Gibraltar Fills Two School Board Seats

One of the appointments is one of the candidates in the upcoming election

The Gibraltar Area School Board gained two members, one of those also running for a seat that’s up for reelection and on the ballot for the Feb. 15 primary.

During a special meeting Thursday night, Feb. 3, the board appointed immigration attorney Luca Fagundes and financial planner Jeremy Schwab to fill two open seats. Both Fagundes and Schwab have children attending the school.  

Schwab, who’s also running for one of the two other seats that are up for reelection, is one of six candidates who will be on the primary election ballot with incumbent Don Helm, Jessica Sauter, James Smasal, Patrick Voight and Christina Voight.  

Fagundes and Schwab fill the seats vacated by Amie Carriere, who resigned around New Year’s, and Angela Sherman, who resigned from the board in December.

Both Carriere and Sherman resigned during the first year of their latest term – it was Sherman’s second, Carriere’s first – allowing the board to appoint members to finish out those terms. The board had asked interested parties to submit applications by Jan. 11, then interviewed eight people.

“We had personal interviews with each of the applicants,” said Stephen Seyfer, board president. “The board of five members together discussed the qualities of each of the eight and settled upon the two persons we think best fill the needs of the board. We did not go into the discussion with any predetermined characteristics in mind; we were looking for which candidates would best advance the district’s interests in a comprehensive, contemporary education for all children.”

Though Sherman and Carriere were elected to serve until spring 2024, Fagundes and Schwab have been appointed to serve only until the spring 2023 election, Seyfer said. According to state statute, the appointed replacements only serve until the next election, said Seyfer, and the deadline passed for Sherman’s and Carriere’s seats to appear on the April 2022 ballot. If Schwab is one of the top four vote-getters, his name would appear for election this April. If he finishes first or second in April, he can choose whether to start a three-year term or to remain in the appointed position until 2023, Seyfer said. 

Seyfer said he would not announce the names of the other applicants who volunteered to serve.

Also on Thursday, the board, in closed session, discussed the firms that have shown interest in searching for a new superintendent to replace Tina Van Meer, who announced her retirement at the end of this fiscal year.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has changed from the original to reflect that if Schwab is elected April 5, he can choose between the three-year elected term or the appointed seat, which is up for reelection next year.