Lehighton Area School District will honor William Hill Jr. at Monday's school board workshop before beginning discussion on filling the vacancy his passing left behind.

Hill, who passed away Jan. 1, was an active member of the board, having been most recently re-elected in 2013.According to solicitor William Schwab, Lehighton's board has until Jan. 31 to fill the vacancy by a majority vote.If the remaining eight Lehighton board members deadlock on all candidates or choose not to fill the vacancy, 10 or more district taxpayers can petition the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas to fill the seat, according to Pennsylvania Public School Code."I would like to give it a little time before we discuss this," board President Hal Resh said Tuesday of how the board would go about filling the vacancy.Lehighton last had a vacancy in 2014 when the board unanimously tabbed Lori Nothstein after Thomas Zimmerman IV resigned.Nothstein ran for school board in 2013, but was defeated in the November general election by 146 votes."Past boards have gone about it different ways," Schwab explained. "I've been solicitor in Lehighton for 26 years and I've seen boards just appoint someone right away, I've seen them accept letters of interest and conduct interviews, and I've seen them accept letters of interest but appoint someone without doing interviews. It's really up to the board."Schwab said he is not aware of any school board vacancy in the county that has gone to a judge during his tenure."If the board asks for my opinion, I would encourage getting letters of interest and then setting up a time to talk to the interested individuals," he said. "That way you have a better feel for the candidates."The person appointed to the seat will fill out the rest of Hill's term, slated to end in 2017.