Northern Lehigh School Board held a special meeting Monday to appoint Ryan VanNorman to fill an open seat through the end of the year.

VanNorman was one of two candidates who applied for the post. The other was Timothy Weaber.

The vote in VanNorman’s favor was 5-2, with directors Angela Williams and board President Mathias Green opposed.

Director Chad Christman was absent.

VanNorman said he’s been involved in many community aspects throughout his life, with 20 years in education. He said he started as a teacher, doing his student teaching at Northern Lehigh, followed by middle school teaching, high school teaching, and then on to vocational school teaching high school students.

“I don’t have any type of agenda,” said VanNorman, who added he’s been involved with lots of community aspects and saw the board opening. “Just realizing if there’s a vacancy and you need somebody to fill it I have plenty of knowledge within the school setting to assist if needed.”

VanNorman said that from his time in education, he’s gone through superintendent courses, and had to deal with everything from personnel, HR, and fiscal responsibility, understanding budgets, maintaining those budgets, “also balancing that with what is the true need and with that true need are we doing the best for our community and the students at the same time.”

VanNorman expressed what he believes to be the biggest challenge currently facing public education.

“Anything that comes up can be a challenge, it depends on what the focus and need is at the time, but honestly everything that comes across the board is very important to deal with, so as far as the biggest challenge, it’s no doubt that the financial aspect of funding everything going forward is the biggest thing right now in schools and raising taxes,” he said.

VanNorman added, “But in the same aspect how can we do that responsibly in keeping all the students in mind and staff, to make sure we can keep it moving forward and not lose any important aspects of what this district can provide to our students.”

Superintendent Dr. Matthew J. Link thanked Weaber for his interest. “I do appreciate all your dedication to the Northern Lehigh School District and I hope you continue to participate in our meetings,” Link said.

Weaber won a spot on November’s general election ballot to win a seat on the board.

VanNorman takes over for former Director Robert Kern Jr. who resigned in an email to the school board dated June 11.

VanNorman will fill the vacancy until December. To serve beyond then, VanNorman would have to run in the municipal election.

Kern had served on the board since March 2019.

He has a long and storied history at Northern Lehigh, where he is a former teacher, principal and wrestling coach.

Kern also previously served as acting principal at Palmerton Area High School, appointed in June 2018.

Before that, he was a Nazareth Middle School principal. Under Kern’s leadership, the Nazareth Area Middle School earned a National Green Ribbon Award, a National Blue Ribbon Award and the Governor’s Award for Academic Excellence. Kern was also named the Terrance H. Bell, National Principal of the Year, in 2015 by the United States Department of Education.