Ten candidates were interviewed Wednesday night for a vacant seat on the Lehighton Area School District’s Board of Directors.

The seat was vacated when William Hill Jr. passed away on Jan. 1.Board President Hal Resh said the group of eight plans to take a vote at Monday night’s meeting.Should the board not come to a consensus, it could be up to a Carbon County Common Pleas judge to make the decision, according to solicitor William Schwab.Though the board unanimously voted to accept letters of interest and conduct interviews before taking a vote, Resh called the process “flawed,” noting that there is no set procedure on how to select a candidate.The Public School Code allows districts to fill vacancies by any means they see fit as long as a majority vote takes place at a public meeting.When Lori Nothstein was appointed to the board in 2014, she was the leading vote-getter to not be elected the previous November.Richard Beltz, board vice-president, said the district might look at changing its policy on how it fills vacant seats so the process is consistent each time.Several board members, including Gloria Bowman and Andrew Yenser, said they were pleased with the decision to interview candidates, calling it “a fair way to go about it.”All 10 candidates were asked one question by each board member with the exception of Byron Arner, who chose not to ask anything.Most of the discussion focused on how the candidates felt about building a new K-5 primary elementary center or renovating Lehighton’s four existing elementary schools.Currently, four board members voted to borrow $32.5 million for a new building, while one voted against the bond and three others campaigned on renovation.A 2014 feasibility study by EI Associates, though criticized by supporters of renovation, estimated the cost of building new and renovating both equaling $32.5 million.Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver and representatives from Public Financial Management, working on behalf of the district, have projected an elementary center would have a very small negative affect on the real estate tax millage rate over the life of a 30-year bond.Frank TamburriTamburri was the odd man out in November’s general election as the only person on the ballot not to be elected. He received 1,788 votes. In front of the board, he touted his construction background and feels it could pair well with those directors who have the educational expertise.While stating he isn’t against an elementary center, Tamburri said he believes some of the numbers projected by Lehighton’s architects are erroneous.“It’s never been about the school for me, it’s about the money,” he said. “I don’t think the numbers make sense. How can you tell me you have building projects costing close to $90 million and the town isn’t going to pay taxes? My daughter went to an elementary center and it was very good, but I don’t feel the town can afford it.”Tamburri said his biggest fear is that when all is said and done, the very students the district is trying to “save,” won’t be able to attend school in Lehighton because the debt burden will be too much for their families.David KrauseKrause is a former board member in Lehighton from 2005-13.Based on the information provided at board meetings, he said the efficiencies of a new building outweigh any benefits of renovating.“There will savings through energy and on the instructional side through consolidation,” Krause said. “It will benefit the kids and educational system.”Krause said he had no issues with the numbers projected by Lehighton’s administration.“You have to come up with numbers,” he said. “The district has always taken the conservative side and erred on the side of the worst case scenario.”With prior experience on the board, Krause said he believes he can hit the ground running.“I know the elementary center project will have a minimal impact on the tax base,” he said. “The district has already started the PlanCon process. With a moratorium on applications for new building projects, changing course could really push things back.”Larry SternAnother former board member, Stern ran for re-election in 2015, but did not receive enough votes in the primary election to get his name on the November ballot.If brought back on the board, he said his focus would remain on doing what is right for the students.“The key thing we have to keep in mind when talking renovations versus a combined center is the equality in access and support we can provide each student,” he said in a phone interview with the board Wednesday. “The way buildings are configured at this time, it is not an equitable distribution. We don’t have ample facilities to provide support for challenged and gifted students.”Changing course from building an elementary center would cause a 4.4-mill gap in Lehighton’s budget, Stern said.“The district would have no choice but to eliminate programs,” he said. “Our goal should be to produce the best students we can and support them in the best way we can. The most stability a lot of our children have is at school.”Duane EidemEidem was an eight-year board member in Lehighton including a stint as president.When the debate first started, he was in favor of renovation, but things have changed.