New school board member takes seat
Posted on July 18, 2012
A school board resignation letter and two rounds of nominations for a replacement later, the Morrisville School District has a new school director.Dan Dingle will fill the remainder of the two-year term that former school board director Alina Marone started in December.
“I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to give back to my community and serve my town,” said Dingle, who has been living in Morrisville a little more than two years.
Marone submitted her resignation letter to the district on June 29 because she was moving to New Jersey.
School board President John DeWilde said he enjoyed the time he worked with Marone, who he said was an advocate for the borough's children and understood the role of a school board member.
Dingle is a member of the Morrisville Opportunity Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supplements educational activities and equipment for the district.
Dingle, an emergency management safety officer, will be sworn in at the August meeting.
His appointment didn't come easy.
Dingle was up against five other candidates: former school director Al Rodasti; teacher Stephanie Viramonties; former teacher Ed Meigs; environmental engineer Jon Perry; and teacher Beth Marucci Ellsworth.
Each answered five questions that included describing the “best characteristics” of the Morrisville school district, the biggest challenges that the school district faces, and their time commitment to the board. In addition, they had to describe where they see the school district in five years, as well as describe their personal qualities they believe will benefit the board.
They all agreed the district's best quality is its small size. However, that could also be a challenge because of fewer resources such as funding that could make it difficult for the district to stay competitive and up to date with technology.
When it came time for nominations, the board decided on Dingle, Rodasti, Perry and Ellsworth. None of the candidates were appointed due to split votes, leading to a second round of nominations.
This time all but Perry were nominated. When it came down to Rodasti, the vote was split. Then, when it came to Dingle the vote was 5-3.
The meeting soon ended and Dingle received congratulations from board members and the public.
Marone submitted her resignation letter to the district on June 29 because she was moving to New Jersey.
School board President John DeWilde said he enjoyed the time he worked with Marone, who he said was an advocate for the borough's children and understood the role of a school board member.
Dingle is a member of the Morrisville Opportunity Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supplements educational activities and equipment for the district.
Dingle, an emergency management safety officer, will be sworn in at the August meeting.
His appointment didn't come easy.
Dingle was up against five other candidates: former school director Al Rodasti; teacher Stephanie Viramonties; former teacher Ed Meigs; environmental engineer Jon Perry; and teacher Beth Marucci Ellsworth.
Each answered five questions that included describing the “best characteristics” of the Morrisville school district, the biggest challenges that the school district faces, and their time commitment to the board. In addition, they had to describe where they see the school district in five years, as well as describe their personal qualities they believe will benefit the board.
They all agreed the district's best quality is its small size. However, that could also be a challenge because of fewer resources such as funding that could make it difficult for the district to stay competitive and up to date with technology.
When it came time for nominations, the board decided on Dingle, Rodasti, Perry and Ellsworth. None of the candidates were appointed due to split votes, leading to a second round of nominations.
This time all but Perry were nominated. When it came down to Rodasti, the vote was split. Then, when it came to Dingle the vote was 5-3.
The meeting soon ended and Dingle received congratulations from board members and the public.
41 comments:
In my opinion a good and fair choice.
Evidence that, in my opinion, strongly supports your opinion:
Mihok, Stout, and Radosti sure seemed pissed about it in the parking lot right after the meeting last night, standing around with Jane Burger.
Wasn't Stout supposed to be with the rest of the Board in a post-meeting Executive Session at that time? He didn't seem ill standing there in the parking lot. Oh well.
that whole Republican group was like a bully party outside the school last night, go home people, the show is over, or at least your show is over. rode by thought there was a musical at the school we missed oh that was the whining of those who lost again
It must have been the sound of time passing them by. Either that, or the sounds of a bunch of Boss Hoggs moaning about how their once firm grip on Hazzard is slipping away. Music to my ears.
Most importantly, what was the supers reaction?
How could anyone not have chosen Angry Al? With his vast experience, he would have been a great addition to the authoritarian wing of the school board Republicans.
Angry Al brought so much to the table for the 8 yrs he was on the board until his defeat in the Nov '11 election. The trouble is I can't name a single thing other than his N-Bomb kerfuffle and an occasional Angry Al-burst or leaving a meeting early or skipping exec sessions.
He did bring a briefcase to the table from time to time.
I don't recall much Super. reaction. I wasn't really looking for it, though. It's not particularly relevant to me. I thought there were several good candidates who would have been good additions to the board. Al wasn't one of them.
Let me be clear so the twisters have less to twist about. I'm not saying I think the Super. isn't particularly relevant. I'm saying the Super.'s reaction to Mr. Dingles's appointment to the board isn't particularly relevant to me.
