Several current Lehighton Area School District board members responded Monday night to comments made by two board members who recently resigned and another who said in an email he intends to do the same.

The resignations of Marianne Dwyer and Byron Arner were accepted at Monday's workshop meeting.Board President Gloria Bowman read what she called a "collective statement from the board," which addressed Dwyer's opinion that voters should have filled board vacancies following the death of William Hill and resignation of Hal Resh earlier this year."The process for filling a vacated board seat is set by Pennsylvania School Code," Bowman said. "If someone has an issue with that process, then they should contact their representative to get it changed rather than criticize the board for the process."Following Hill's death, the board could not agree on a candidate and six people made their case before Judge Roger Nanovic, who ultimately decided on David Krause.Following Resh's resignation in April, the board voted 6-1 to appoint Larry Stern."This time, the majority of the board voted their friend back in," Dwyer said.Bowman said Stern was one of the candidates who went through the rigorous process to fill Hill's seat."He was chosen not because he was a friend of the board, but because he is a friend of education trying to do what is best for the students and community," Stern said.While still on the board although having said he intends to resign, Richard Beltz wrote a letter to the Times News accusing the board of "building monuments to themselves to cement their legacy."No board member has made such a statement, Bowman said."We are also uncertain how someone can make a statement predicting taxes will double in 10 years when this goes against all the facts presented to us," she said. "Many presentations have been made by Public Financial Management and our business office illustrating there will be no tax increases for the debt service of the building projects."Beltz also said he wouldn't be part of a board that "made backroom deals," a statement that Bowman called a serious accusation without substantiation or details to back it up."This kind of allegation may result in legal consequences of libel by those making such comments," Bowman said.Arner, Dwyer and Beltz were all elected in the 2015 general election."The fact that we have had so many resignations by newly elected board members puts into question their motivation for running and a lack of commitment to not only those that elected them, but our entire community," Bowman said.