Penn Hills School Board has a new member

The Penn Hills School Board has a new member.

Resident Marisa Jamison was selected out of two candidates to fill the vacant seat left by Kristopher Wiegand, who resigned Oct. 13.

Jamison, a 1987 North Catholic High School graduate, has bachelor’s and masters’ degrees in criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her twin daughters graduated from Penn Hills in 2012.

“When my children were in high school, I always wanted to be on the board to be a part of some changes I felt needed to be made in terms of the curriculum,” Jamison said.

One of her daughters, a transfer from Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts, did not have the background for some of the classes she had to take at Penn Hills High School, and tutoring at Penn Hills at the time did not help.

“It was really very difficult, and I thought as soon as I can find some time to reach out and get on to the board, that’s what I wanted to do,” Jamison said.

She also has experience working with youths and adults with mental health issues. Jamison works as a blended service coordination supervisor for UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital.

School directors appointed Jamison via 5-0-2 vote at their Oct. 28 meeting.

Board members Meryl Thomas and Elizabeth Rosemeyer abstained. Vice President Yusef Thompson Sr. was absent.

Both Thomas and Rosemeyer lobbied to postpone the appointment of a new board member citing district policy 004, which states a board vacancy will be published in the district’s website for seven days.

“We have a lot of important issues in front of our district right now,” Rosemeyer said. “We need to find someone who’s knowledgeable, who’s a problem-solver. We will be served better if there’s a larger opportunity for those people who are interested to be able to put in their letter of interest.”

Wiegand’s resignation was accepted at a special meeting Oct. 21.

A post about the vacancy and how to submit letters of interest was published on the district’s website Monday. The deadline to submit letters was Tuesday afternoon.

Board President Erin Vecchio said that policy has not been followed for more than a decade and that Jamison deserves to be on the board.

“We picked the most qualified candidate because she comes to meetings, has a vested interest in our community and has a great education, too,” Vecchio said. “With the pandemic and all the things we have, we need a full board.”

A suggestion to delay the appointment vote to Nov. 10 failed. Only Thomas and Rosemeyer voted to do so.

Neither said anything negative about Jamison.

Board member Rob Marra said he thought the appointment process was rushed, but having a full board to address issues immediately was important.

“We only got the applications, letter of interest and resume yesterday afternoon,” Marra said. “Both of the two people on paper looked very well qualified. … It was rushed, but I think there was a reason for rushing it. We do have a lot of issues that we want to put forth.”

Marra’s appointment to the board two years ago also did not follow board policy.

He was unanimously appointed to fill the seat vacated by Marlon Ferguson on June 25, 2018 — the same night the board accepted Ferguson’s resignation.

Wiegand was in his first term on the board, which was set to expire in December 2021.

Jamison would have to run in next year’s election if she wants to keep her seat.

She said so far she is undecided about her next political move, and that she wants to focus on current district issues.

Jamison was not sworn in due to no notary in attendance. She was expected to be sworn in at district Solicitor Bruce Dice’s office by the end of October.