last month the board appointed Chelsea Morse to teach health and physical education “down the road.”
In response to Rushia’s questions, high school principal Jeff Keller said there were 53 applicants and six were interviewed.
“What criteria did you use to select the six people?” Rushia asked.
“These questions are not appropriate,” said school superintendent Patrick Dee, in an effort to curtail the conversation.
“What do you mean they’re not appropriate?” asked Rushia.
This is only a preview of the story published in the Whitehall Times. To read the full story, pick up a print copy of this week’s paper at the newsstand or read it online here.