Down a member since the Jan. 1 passing of William Hill Jr., the Lehighton Area School District board of directors deadlocked 4-4 on three candidates to fill the vacant seat Monday night.

The board interviewed 10 applicants Wednesday but couldn't muster the five-vote majority necessary to fill the position.Board member Byron Arner kicked off the debate by making a motion to appoint Frank Tamburri, who ran for the board in the 2015 election but was the only candidate on the ballot in November to fall short of earning a seat.Voting for Tamburri were Arner, Hal Resh, Marianne Dwyer and Richard Beltz. Wayne Wentz, Andrew Yenser, Gloria Bowman and Stephen Holland voted against the appointment."I'm surprised four board members would go against Frank," Arner said. "The taxpayers voted for him. He is who the people wanted."Tamburri amassed 1,779 votes in November's general election.Wednesday's board interviews centered on the debate over whether to renovate four existing elementary schools built in the 1960s or build one elementary center for all K-5 students.Tamburri's stanceCurrently, four board members have indicated they support building an elementary center, while four have consistently backed renovation.Tamburri said Wednesday he isn't against building an elementary center, but doesn't think the community could afford it.Bowman, while acknowledging Tamburri's construction background, said she was swayed by his history of derogatory remarks at board meetings."He has made comments to the board regarding wearing a flak jacket if the center goes through," she said. "He has also shown a lack of respect for administration."In response to the comments, Tamburri said his flak jacket remark was merely reiterating what a board member had previously said earlier in that meeting."I have the audio and video to prove it," he said. "There was never a threat made."Tamburri had the support of taxpayer Wilmer Everett of Mahoning Township."I don't understand why we can't have the next person who was closest in votes be on the board," Everett said. "I said before that we feel we're being robbed of our democracy. The board has an opportunity to prove me wrong."Materials distributedWentz said he was concerned over information that had been left in the mailbox of several Franklin Township residents.The five-page packet included an application for the school board, a letter supporting Tamburri for open seat and a Times News article regarding the vacancy.The letter refers to "Bowman and her tax and build group.""There are disparaging remarks in there about Gloria Bowman and Andrew Yenser," Wentz said. "I didn't get one, but I can tell you it's a federal offense to put something in someone's mailbox without a postmark on it."Another candidateFollowing the vote on Tamburri, Wentz nominated former board member Larry Stern, but again the board came to a 4-4 tie. Wentz, Yenser, Bowman and Holland voted for Stern, while Arner, Beltz, Dwyer and Resh voted no.Stern, who has supported an elementary center, ran for election in 2015 but did not advance past the primary ballot.The same board members voted yes and no respectively when Bowman nominated Terry Long.Long, a 32-year employee of the district, said Wednesday that the decision on building versus renovating should be about what is best for the students.During a public comment portion of the meeting, Lehighton Area Education Association President Dan Williams said the issues concerning students are what have been lost in the building debate.Williams said a new building would even out class sizes and keep students with special needs from having to bounce from school to school because to receive services that may only be offered at one building."Fifth grade is being moved back to the elementary level," Williams added. "Would you build on to the existing schools to accommodate that? I haven't heard anyone who supports renovation answer how we would solve these issues."District Solicitor William Schwab said the board has until Sunday to get at least five votes for a candidate before voters can ask for a Carbon County Common Pleas judge to appoint someone.