{"id":174897,"date":"2026-04-24T13:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/174897\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T13:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:52:08","slug":"allentown-school-board-welcomes-back-former-member-to-fill-vacancy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/174897\/","title":{"rendered":"Allentown School Board welcomes back former member to fill vacancy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Allentown School Board member and current chief of staff to state Rep. Pete Schweyer, Nancy Wilt, has been selected to fill the school director vacancy left by Ana Tiburcio\u2019s election to the state House<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wilt gained the endorsement of five of the eight school board members who voted during the board\u2019s special meeting Thursday; board members Evette D\u2019Amore, Cereta Johnson and Nick Nicholoff, as well as board vice president Audrey Mathison and board president Andrene Brown-Nowell, all voted in her favor over three other candidates.<\/p>\n

In an interview with board members, Wilt said she was honored to serve on the board from 2019 to 2023, but acknowledged that the onset of the pandemic meant she served at a unique time and that she was excited to be a part of initiatives she supported in her previous tenure.<\/p>\n

She said asking questions of district administrators is the key to a transparent budgeting process, saying, \u201cIf I have questions, so does the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilt also said that the district needs to be diligent with public money while being forthright about what it takes to present a balanced budget. She said she\u2019d be honest with the community if a tax increase was needed to continue to provide students with a quality education.<\/p>\n

There were three other candidates who interviewed, two of whom board members nominated alongside Wilt as they prepared to vote on who should become their new colleague.<\/p>\n

Toni James, a practice director at Valley Health Partners Community Health Center, won the votes of two school board members, Dianne Michels and Denzel Morris.<\/p>\n

While nominating James, Michels made a point of saying Wilt was \u201camazing too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NancyNancy Wilt, left, is sworn in as an Allentown School Board member Thursday, April 23, 2026. Wilt, who previously served on the board from 2019 to 2023, was selected to fill the vacancy created when board member Ana Tiburcio was elected to the state House. (Elizabeth DeOrnellas \/ The Morning Call)<\/p>\n

James emphasized her lifelong Allentown residency and her passion to connect students with mentors who can change their life trajectory. She also said being a district parent has given her insight into how the board might rebuild trust with parents who have lost faith in the district.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can bring them to school, but that\u2019s just half the problem,\u201d James said of disengaged students, adding that the district will continue to lose families to charter schools if it does not convince parents and students that the district provides excellent opportunities.<\/p>\n

James drew on her health care background as well, spotlighting the need to provide mental health and counseling services in schools.<\/p>\n

Long-serving parent advocate Yahaira Aviles, who has spent 14 years as a district parent and has served on numerous school district councils, won the vote of board member Zaleeae Sierra.<\/p>\n

Aviles, who has two children currently enrolled in district schools and one who has graduated, said many board members, district parents and students have \u201cbecome like family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many district parents do not fully understand how the school system operates, and more transparency around issues such as budget timelines would be helpful in addressing concerns and helping families meaningfully engage with the district, Aviles said.<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s interview questions focused on the following: biography and motivation for joining the board; potential conflicts of interest; the role of board members in responding to community concerns; fiscal management; and knowledge of the district\u2019s strategic plan.<\/p>\n

Wilt said the strategic plan came after her time and she was therefore not super familiar with it, but she praised the district\u2019s \u201cinnovative programs,\u201d expressing particular admiration for the Ruby Bridges Early Childhood Center, Sonia Sotomayor Dual Language Immersion Academy and the Bridgeview Academy of Health, Science, Innovation and Technology.<\/p>\n

Wilt disclosed that her daughter works as a paraprofessional educator at Raub Middle School but said she does not consider that a conflict of interest as other board members who have served the district had family members who worked in the district.<\/p>\n

Wilt did not discuss how her role as chief of staff to Schweyer, who serves as the majority chair of the state House Education Committee and has been a central force in increasing the amount of state funding the district receives, might affect her role on the board.<\/p>\n

Schweyer was not present for the special meeting portion of the evening but did attend the regular board meeting, alongside fellow state Rep. Mike Schlossberg, to deliver a proclamation recognizing Allen and Dieruff High staff for lifesaving work at recent athletic events.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 24, Allen High staff assisted a fan who fell seriously ill at a playoff basketball game and on March 25 the Dieruff team assisted a softball umpire who suffered a heart attack<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Brown-Nowell, who asked all candidates the same set of questions, requested that candidates start with an introduction on their background. When asking that opening question of Wilt, Brown-Nowell prompted her to include her \u201cprofessional title.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the interview step, in which board members also heard from long-time Allentown resident Juan DeLeon, who said he has experience working in schools ranging from the elementary to college level, the board moved on to discussing the logistics of the nomination process.<\/p>\n

There was no discussion of the candidates during the nomination process in which board members expressed who they would like to see in the pool of potential candidates they would then vote on.<\/p>\n

Superintendent Carol Birks acknowledged in the regular board meeting that Wilt had been board president when Birks was appointed acting superintendent and said she has remained a \u201cstrategic adviser.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Allentown School Board member and current chief of staff to state Rep. Pete Schweyer, Nancy Wilt, has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,2376,227,433,182,139,28,432],"class_list":{"0":"post-174897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-education","13":"tag-lehigh-county","14":"tag-local-news","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-pennsylvania","17":"tag-top-stories-tmc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}