Tom Connors, Weatherly Area School District’s representative to the Carbon Career & Technical Institute Joint Operating Committee, is defending himself against accusations made at a Palmerton school board meeting, saying he never threatened anyone and that cameras at CCTI can prove it.

“CCTI has cameras all over,” Connors said by phone Thursday. “If someone felt threatened, call the police. Let them pull the cameras. There’s nothing there.”

The dispute stems from accusations made by Palmerton board president Earl Paules, who said Wednesday his district won’t send representatives to CCTI meetings until Weatherly changes its representative. Paules described what he called a verbal attack by Connors on Palmerton’s current alternate representative, Kris Schaible, at last Thursday’s CCTI meeting.

“It was really bad,” Paules said during Palmerton’s meeting. “I won’t allow Alyson (Krawchuk-Boschen) or Kris to go there as a result. I’m not going to do it. They’re not safe.”

Krawchuk-Boschen is Palmerton’s main CCTI JOC representative.

Connors’ account

Connors said the accusations are unfounded and stem from a long-standing conflict with Paules, who previously served on the JOC. According to Connors, Paules was removed following an incident during director hiring discussions.

“We were looking at hiring a director, and it wasn’t going his way with it, and he ended up telling the one candidate they were too old for the position,” Connors said. “In front of the candidate, in front of the solicitor, in front of the rest of the JOC. So that was going to cause us legal problems.”

Connors said the situation escalated when Paules “challenged me to step outside, because he said he didn’t like me. This was witnessed by every JOC member, the solicitor, everybody else. He threatened me in front of everybody.”

Following the recent CCTI meeting, Connors said tensions flared again during a heated phone conversation with Paules that lasted about 20 minutes. According to Connors, Paules made threats during that call.

Connors also described an incident involving his sister, who was hired as an incoming CCTI principal. He said Paules made inappropriate comments after the meeting, asking what Connors would do if his sister suggested changes, and using profanity to describe how he might respond to her.

Underlying financial dispute

The personal conflicts have overshadowed a broader dispute over CCTI’s fund balance practices. Paules said the core issue involves excessive fund balance levels maintained for over a decade.

“The problem still exists that for over a decade, they operate on a fund balance that is 60% of their budget,” Paules said. “That’s unheard of. No other technical school does that. Nobody. But they do up there. You’re only reducing by $250,000 of a $5 million fund balance.”

Four out of five of CCTI’s sending school districts have approved a revised budget. The budget passed following a 7-2 vote by the Panther Valley School Board earlier this month, with Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, and Weatherly Area school districts having also approved it.

CCTI’s Joint Operating Committee voted in early May to reduce the amount the five sending schools would pay by around $250,000 for the 2025-26 school year.

Defends CCTI

Connors defended CCTI’s financial management, noting the school hasn’t had an increase in 12 years while other districts raise taxes regularly.

“Every other school in the district is raising taxes every couple years. CCTI is fiscally responsible. They have the longest tenured business manager, 30 years there,” Connors said.

He suggested Paules’ motivation involves gaining more control over CCTI operations.

Connors said he believes Paules wants CCTI to operate like Lehigh Carbon Community College Technical Institute, where sending districts have more voting power based on their size.

“Earl wants to run like LCTI, so Palmerton gets more voting members. That’s what he told me,” Connors said. “That doesn’t benefit my district in any way, because we’re the smallest one.”

Moving forward

Despite the budget’s passage, Palmerton representatives say they will continue pressing for reforms.

The district had previously outlined specific proposals including an “Immediate Drawdown of Fund Balance” until it reaches “a maximum of 3 months operating expenditures,” policy overhauls, and yearly budget meetings with personnel from all sending schools.

“We’re going to continue to fight this stuff,” Paules said. “Again, this is our money. We know it’s our money. It’s not right for our taxpayers.”

Paules said Palmerton Superintendent Angela Friebolin tried to explain the district’s position last week but encountered resistance from CCTI board members.

“They told her she’s a first time superintendent, and he wouldn’t listen to a thing she has to say,” Paules said.

Sherry Haas, a Palmerton director, expressed concern about missing voting opportunities if representatives don’t attend meetings in person and can’t participate virtually.

Board member Krawchuk-Boschen suggested requesting safety officer presence after meetings as a potential solution.

“They do have a safety officer there and we can always ask them to stay with us until we get to our vehicle after the meetings,” Krawchuk-Boschen said.