It's Official: East Penn Approves Julian Stolz's Resignation

Julian Stolz’s controversial tenure as a member of the East Penn School Board came to a quiet end Monday night when the school board unanimously agreed to accept his resignation.

Stolz was not present at Monday night’s meeting.

No one from the community came to talk about Stolz or his behavior.

No one on the board expressed a desire to discuss the motion before a vote was taken.

The only comment came from School Board President Charles Ballard, who asked board solicitor Marc Fisher to confirm that he had looked at the resolution regarding the resignation and found it in compliance with Pennsylvania law.

At that point, a vote was called and all seven of the board members present voted to accept Stolz’s letter of resignation. Director Rebecca Heid was not present at Monday’s meeting. 

Following the vote, there was a brief discussion, led by Ballard, of the need to fast-track the search for a new board member to fill Stolz’s seat.

“We have some ambiguities in Pennsylvania law that may make it necessary to have an appointment by Monday, Nov. 11,” Ballard said, deferring to Fisher for the explanation.

Fisher said that state law mandates that the vacated seat be filled within 30 days of the date of resignation. Since the blog post in which Stolz resigned from the board is dated Oct. 15, Fisher said, the board needs to assume that the “30-day clock starts from that date.”

The Nov. 11 board meeting is the only advertised board meeting remaining that falls within that 30-day time frame, Fisher added.

Ballard reviewed the steps to fill an open seat, and the board unanimously approved an accelerated schedule to cover each of those steps by Nov. 11.

The timeline approved by the board is as follows:

• Post board opening on East Penn School District website on Tuesday, Oct. 29
• Submit advertisement to local newspapers on Tuesday, Oct. 29
• Set application deadline for 4 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7
• Interview candidates at a public meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11
• Place 7:30 p.m. motion on Nov. 11 agenda to appoint selected candidate.
• Administer oath of office to candidate following approval of motion.
• Seat new board member on Nov. 11.

The new board member would serve out the unexpired remainder of Stolz’s term, according to Fisher, which runs through December 2015.