Pine-Richland taps former Brentwood school director now living in district to fill board vacancy

The Pine-Richland School Board on Tuesday selected a former Brentwood school director who moved into the district 1 1/2 years ago to fill a vacancy created when a school director resigned amid the recent community uproar over the district’s decision to fire its championship winning football coach.

The board spent nearly two hours questioning five candidates who were seeking the position before selecting Amy Hayden to fill the unexpired term, which runs through Dec. 5.

There were 77 people watching the livestreamed meeting.

The other candidates interviewed for the post were Courtney Beisel, Therese Dawson, Charles DeLisio and Kathleen Ravotti.

Hayden served on the Brentwood School Board for a little more than six years before moving her family into the district, she said.

“I’ll be walking into the position knowing the state rules and the role of a school board member,” she said. “I feel I can lend some of my expertise while learning about the township and the school district.”

Hayden, who has three children, replaces Ben Campbell, who stepped down as the Region 1 representative on April 16. Campbell has not provided a reason for stepping down.

But the unanimous vote to accept his resignation came after a number of parents sharply criticized the school board and administration for firing football coach Eric Kasperowicz.

The board said the coach’s contract was not extended for another season after a three-monthlong investigation was conducted into allegations of misbehavior in the football program that included hazing, bullying, intimidation and “rites of passage.”

Kasperowicz has denied that those things occurred under his watch.

Campbell, who began a four-year term on the board in 2018, did not respond to telephone calls or emails seeking comment on his board departure. Campbell also withdrew from the May 18 primary but said in a statement that it was too late to get his name removed from the ballot.

In response to a question about what the biggest challenge the school board will face during the next seven months, Hayden said the board needs to work on restoring the public’s trust in the wake of the football coach’s firing.

“There’s lot of public concern and lack of confidence in the district and some of the decisions that have been made,” she said. “The people in this room know what happened, but the people in the public hear bits and pieces, they don’t have the whole picture. And it’s hard for people who don’t understand the whole picture to accept something they may not agree with on face value.”

On the question of whether she would vote to cut a program or raise taxes if the district was faced with such a dilemma, Hayden said dealing with such issues “was a yearly conversation” when she served on the Brentwood School Board.

“The district where I came from was land locked and had no way of expanding its revenue base other than raising taxes,” she said.

She said while it is “not the end of the world” to vote to raise taxes, she knows that “the public is never happy” when it is done.

“But when it comes down to it, we need to make sure that the school district can proceed and grow to meet the needs of the students now and in the future,” she said.

Hayden is expected to be sworn in before the next school board meeting on May 3.