Marlys Mihok used her 3 mins. last night to try to scare off all other applicants for the board vacancy except Al Radosti. She urged the board to appoint Al Radosti to the board. Why? Because he, and no other applicants, is ALREADY named as a party to the lawsuit filed by Bucks County Head Start (BCHS) over the board’s termination of BCHS’s lease of the Manor Park School. As such, he is already personally on the hook for 1/9th of the lawsuit money. As is Mihok, and she said it’s affecting her credit. I think she said her share is $16,000. Thanks for looking out for the rest of us, Marlys.
You can read more about the BCHS lawsuit here in this March 29, 2012 link on this blog:
http://mvbulldogbanter.blogspot.com/2012/03/bucks-county-head-starts-sues.html
Below are my public remarks at the April 25, 2012 board meeting on this topic. $142,000 divided by 9 = $15,777.78. Mighty close to $16,000. Mighty close to totally predictable and stupid, because anyone with any level of reading comprehension could see it plain as day. Not only that, to get yourself into a lawsuit like that, you’d have to go the extra levels of stupidity to NOT CONSIDER IT before you terminated the lease, and to NOT PAY IT after you terminated the lease.
4/25/12 comments:
Right after last month’s Board Business meeting (on March 28), it hit the papers that Bucks County Head Start has sued the District for about $309,000 (plus $15,000 more in lawyer fees and court costs). Head Start claims it’s entitled to this money under the lease it had with the District to use the Manor Park School. The prior Board terminated this lease in 2010. The lease is only 17 pages. I’m not a lawyer, but it looks like Head Start has a pretty good case to me, especially for the $142,000 related to reimbursement for rent already paid.
I just want to express my displeasure and frustration over both this lawsuit and the Tech School lawsuit, both of which occurred on the prior Board’s watch. Granted, I’m on the outside looking in, and this is litigation, and you can’t talk about it, but it seems like the Board called for hardball tactics instead of diplomacy, and didn’t think things though through all the way, and residents and taxpayers could end up paying the price. It seems like the Board treated contracts as mere suggestions that could be ignored if it didn’t like the terms. We can’t afford to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawsuits, and it harms the educational mission of the District.
the old board was litigation happy and now everyone is paying for it but then thats what happens when the community keeps voting them into both council and board for over 30 years now. wake up waky up or we will just have to wait around till the oldies go away by nature and then take over
Harsh but prefer individual board members being personally liable for these boneheaded legal moves than all residents and taxpayers. Break out your checkbook Marlys. I feel bad for any board members named who legitimately had nothing to do with it, like any MM board members if any are named. This was a 100% SOC production.
It says the vote was 5-3. Who were the five?
DeWilde
Kartal
Parker
Miller
Stoneburner
RE: Head Start Lawsuit, can’t you smell it already?? SOC excuse #99,462, blame shift #132,497B. The lawyer gave us terrible legal advice. It's all the lawyer's fault. Know what?? They might be partly right. But it turns out they also hired the lawyer.
Thank you Jon.
So now who is the new Vice President? I don't think any of the MM members could get 5 votes. Worob seems to be the only SOCcer available but can he get 5 votes?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the blast-from-the-past Sony PlayStations Steve Worob and Ron Stout are so fond of mentioning cost about $80,000.
If we residents end up on the hook for this $142,000 (not even counting the additional $167,000 that at least was part of the initial BCHS lawsuit figure in the press), it would be nearly equivalent to buying a double stack of Sony PlayStations and immediately smashing them into bits.
What would be the statute of limitations on dredging that up?
I believe that under Steve W rules it would qualify as a personal attack that would result in your immmediate removal from the premises.
Anybody who campaigns against these SOC's next year better have every dollar listed in their flyers.
New VP? Hmmmm. Good question. As I’ve said all along, I just hope that whoever is picked is someone who is qualified to be President, I mean the Vice President is only a heartbeat away from the Presidency, and they would need to be able to step in. Of course, the impulse is to serve, you want to serve, and if the call comes, sure, of course you pick it up, of course you listen, of course you don't rule it out. But again, I think it's premature to speculate on who's going to get that call, and ...
"Like most Vice Presidents in this era, John Nance Garner had little to do, and had little influence on the President's policies. He famously described the Vice-Presidency as being "not worth a bucket of warm piss." (For many years, this quote was euphemized as "warm spit".)"
With this in mind, how does Vice President Stout sound?
"Anybody who campaigns against these SOC's next year better have every dollar listed in their flyers."
Also, anybody who distributes these flyers should coat them with invisible itching powder so it will become comically uncomfortable for anyone who decides to steal them from people's doorsteps and stuff them into their pants. As if that wasn't comically uncomfortable enough last year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HChzRB8h6LU
Vice President Garner and Vice President Radosti sound like they had a lot in common.
Morrisville School Board fills vacant seat, appoints Dann Dingle
Published: Thursday, July 19, 2012
By Petra Chesner Schlatter
pschlatter@buckslocalnews.com
MORRISVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT – The competition was stiff as six hopefuls sought the seat of former school board member Alina Marone.
