Ocean City School Board Still Needs a V.P.

By MADDY VITALE The Ocean City Board of Education reorganization meeting Jan. 4 began as a typical proceeding, to swear in new members and set up meeting dates for the new year and other housekeeping items. When it came time to selecting who would lead the board, a vote of 9-3 garnered Chris Halliday the top spot as president. Halliday is in his first year on the board. Dr. Patrick Kane previously held the post, but lost in the November election. But the school board deadlocked with a 6-6 vote when it came to deciding who would become the new vice president, Cecilia Gallelli-Keyes or Upper Township representative Fran Newman. In fact, as per the Board Solicitor Michael Stanton, the board had to take three consecutive votes on the post to see if a change of vote by a member could break the tie. After urging by a member of the public, and discussion by the board members, there was a fourth vote at the end of the meeting. Newly elected Board of Education members Robin Shaffer, Catherine Panico, middle, and Liz Nicoletti listen to speakers. Still, the vote ended in a tie. “It is in the process of being reviewed by the Executive County Superintendent of Schools,” School Business Administrator Tim Kelley said Tuesday. According to Kelley, “there is no set timeframe for determining that, and to our knowledge this has not been done before in Ocean City.” Executive County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Judith DeStefano-Anen could not be reached for comment Tuesday to clarify what factors she would consider to determine which board member would be selected as the vice president. It is also unclear if the person she chose to hold the post could even be someone on the board other than Gallelli-Keyes or Newman. Gallelli-Keyes and Newman each received six votes from board members to succeed board member Joe Clark as vice president. Both Gallelli-Keyes and Newman voted for themselves. In addition, Jacqueline McAlister, Liz Nicoletti, Catherine Panico, Robin Shaffer and Disston Vanderslice also cast votes for Gallelli-Keyes to be vice president. Newman got the nod from Kevin Barnes, Joe Clark, Bill Holmes, Chris Halliday and Kristie Chisholm. The next school meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. in the Ocean City High School media room. The audience fills the room at the Jan. 4 meeting.