Facing two vacancies and a soon-to-be third, Lehighton Area School District is accepting resumes and letters of interest for its open board seats.

The seven remaining board members unanimously approved a motion Monday night to place an advertisement in the Times News on Wednesday and Saturday, before meeting next Thursday night to interview candidates.

Two seats opened up last week when Directors Larry Stern and Rita Spinelli announced they were resigning, both stating they couldn’t foresee a productive working relationship on the board moving forward.

Two new board members, Kerry Sittler and Walter Zlomsowitch, will be seated on Dec. 6, and Monday’s meeting included a debate on whether the decision as to who will replace Stern and Spinelli should be tabled until they have a vote.

“We have 30 days to fill the seats and I just thought we should take a crack at it next week,” said Joy Beers, who was appointed last week to succeed Stern as board president until the Dec. 6 reorganization meeting.

“If the board can’t come to an agreement on candidates to fill the seats, we would still have time to try again when the new board members are seated before the decision would go to a judge.”

If the board does not appoint someone to fill the seats within 30 days, the district can petition a Carbon County judge to do it.

Twice within the past decade, the decision to fill an LASD board vacancy landed in Carbon County President Judge Roger Nanovic’s lap after the board at the time deadlocked 4-4 on candidates.

“These two resignations happened a few weeks short of our reorganization meeting, so I feel they should be replaced immediately,” Director Barbara Bowes said.

“They were current sitting members who would have gone to reorganization on Dec. 6.”

Resumes and letters of interest will be accepted by email, mail or in person at the district administration building until Dec. 1.

The meeting on Dec. 2 for candidate interviews will begin at 7 p.m. at the district administration building.

The board, according to Monday’s motion, may also vote to fill the vacancies that same night.

The appointed candidates would serve for the remainder of Stern and Spinelli’s terms, of which two years are left.

Three board members, Stephen Holland, David Bradley and Gail Maholick, are set to see their terms expire when the Dec. 6 reorganization meeting rolls around. None of the three sought reelection in 2021.

A third seat will be open following the reorganization meeting.

Wayne Wentz’s resignation earlier this year left a two-year seat on the board up for grabs during the general election.

Zlomsowitch won that seat with 2,495 token votes as the Democratic Party did not nominate a candidate to oppose him.

He also won a four-year seat with 2,371 votes. Zlomsowitch is choosing the four-year seat, leaving the remaining directors to appoint someone to fill the two-year seat.