Gibraltar Fills Two School Board Spots

One appointee is also a candidate in the upcoming election

The Gibraltar Area School Board has filled the seats vacated through two recent resignations with new members Jeremy Schwab and Luca Fagundes. They’re replacing Amie Carriere, who resigned from the board around New Year’s, and Angela Sherman, who resigned in December. 

The two vacant seats were filled by appointment rather than placed on the ballot in April because the resignations happened after the last Tuesday in November, according to Evelyn Eckhardt, district administrative assistant.

The board made the appointments during a special meeting last week. Fagundes, who lives in Baileys Harbor, is an immigration attorney with a practice in Green Bay. Schwab is a financial planner with his own company in Sister Bay. Both men have children attending the school. They will hold their seats until the April 2023 election. 

Schwab is also running for one of the two seats that are up for election this spring. His name will appear on the Feb. 15 primary ballot along with those of incumbent Don Helm, Jessica Sauter, James Smasal, Patrick Voight and Christina Voight. The top four vote-getters will advance to the April 5 election.  

If Schwab were to win one of the seats, which carries a three-year term, he could choose either the elected or appointed seat, according to Stephen Seyfer, president of the Gibraltar School Board. 

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

“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,” Seyfer said. “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.”

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

Also last week, the board discussed during closed session 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.