A special meeting of the Pleasant Valley School Board once again turned into a shouting match.

The meeting was called Thursday night to approve the contract to hire an acting superintendent.

During the regular meeting on Oct. 24, the school board had approved to offer the position to Dr. Charlene Brennan, a retired former executive director of Colonial Intermediate Unit 20, at $700 per day.

The board decided to hire an acting superintendent while they look for a replacement for former Superintendent David Piperato. He resigned this fall in order to take a position as superintendent of the Easton Area School District.

Prior to the vote on the contract, three residents spoke during the period for public comment. In their comments, they said four current employees were qualified to step in as acting superintendent, but were passed over. They said the board could have saved money by giving the acting superintendent position to one of the four current employees instead of choosing to pay someone new.

Dave Wyman, a former district employee, questioned the motives for hiring Brennan. And several residents in attendance thought the board rushed in the decision to hire Brennan.

“I don’t know why we would go to an outsider for this position when four current employees submitted their letter of eligibility,” Wyman said. “It appears to me that person A helped person B get a job and now person B helps person A get a job.”

When Piperato asked if he was person A or person B, Wyman said that was his understanding after reading information on the internet.

Board Director Leonard Peeters agreed with the residents and said that he also felt that they were rushed into hiring someone due to the early departure of Piperato, who was supposed to leave Dec. 15 but was permitted by the board to leave at the end of October.

Donna Yozwiak, vice president of the board, said she thought the district’s employees should have been given more consideration.

“I believe in rewarding loyalty and dedication. … It troubles me when loyal, dedicated, hardworking employees are not acknowledged for their value,” she said. “I am embarrassed by this oversight. We should be saving the school district money and applauding the hard work of the administration who have been overlooked in the acting superintendent search.”

School Board President Susan Kresge said they had eight resumes to review, but no one on the board wanted to take the time to interview them. Yozwiak said that upon reconsideration, they would have liked to interview the candidates.

School board Director Kenneth Cocuzzo said he thinks the board had to hire someone from the outside, because otherwise the inside candidates would think their chance of landing the superintendent job would be lost to the acting superintendent.

“It looks like we are steering toward that person,” he said. “I don’t want anyone saying we skewed it to anyone.”

Cocuzzo said Brennan doesn’t want to be the superintendent. With her in the position, all of the candidates can be assured their chance for the job has not been diminished.

School board member Daniel Wunder reminded the board members that there was an internal candidate that was being considered for the position, but was dismissed.

Solicitor Mark Fitzpatrick, who attended the meeting via telephone, interrupted in order to prevent information from an executive session from becoming public. He advised the board to stick to the task of voting on the contract.

“This is an at-will agreement,” he said about the contract with Brennan, meaning both she and the board can end the employment agreement prior to the date given in the contract, which is June 30, 2020.

After a little more discussion, Kresge called for a vote. Cocuzzo had already made a motion to approve the contract early in the meeting, and it was seconded by board member Robert Serfass. The motion was passed 5 to 3. Board member Delbert Zacharias was absent from the meeting, and the members who voted no were Yozwiak, Peeters and Laura Jecker.

Before adjourning, Piperato addressed the crowd saying that he felt like his integrity was attacked earlier by the insinuation that he helped Brennan get this job. He asked several board members if he had contacted them to aid in her selection. They said they were not aware of any actions like that.

Brennan will begin her new, temporary position on Monday, Kresge said.