Contested board appointments and a closely watched school board election shaped 2025 for the Lehighton Area School District, as a year that began with routine governance ended with director resignations and walkouts.

By late November, the nine-member board included newly elected directors, recent appointees and returning members following a series of departures and votes concentrated in the final two months of the year.

The most significant change came with the Nov. 4 general election when voters selected four newcomers and returned the sitting board president.

Timothy Tkach, Lory Frey, Alex Matika and incumbent Joy Beers earned four-year terms while William Howland, who was unopposed on both party lines, claimed a two-year seat.

The election reshaped the board’s composition. Tkach is a longtime educator and former Lehighton assistant to the superintendent who retired from public education in 2022. Frey is a 1978 Lehighton graduate and former district employee with more than 30 years in the school system. Matika, a 2010 Lehighton graduate, is a local physician specializing in infectious diseases. Beers, the 2025 board president, is in her third term.

While the election determined who would take office in December, the outgoing board made several high-profile decisions in November, beginning with the resignation of board member Sean Gleaves.

At a Nov. 11 workshop meeting, Beers announced that Gleaves intended to resign with two years remaining on his term. Beers said Gleaves wanted to address the public before stepping down.

“He is resigning tomorrow,” Beers said. “He wants an opportunity to explain himself to the community.”

Beers scheduled a special meeting for Nov. 14, saying the board could act on the resignation and vacancy at that time.

“We can accept his resignation, and the board at that time can attempt to appoint a person to the vacancy,” she said.

The announcement drew immediate objections from several board members, who questioned whether the vacancy should be filled before newly elected directors were sworn in.

“I don’t think that’s enough time to find candidates,” board member Kerry Sittler said.

Board member Barbara Bowes urged the board to wait until the Dec. 2 reorganization meeting.

“You’re going to be seating four new board members,” Bowes said. “Why not wait and do it then?”

Despite those objections, the board proceeded. On Nov. 14, following more than an hour of testimony, debate and recesses, the board voted 5-3 to appoint former director David Bradley to fill the vacancy.

Voting in favor were Beers, Jeremy Glaush, Richard Beltz, April Walker and Dellecker. Bowes, Sittler and Heather Neff voted against the appointment.

The decision drew criticism from residents, teachers and incoming board members. Howland, who had just won election, warned the board about the impact of the vote.

“The appointment means unproductive meetings, fighting about the past, lawsuits, wasted money, endless right-to-knows, and fantasies about administrators walking out in handcuffs,” Howland said.

Lehighton teacher Christina Haupt also spoke against the appointment.

“I want to be proud when I talk to people who are not part of this community,” Haupt said.

Beers defended the decision.

“I have a great respect for Dave Bradley, and I think he’s done a lot of good work here,” she said.

As tensions mounted, Superintendent Jason Moser addressed the board.

“My job as superintendent is to work with whomever nine is sitting at this table,” Moser said. He said the priorities were “what is absolutely the best thing for students” and “at a cost the community can afford.”

Another vacancy followed days later. On Nov. 20, the board convened a special meeting to address the resignation of board member April Walker, effective Nov. 18. Her resignation was accepted by a 5-2 vote.

In a written statement read by Moser, Walker said she was stepping down after “much prayer, deep reflection and many conversations with those closest to me.”

“Serving on this board has been one of the great honors of my life,” Walker wrote.

That meeting ended without action to fill Walker’s seat after Bowes, Sittler and Heather Neff walked out before a vote, leaving the board without a quorum. Bowes criticized the process earlier in the meeting.

“Publicly interviewing candidates would have been the proper way to do it, in my opinion,” she said.

The vacancy remained unresolved until Nov. 25, when the board reconvened and voted 5-2 to appoint Denise Hartley.

Hartley was selected from eight applicants to serve through December 2027.

“I grew up here, graduated here, left and came back,” Hartley said after the vote.

“One of the things I value is that our kids are our future, and we need to support them,” Hartley said. “This is one of the ways we can do that — making sure policies benefit them.”

At the district’s reorganization meeting in December, Matika was tabbed to lead the new look board as president into 2026.