The Fresh Face of Summit Hill D161 Board

With four out of seven seats filled now by newcomers to Summit Hill School Dist. 161, a fresh crop of board members will take their seats next to board members Stacey Borgens, George Perros and Sean Doyle. The newly elected members are:

• David Faber
• Pamela Kohlbacher
• Richard Marron
• Richard C. Ward

The biggest vote-getter was Pamela Kohlbacher, a retired principal from D161. She received 2,140 votes. David Faber was second in line with 1,794 votes, and Richard Marron got 1,716 votes. Richard Ward came in with 1,523. Candidate Mark Zilinskas lost his bid with 1,271 votes.

A contentious year led up to the 2013 Election for Summit Hill School Dist. 161. After the closing of Mary Drew Elementary School, which had parents and residents of Summit Hill School District 161 up in arms, came a controversy over nominating petitions for candidates.

Objections against the candidate petitions filed by Mark Moylan and Joseph Figliulo were determined to be legitimate at an electoral board meeting in January.

Then the renewal of Supt. Barb Rains' contract bubbled to the top in March. With the renewal of Supt. Barb Rains' contract, the new board has a clean slate. Marron was among a vocal group of parents who supported Rains over the past month, as it looked as though she might lose her job. He opposed the in Rains' contract.

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