When a past Palmerton Area School District board of directors was considering selling the Seventh Street field to the Rite Aid Corporation, Barry Scherer was in the audience with a clipboard, jotting down notes and questions.

“I thought that was an asset for the use of the community that should be kept,” he said of his stance at the time.

Scherer, who was coming off a 20-plus-year stint as a Palmerton borough councilman, stayed interested in school board politics even after Rite Aid dropped its pursuit of the property, and he ran a successful campaign for PASD director.

On Tuesday night, Scherer ended his third and final term at the board table, noting he was most proud of the district’s financial turnaround.

“There was a dire period of time where we had to let go of some of the programs,” he said. “Music was one of them. Athletics at that time, we were looking at severely curtailing many athletic programs. I hope that some of my reasoning and logic with boards after that enabled us to financially get into the position we are in now and I think we’re in a good position.”

Palmerton Superintendent Dr. Jodi Frankelli presented Scherer with a plaque commemorating his 12 years on the school board. Though Frankelli just started in Palmerton in the summer of 2020, she quickly heard from administrators, teachers and community members who witnessed and experienced Scherer’s commitment and dedication to the district.

“When I started in the district a year and a half ago, I remember someone saying to me, Barry’s commitment to serving on the board always comes from a place of pride in his community and in the school district,” Frankelli said. “You are a true leader on this board with a wealth of knowledge and experience.”

Scherer’s colleague on the board, Audrey Larvey, recalled the days when he would bring the clipboard to meetings, making an impact before he was even elected.

“He would take notes and then the next meeting he would always follow up and make sure that whatever was supposed to be taken care of was being taken care of,” Larvey said.

Also serving in their final Palmerton board meeting Tuesday was Scherer’s Class of 1968 classmate, Kathy Fallow.

“We didn’t always agree on everything before us, but we never let that come between us,” Fallow told her colleagues. “This is a great board to work with. and you have an administration very willing to work with you for the success of our students.”

As president, Fallow led the board through the COVID-19 pandemic. She also attended numerous Pennsylvania School Board Association conferences and meetings on both the local and state level.

“When you became the board president, no one could foresee the challenges that we were about to face in schools around our country,” Frankelli said. “Thank you for always leading with dignity and grace, even in the face of adversity.”