“As time went on I saw the value of building a new school,” he said. “Instead of having students scattered all over place, my opinion turned toward building a new school. Building would be the ultimate thing because interest rates are low and there is no tax increase associated with it.”Of his experience, Eidem said he was a part of many contract negotiations within the district and was part of a team that settled a lawsuit over construction of the Lehighton Area High School.“I try to keep updated on anything put out there,” he said. “I like to research before making a decision.”David Bradley Sr.As a board member, Bradley said he would work to adopt a “fiscally responsible budget and get the district put of debt.”He dubbed the district “tax happy and financially ignorant.”The board, he said, raised taxes from 42 mills to 47.88 mills, starting in 2008, while operating at a surplus.“From 2009-13, the average surplus was $1.8 million,” Bradley said. “That is money the taxpayers needed, but you took it when you didn’t need it to operate your schools. In 2011, you had a $3.7 million surplus and chose to raise taxes.”The district’s job, Bradley said, is to protect children and not “saddle them with millions of dollars of debt for larger classrooms.”While he chose to interview for the vacant seat, Bradley said he’d rather see the board appoint Tamburri due to the amount of votes he tallied in the 2015 election.Stacey DuerstPresident of the Franklin Elementary PTO, Duerst said she has enjoyed her time as an intermediary between families and schools, and would look forward to extending that while working for all of the students in the district.Duerst also said she supports construction of an elementary center.“When you’re renovating 60-year-old buildings, you don’t know what you’ll find when you open up walls,” she said. “You might allocate $12 million, but find you need to spend $20 million or more. Then do you cut corners or increase the cost possibly to the point where you could have had a new school?”While potential tax increases due to rising pension payments or health care inflation will be there regardless of the building decision, Duerst said she believes the estimates that indicate a new center can be built without raising taxes for that purpose.“A new building would also allow the district to increase services and programs to the students who are most at need,” Duerst said. “We have kids who are transferring to all of the schools because some services are only available at one of the elementary schools.”Gary EckleyDespite submitting a letter of interest, Eckley also threw his support behind Tamburri for the vacant seat.“Represent the voters and listen to the people,” Eckley said. “The voters wanted that man and feel he should have the choice. I would gladly do this, but I think he is your guy.”Eckley said he has done research on his computer and found studies that smaller schools are more beneficial for students.“It’s more one on one with the students,” he said. “That is what we need. Worked in schools similar to an elementary center and they miss the small schools.”Terry LongLong said while a lot of the old versus new building debate has been about cost, most of it should be about what is better for the children.“You may find that building the center is cheaper because renovating is very expensive when you get into it,” Long said. “I think those studies have yet to be done.”A 32-year employee of the district, Long said he has a lot of experiences he can bring to the board that will be very helpful.Richard D. BeltzThe current planned location of the elementary center, adjacent to Lehighton Area High School, sits uneasy with Beltz.“I think it will pose problems,” he said. “I’d rather see the current buildings maintained. We have a tax base that isn’t expanding. There is hardly any new construction and we have to keep costs down based on that.”Beltz asked if the district needs an elementary center or just wants one?“If you have good teachers, they can still do their job,” he said. “I don’t feel we have the money for a big expansion.”Laura MoyerA Lehigh University employee and academic chair for the International Metallographic Society, Moyer wasn’t sure the groups she is involved in would leave her enough time to be a Lehighton Area School District board member and opted not to run for election in 2015.Confident she can make the time commitment, Moyer said she’s kept abreast of district happenings by reading board minutes on Lehighton’s website and would dive right in if selected to fill the vacancy.“When I take on positions I will read up on everything and know the facts,” she said. “I think the board has made a lot of progress in recent months. I see pros and cons to both sides of the building argument. When I first heard about the center, I got excited at the things we could do for our students as opposed to when our schools are split.”Moyer said she feels the addition of an elementary center would provide a safer building for students and benefit special needs and gifted students who now have to bounce from school to school for special services.“We want to maintain a good public school system for our community and make sure we keep kids so they don’t go to different districts.