Westmoreland court sets deadline to apply for Ligonier Valley School Board appointment

Eligible residents of Ligonier Valley School District have until June 25 to apply to Westmoreland County Court to be considered for appointment to a vacant seat on the school board.

The court set that deadline for receiving resumes and letters of recommendation from those who are interested in filling a board seat vacated by the April 29 death of Joseph Vella. The materials are to be submitted to court administrator Amy DeMatt at the Westmoreland County Courthouse or by emailing them to demattamy@westmoreland countypa.gov.

Applicants will have the opportunity to present their qualifications in person before all judges of the court at 1:30 p.m. July 1 in Courtroom No. 5.

As of Monday, four district residents had submitted petitions seeking the appointment, which would run through early December.

Among them were Christy Boyd and Sarah Rovedatti, who won Democratic nominations for one of four other school board seats in the recent primary, and Robert Fryman, who received a Republican nomination.

Also filing a petition with the court was Kim Dickert-­Wallace, a former school board member who has worked as a teacher and a school counselor.

Those four and two others — former board member Kevin Mack and Salvatore Vella, father of the late school director — had applied for appointment to the vacancy by the remaining eight school board members. But none received the minimum five votes needed for approval at a special May 28 meeting, which placed the decision in the hands of the court.

Each political party is expected to nominate a candidate who will stand for election Nov. 4 to serve out the remaining two years of Joseph Vella’s term.