Duane Dellecker, known locally in his role as a building code official and zoning officer for several area municipalities, was appointed Monday night to the Lehighton Area School District Board of Directors via a 6-2 vote.

Zac Hunter, who resigned last month citing “unexpected health concerns and a change in his full-time work schedule” vacated the seat after sparse meeting attendance over the past year.

“I’ve been watching the meetings here for some time now,” Dellecker said after Monday’s meeting. “When they start talking about policy and I hear some of these people making comments, I figure maybe it’s time to let my experience and expertise in being able to read, understand and apply the rules and regulations work for this board.”

Dellecker said he aims to research Pennsylvania School Code and read every policy the district has.

“I want to see how these policies are affecting our staff, our children, our grandchildren and taxpayers,” he said. “Hopefully I can bring a little common sense into the equation. The purpose of the this district should be to educate our youth. We shouldn’t be average or just a little above average. We should excel at what we do. I would love to see our numbers not just exceed the average, but excel. I’m not exactly sure how you accomplish that, but it’s time to dig.”

Voting in favor of Dellecker’s appointment were directors Jeremy Glaush, Heather Neff, Joy Beers, Barbara Bowes, Richard Beltz and Sean Gleaves. Kerry Sittler and April Walker were in opposition. Walker said she had nothing against Dellecker, but “would have liked to see an interview process take place” before voting on a candidate.

Brian Shaner, a former Lehighton board member and a district parent, said Monday he was disappointed with the process used to fill the open seat.

“There was a vote with no interview process allowing these candidates to be introduced to the community,” Shaner said. “We would now allow the administration to make a hiring decision with a lack of process in place such as this.”

Another former board member, Walter Zlomsowitch, urged the board to adopt a policy on how it would handle board appointments to vacant seats going forward.

“The system that was used for the last handful of openings was not followed this time, for whatever reason,” Zlomsowitch said.

Financial accountability, Dellecker said, will also be a focus over the next year.

“Had I been on this board when they talked about building the elementary center, it would have never happened,” he said. “I looked at all four of those elementary schools and there was nothing wrong there that couldn’t be fixed. Then when we turned around sold the buildings for pennies on the dollar, that infuriated me.”

Dellecker will serve until through the district reorganization meeting in December 2025. The remainder of Hunter’s term, which runs through 2027, will be decided in next year’s municipal election.

“Anyone who knows me, knows I focus primarily on honor,” he said. “Character matters. Honor and integrity matters. If you want to have a respectful discussion about something, I’ll have that respectful discussion. If you want to try to dictate to me things they want done, it will never work.”

Reorganization

Before appointing Dellecker on Monday night, Lehighton’s board held its annual reorganization meeting.

Joy Beers was elected board president for 2025 and Richard Beltz was elected vice-president, both by a 5-3 vote.

Barbara Bowes received three votes for both the president and vice-president seats. Along with her own vote, Bowes had the support of directors of April Walker and Kerry Sittler.

Voting for Beers and Beltz, in addition to themselves, were Sean Gleaves, Jeremy Glaush and Heather Neff.