It’s been said that timing is everything.

We’ve all heard it, and pretty much agree that it means that success depends heavily on when something is done.

And the converse is just as true.

Take, for example, the Lehighton Area School Board’s move to have a special meeting scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. to accept the resignation of a board member and “potentially appoint a new member to the Board,” according to a notice posted on the district’s website Tuesday. It mentioned the board would accept individuals’ letters of interest up until Thursday at 3:30 p.m., three and a half hours before a potential appointment.

Joy Beers, the current board president, called for the meeting at a workshop session of the board Monday to accept the resignation of director Sean Gleaves.

She said Gleaves, who has two years left on his term, was resigning effective Tuesday and “wants an opportunity to explain himself to the community.”

Gleaves, who last year proposed requiring parental consent for students to check out certain library books, has been absent for many recent board meetings.

As an elected official and in the interest of transparency and openness, Gleaves certainly deserves the opportunity. But there’s no urgency in replacing him.

Newcomers Tim Tkach, Lory Frey, Alex Matika and William Howland won seats in the latest balloting. Beers earned enough votes to fill a fifth opening on the board.

Noticeably absent from the scheduled reorganization would be current board member Duane Dellecker.

He was appointed about a year ago — on Dec. 2, 2024 — to fill the seat of Zac Hunter, who resigned earlier that year. Dellecker was out-polled in the May primary and ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign in the general election. Voters decided he’s not eligible to be part of the reorganization process.

Gleaves’ departure creates a different open spot either the current or revamped board would fill until voters could decide a successor.

Other board members objected to Beers’ suggestion on filling the seat Thursday, urging instead to wait until after the board reorganizes.

Apparently, Beers didn’t agree.

“I can call a special meeting whenever I want,” she said Monday, explaining she believed the current board should be the one to fill the seat.

“Sean Gleaves was an elected official,” she said. “I think the people who were part of his group should pick the person who takes his seat.”

As mentioned earlier, timing is everything — and filling the seat at the behest of those who are part of “his group” is questionable.

Gleaves hasn’t been around for a while, so there’s no real need to fill the seat immediately.

The only urgency here could be political.

There’s a 30-day window the board has to fill vacancies. The reorganization meeting’s timing shines bright in that window.

Filling the position now — right before a scheduled transfer of power — triggers questions, scrutiny and even some type of potential backlash.

This potential last-minute move could amplify that in a district that’s already regularly experienced a rocky road in the past.

It might be legal, but would it be fair to the folks whose tax dollars are paying the bills?

A hasty decision now could create more division for the board and more separation from the community it serves.

Filling the vacancy now to shape decisions that could have major effects down the road denies the new board members — and the public they serve — their shot at being a part of government.

Will filling the vacancy now help students or staff? Probably not.

Might what could be a choice that hints at politics help the community at large? Probably not.

Instead, the current board should hold off on a choice that would be unfair to the voters and would give its successors a sense of stability moving forward.

Last-minute decisions don’t usually age well. Exiting board members may leave a legacy of opportunism that could impact future board decisions.

The obvious decision would be simply to let the public hear Graves respectfully, then pump the brakes on his successor until the new board takes over next month.

Earlier this month, the voters made their choices for the district’s course and it’s time for the current board to honor those choices, not undermine them.

After all, timing is everything.

ED SOCHA | tneditor@tnonline.com

Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 40 years’ experience in community journalism.

Thursday’s meeting will be livestreamed on the Lehighton Area School District’s website. Those interested can watch at https://www.lehighton.org/about-us1/school-board-of-directors/streaming-video-of-meetings. Look for full coverage in Friday’s edition of the Times News.

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.