Danville School Board fills two open director positions

Jan. 3—DANVILLE — The Danville Area School Board filled two open school director positions Wednesday night. Robert Umbriac and Dr. Sam Faulkner were nominated and approved after the board heard from eight interested candidates.

All candidates were given three minutes to answer the same question: "We have two current vacant positions on the school board. Please tell us why you are the best candidate for one of these two appointed positions?"

In Umbriac's response, he said, "I love this community and felt perhaps this would be a way to contribute my time to better education. I understand education is paramount and I'd like to see a well-rounded education."

Umbriac said he worked in the medical field for 40 years and made efforts to get a health education program started in the Danville district, but the progress was stalled by the pandemic.

During the voting process, Umbriac was nominated by Director Wayne Brookhart who said he appreciated the candidate's intentions.

Directors Brookhart, June Heeter, Derl Reichard, and Richard Vognetz voted in favor of Umbriac. Directors Tyler Garman, Kerry Hoffman and Green voted against. With a majority of four votes, Umbriac was appointed.

In his response to the board's question, Faulkner said he found himself in the same place he was last March when he was initially appointed to the board.

"I said I was here to hone in and focus on the mental health of the students in the district. We developed Mental Health Task Force and used the group to make evidence-based decisions on how to take care of our kids," he said. "I was also a member of academic affairs committee and looked to make sure we were selecting and implementing evidence based curriculum for the success of our students."

Faulkner was nominated two separate times after receiving only three votes during the first nomination.

Green nominated Faulkner both times and said, "One of the biggest issues in this district was mental health and I know he has been talked about as if that is the only thing he brings to the board, but he demonstrated that was not the only thing he focused on."

Referencing students in attendance at the meeting, Green added, "There are students over there nodding and agreeing with me. I think that shows it is the best thing to do for the children."

Brookhart also spoke in favor of Faulkner.

"He's a good person and he cares," Brookhart said. "There was nothing about him that would lead me to believe he wouldn't do the best thing for the kids."

In the second vote, Faulkner earned the majority with Brookhart, Heeter, Hoffman and Green voting in favor and Garman, Reichard and Vognetz voting against.

Heeter was the only director to change her vote and explained her decision. "I voted no before, but putting one certain thing to the side, I see he is the best thing for the kids," she said.

The other candidates the board heard from were Castan Kiersch, Jeffrey Kwiecien, Derl Reichard Jr., Keith Rine, Janice Shepperson and Kelly Smith-Wells.

Kelly Smith-Wells, a former secondary teacher in the Danville district, was nominated twice by Brookhart, but did not receive a majority of either vote.

In her statement to the board, Smith-Wells said she was a teacher in the district for 26 years and retired in 2022. "Public education has been my life and I miss it since I retired," she said. "I feel like I have a lot to contribute to the education system and think I can make more of a difference than what I already have."

Hoffman nominated Kiersch, a physical therapist who previously served on the board, though Kiersch received only two votes in his favor.

Reichard Jr. was nominated by Green. The district solicitor Jennifer Dambeck said Director Derl Reichard was able to vote for his son, though the candidate received only three votes in his favor.