Burrell School Board president appears to win reelection with write-in campaign

The Burrell School Board will have the chance to appoint a new school board member at its Dec. 3 reorganization meeting because of the lack of candidates and a win by board President Tricia Shank for a seat she didn’t seek and can’t accept.

Shank won two seats — both as a write-in candidate — even though she only ran for one of them.

There were no contested races for the school board in the Nov. 5 election, as there were more open seats than candidates on the ballot.

There was only one candidate for two at-large seats, with newcomer Thomas Deiseroth taking one with 2,412 votes, according to unofficial election results.

There also was one open seat each for Regions 1 and 3, with incumbent candidates Pam Key and Gretchen Beveridge winning, respectively.

No one was on the ballot for Region 2, according to Westmoreland County Elections Bureau Director Beth Lechman.

Shank of Lower Burrell didn’t set out to run as a write-in candidate.

She moved to a new home at the end of 2017 less than a half-mile from her old home in Region 2. However, her new home is in a different region.

By the time she realized that, it was too late to get on the ballot so she mounted a write-in campaign for the at-large seat.

There were 299 write-ins for the at-large seat. Shank won it with 133 votes, besting another incumbent who also wasn’t on the ballot, Christopher Wojcik. Wojcik garnered 97 votes.

Then in Region 2, where there was no one on the ballot, 28 write-in votes were cast. Shank won with nine votes. Since Shank doesn’t live in Region 2 anymore, she can’t take that seat.

“I did the write-in campaign for the at-large seat, but voters got confused and wrote me in my old Region 2,” Shank said.

On Tuesday, when Shank received the unofficial write-in results from the school district, she said she was relieved that she won the at-large seat.

“I am happy to be reelected because we are in the middle of a lot of projects and that will help with consistency,” she said.

Shank said she would like to see the board appoint Wojcik to fill the vacant seat Region 2 seat during the Dec. 3 reorganization meeting.

“We have some ideas about filling the vacant seat and, between now and the reorganization meeting, we’ll figure out how to proceed,” she said.

Wojcik did not immediately respond to an email sent to him for comment.

The school board has 30 days to fill the vacant seat, according to Burrell School District Solicitor Lee Price. It will take a candidate five votes from the school directors to be appointed.

If the school board doesn’t make an appointment, then 10 citizens can petition a Westmoreland County judge to fill the vacancy, Price said.

Whoever gets appointed to the Region 2 seat will serve for two years.