Dann Dingle, 36, was chosen by the school board on Wednesday, July 18 to serve out the remainder of Marone's term and will be sworn-in in August. Marone held a two year seat on the board and served nearly one year.
Each candidate was personally interviewed by the school board.
“I’m happy to have the opportunity to serve my community and my town,” he said.
Dingle is director of security for Princeton Healthcare System and is the emergency management and safety officer there.
He is a board member of the Morrisville Opportunity Educational Foundation - a non-profit group that supplements equipment and educational activities in the school district.
It took two rounds of nominations for the eight-member school board to decide in a 5-3 vote who should complete two years of Marone’s term.
Marone tendered her resignation in June because she is moving to New Jersey.
Candidates interviewed for the post was Al Radosti, Stephanie Viramontes, Ed Meigs, Jon Perry, Beth Marucci Ellsworth and Dingle.
In the first round of nominations, four people were nominated, but there was a 4-4 vote. Those nominated had been Dingle, Radosti, Perry and Ellsworth.
Those nominated in the second round was Radosti, Dingle and Ellsworth.
Nominating Radosti was school board member Jack Buckman. Board member Damon Miller nominated Dingle. Board member Ted Parker nominated Ellsworth.
The vote was split 4-4 for Radosti in the second round. Dingle garnered five ayes and three nays.
Dingle said he is not affiliated with any party. “I’m an independent that will make decisions based on data and what best reflects the will of the people provided it is in the best interests of the students,” he told BucksLocalNews.com
He grew up in Jackson Township, N.J. Dingle described it as “a large town that was growing fast and becoming crowded.”
Dingle compared people from his hometown to the people of Morrisville.
“They remind me of the people in Morrisville,” he said. “I find the small-town life to make everyone friendlier and easer to approach. Good or bad, everyone [in Morrisville] seems happy to share their thoughts and their story. It’s a good thing.”
He would like to see the communication between the board and the public “stabilize to a point that the board is able to function appropriately without the public feeling left out or unheard. I’ve seen it improve more and more -- so I know it’s achievable.”
Dingle said he applied to be a school board member to bring his “skills forward for the betterment of Morrisville schools and its students. I have two children enrolled and my youngest on the way so I am greatly invested in the success of the schools and the town overall. “
At Monmouth, he double-majored in history and education. “At U o P, I am finishing a degree in Health Care Administration with a focus on Emergency Management,” he said.
Dingle spoke about what he sees as the school district’s best characteristic. Dingle said when he and his family moved here about two years ago, he liked the smallness of the school district and the community.
“I didn’t want them to be a number,” he said of his children going to Morrisville schools.
Voting for Dingle was John DeWilde, school board president; Stoneburner, Wanda Kartal; Damon Miller and Parker.
Voting against Dingle was Buckman, Stephen Worob and Ronald Stoudt.
Late last night when most were fast asleep I could've sworn I heard the faint sound of a black sharpie marker being upcapped somewhere in town.
At least VP Garner had a bucket
"Late last night when most were fast asleep I could've sworn I heard the faint sound of a black sharpie marker being upcapped somewhere in town."
Now THAT's funny.
I don't know Dan Dingle. I wish him well. It's kind of nice to get some new blood in there. I hope he is thoughtful, flexible, non-"Partisan" (if there is such a thing for school board director, but you know what I mean), smart, and open-minded. Throw in a sprinkle of courteous, respectful,and hard-working.
No shot Worob gets the VP nod.
Agreed ;-)
Worob needs five votes to become VP. He has four already.
He had his day, his distorted version of which is in his shabby "book".
A procedural question - you can vote for yourself, correct??
Yes, as a board member you can. Anyone with an ounce of class would abstain. Guess what will happen.
I Big Fish in a Small Pond will eat themself?
Let's whisper this and see if it catches fire.
Damon Miller for VP.
In the case of Borough Council you can only abstain if you will monetarily profit from the vote. That being said, there are those like Mr. Sanford, who obstain even though the should not.
I do not know if the same rules on this apply to the school district's brd.
I doubt it's a matter of "class". With only nine votes, anyone abstaining from voting for themselves for an office would automatically lose because the other guy WOULD vote for himself.
New School Board Member
At a special meeting July 18, the Morrisville School Board appointed Dann Dingle to a vacant seat on the nine-member board.
Following his appointment, Dingle said he was pleased with his selection and is looking forward to contributing to the community as a member of the school board. He is a volunteer board member of the Morrisville Opportunity Education Foundation, married and the father of three.
Director of Security and Emergency Management for the Princeton Healthcare System (PHCS), Dingle will fill the remainder of the two-year term of former board member Alina Marone, who has moved from the area.
He was one of six residents who submitted applications to the school district.
Anonymous said...Let's whisper this and see if it catches fire. Damon Miller for VP.
Screw that. Damon Miller for President.
Damon Miller or Wanda Kartal would both be good choices for Pres.
Dewilde is shackled by having to deal with Worob and Mihok (from the peaNUT gallery).
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