Gary Porembo, husband of former Panther Valley Superintendent of Schools Rosemary Porembo, was named to fill an unexpired term on Panther Valley School Board.

The board voted 5-1, with one abstention, on Monday to appoint Porembo, who is a candidate for the board in the November general elections.Voting against the appointment of Porembo was Irene Genther, while supporting him were Jeff Markovich, Michelle Markovich, John Williams, Dan Heaney and Anthony DeMarco. Absent was Brian Dolena. Bill Hunsicker abstained from voting.Genther nominated Wayne Gryzik to fill the vacancy, created by the resignation in April of Roy Angst. DeMarco then nominated Porembo.Genther said she favored Gryzik because he tallied the most votes by both parties in the recent primary election.DeMarco countered that the board had set a May 15 deadline for letters of interest from people seeking Angst's seat, and only Porembo applied by that date."The highest vote-getter by the public was Gryzik," said Genther.DeMarco replied, "Stop making it political," and said his vote was based on the application cutoff date.Porembo, a resident of Nesquehoning, finished third overall in combined voting by both parties in the primary election, according to unofficial results. There are five vacancies to be filled and there were six candidates who cross-filed, including Gryzik and Porembo. Porembo finished fourth of seven Democratic candidates and second of six Republican candidates in the primary election.In other business, the board approved three-year contracts with cafeteria personnel.Also approved was a contract for three years with secretarial and maintenance personnel who are members of Teamsters union Local 773.Kenneth Marx Jr., business manager, said the cafeteria workers will be receiving salary increases of about 2.3 percent over the life of the contract. The secretarial and maintenance personnel will be getting 1 1/2 to 3 percent increases over the contract length.George Krajnak, maintenance supervisor, said the building project is on schedule and will be complete by the June deadline.The project involves adding classroom space and then reconfiguring classroom assignments.Krajnak said moving will occur during the summer months and occupancy will occur by the beginning of the new school year.Kindergarten to third grade will remain at the present Nesquehoning Elementary School, grades four to six will move to the current middle school, which will be called the Panther Valley Intermediate School. Grades seven to 12 will be at the present Panther Valley High School, including where the new classrooms were added, and will be known as the Panther Valley Junior-Senior High School.The board president said there will be an open house announced for the public regarding the new classrooms.