The Jim Thorpe school board members have decided on a change in leadership for the coming year.

During a reorganization meeting Monday night, board President Jerry Strubinger did not receive enough votes to retain his seat.

Scott Pompa was chosen by a majority of board members, 6-3, to serve as president until next December. Pompa recently completed his first year on the board, serving as vice president and chairman of the policy and personnel committee.

Pompa thanked his family, the Jim Thorpe community, his fellow board members as well as Strubinger for guiding him over the last year.

“Working with you the past year as president has been very beneficial to me,” Pompa said.

Votes for Pompa came from TJ Garritano, Cindy Lesisko-Henning, Paul Montemuro, Raniero Marciante, Pearl Sheckler and himself.

Strubinger received votes from Dennis McGinley, Glenn Confer and himself.

Garritano was named as the new vice president.

The board also chose to retain Beard Legal Group as its attorney for the coming year.

Pompa and Garritano’s terms on the board run through 2023.

Pompa takes the helm as Jim Thorpe students are currently in full remote learning through the end of the winter break.

He said the district did a good job navigating the difficulties created by COVID-19 this year.

“The COVID-19 pandemic handed us a curve ball on how we proceed with education, how we keep people safe, and I just can’t say enough for how it was handled by our board administration and our teachers,” Pompa said.

He also said he was looking forward to the tasks ahead, starting with transitioning students back to in-person classes. The board has upcoming contract negotiations with the union representing its teachers as well as the Teamsters, and must finalize its annual budget in the coming months.

In the 2020 budget, the district used money from its reserve fund to avoid a tax increase. Expenses exceeded revenue by $4.8 million.

Pompa has fought to limit spending in his role as chairman of the board’s policy and personnel committee.

In his remarks he suggested that he will take the same approach to the entire budget as president.

“I’m looking forward to rolling out departmental budgets where departments will know how much to spend, how much they’re allocated, and not to exceed their budgets,” he said.