A heated school board meeting in Montgomery County took center stage on Thanksgiving Eve as the board accepted two resignations before appointing one of the same men back into a vacant seat.
It was standing room only inside the special Souderton Area School Board meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 26.
The board unanimously accepted the resignations of Nicholas Braccio and William Brong and then immediately voted to give Brong one of the vacant seats. The board now remains Republican majority.
Many were questioning the timing of this meeting before newly elected Democrat directors join on Monday.
Some residents showed up dressed in aprons and others wearing oven mitts as a way to show the board that they thought they should be at home with their families getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday.
“I’m tired of the school board making our community look like a bunch of idiots to the people around us. They are embarrassing themselves,” resident Chris Spigel said.
The board walked out of the meeting just 22 minutes in as the crowd continued to chant “Shame.”
“They should take what the community wants into account and they are not doing that,” resident Ana Pugliese said.
Most in the crowd called for more transparency, urging the board to slow down on making major decisions until after new directors take their seats in five days.
The board is allowed 30 days to fill a vacancy after any resignation. Only one man stood to speak to show support for the board.
The school board’s president, Stephen Nelson, explained to NBC10 that Brong has the experience needed so that’s one of the reasons why he was reelected at this meeting.
“He has the experience we need,” Nelson explained. “He didn’t want to run.”
In the end, many stood up and formerly objected against the board’s special meeting. They vowed the fight is not over.