Palmerton Area School District Superintendent Scot Engler received a one-year contract extension following a 7-2 school board vote Tuesday night.

The vote takes Engler through Jan. 21, 2018 with the terms and conditions of employment to be set and announced prior to the beginning of extension.Directors Sherry Haas and Barry Scherer voted against the contract extension.“The district has gone through so many superintendents because of rumors and misinformation,” said Board Member Sue Debski before the vote. “We’re not legally allowed to say anything back. I sure hope the board doesn’t vote on half-truths or rumors. We need to help this community move forward instead of backward.”Engler has been the subject of recent public criticism after giving High School Principal Paula Husar zero out of three ratings in multiple performance categories on her 2015-16 evaluation.The public outcry continued Tuesday with many residents asking the board to not renew Engler’s contract and terminate him.Many of them expressed concern that there would be grounds for termination if Husar were given another unsatisfactory review.“His evaluation was personal,” said Linda Pereira, who has been a staunch advocate for Husar at meetings and on social media. “Our schools have a zero tolerance for bullying. Does it also apply for grown ups or is it just students?”Pereira asked the board to “forget any personal friendships and fix a mistake it made three years when it hired Engler.”An online petition started by David Schwartz asking the board to not renew Engler’s contract had 265 supporters as of Tuesday night.Members of the Palmerton administrative team, led by Junior High Principal Rich DeSocio, stood in support of Engler.“We were not asked to speak and we’re not doing so in fear of our jobs,” DeSocio said. “We work together as a team with Scot as the leader of our school and we wanted to let the board know we support our superintendent.”The board had until August 24 to make a decision on Engler’s contract or it would have automatically renewed for three years. For more, read Wednesday's Times News print edition.