Panther Valley School Board appointed a new truant officer last week, but not everyone agreed with the appointment.

Summit Hill resident Roobhenn Smith will be new truant officer, beginning Nov. 25 at a pro-rated salary of $29,141.25.Roy Angst voted against Smith's appointment, saying. "My reason for voting no, is because I feel it is inconsistent with what the board said our policy was going to be when we started laying people off and calling substitutes. We indicated that we wanted to show our appreciation to the people who substituted here, particularly since oftentimes it was for less money than they could have gotten in other districts. I thought we were going to show favoritism toward those people who substituted for us or worked with us."He added, "In this case we have an applicant who substituted over a four-year period and got satisfactory evaluations, and we are passing over this gentleman for someone who has never been on our payroll. This is inconsistent with what we said we are going to do, that is why I vote no," Angst said.Smith will be replacing Elizabeth Wehr who will be resigning effective Nov. 27."I am genuinely excited about the opportunity. I have been involved with the community from being on the little league board and coaching at the varsity level with the high school kids. It is a great opportunity, and as I said during the interview, if you aren't part of the solution then you are part of the problem and I want to be a part of the solution," Smith said in an interview following the meeting.Honoring board membersThe Pennsylvania School Board Association has honored Panther Valley School Board Treasurer Anthony Demarco for eight years of service, and retired member David Hines for 12 years of service to the district."Since 1983 the Pennsylvania School Board Association has been recognizing the contributions of dedicated local school board directors for long term service when they reach 8, 12, 16, 20 and four year intervals from then on. Tonight it is my pleasure to honor Anthony Demarco for 8 years of service," Superintendent Rosemary Porembo said at the school board meeting last week.She also announced that former board member, David Hiles, who was not in attendance at the time, would be receiving a certificate of appreciation for 12 years of service to the board.The board hired Ronald Yurchack as a permanent, full-time, 2nd shift custodian at the high school effective immediately.The board accepted the resignation of elementary school art teacher, Tanya Lilly-Rivera, effective Dec. 17. The board had no comment on her reasons for resigning.Cynthia Levis was hired as a long-term, part-time, substitute German teacher at the high school for the 2013-2014 school year. She will start on Oct. 30 and be paid a salary of $35,085.Corrine Gates was continued as a long-term substitute middle school physical education teacher, effective immediately. She will continue until the end of the 2013-2014 school year at her current contract rate of $37,485.The board approved a contract with Sweet, Stevens, Katz, & Williams LLP for a cost of $185 per hour from now until the end of the 2014-2015 school year. They also approved a food service contract with the SHINE afterschool program.The board revised the stipend Special Education Department Head, Tracey Ferally, from $850 to $1000 for the 2013-2014 school year. They also revised the start date of high school special education teacher, Justine Shamey-Bauder, to Oct. 7 and appointed Holly Guedes as her mentor.The board hired Julie Gower as the homebound instructor for the middle school for the 2013-2014 school year at a rate of $30 per hour and approved an unnamed 6th grader for homebound instruction.