Crawford Central appoints new member
Apr. 26—VERNON TOWNSHIP — The newest face on Crawford Central School Board is a familiar one.
John Amato — former Crawford County commissioner, former Crawford Central member and current Meadville Area Senior High School assistant football coach — was unanimously approved to fill the board vacancy left open by the resignation of Elyse Palmer last month.
Amato beat out eight other applicants for the position and will serve through Dec. 4, 2023. His service began immediately: After the board voted to appoint him a few minutes into the meeting, he was sworn in and took a seat next to board member Holly Chatman.
The term Amato takes over from Palmer extended through 2025, but state law limits appointments until the next municipal election, when a replacement for the rest of the term will be chosen by voters. While polls will be open this November, no municipal election is scheduled. Instead, voters will elect a candidate to fill the last two years of the term in November 2023.
Amato, a retired teacher in Crawford Central School District, was previously elected to the board in 2013 and served from 2014 to 2015. He resigned his seat after he was elected county commissioner in 2015. State law prohibits the same person from serving as a commissioner and school board member simultaneously.
"I kind of felt like I didn't finish my time last time," Amato said after the meeting, "so when I was asked to come forward, I thought I'd give it a shot."
After serving one term as county commissioner, Amato opted not to run for reelection in 2019. On top of his previous experience on the board, Amato said his continued involvement with students as a volunteer football coach made him a good candidate for the seat.
"Just dealing with kids, I know what kind of issues they face," he said, "and I hope maybe I can help with some of that."
The eight other applicants for the position included several names familiar from area politics and from recent school board meetings. Jack Harkless has twice run for Meadville City Council in recent elections while Robert Horvat has previously served as a Vernon Township supervisor. Monica Hargenrater, Ron Irwin and Robert Conley have all been consistent presences at board meetings during the current school year.
District residents Wallace Mason, Shanna Hodgson and D.J. Craven also applied for the seat. Board secretary Lisa Pittner said that two additional residents who had submitted applications withdrew their names prior to the Friday interviews.
The board's interviews and deliberations Friday evening lasted a little more than three hours, according to minutes from the meeting. All board members were present.
Prior to appointing Amato, board members voted unanimously to accept Palmer's resignation. In a letter dated March 28, Palmer told the board in part, "For both personal and professional reasons, I am unable to fulfill the obligations of the position at this time. I am grateful for the opportunity I was given to serve. I apologize to the other board members, CCSD students and staff, and the larger community for not being able to do the job I was entrusted to do."
Board President Jan Feleppa described the process of selecting Amato from the field of applicants as a relatively simple one.
"We interviewed everybody, we scored the sheets, we took all the tallies from everybody," she said after the meeting. "We discussed the top three people and we made a decision — a unanimous decision to pick John. That was the process."
Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at .
