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Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Should Nazareth School Director Step Down?

Should Nazareth School Director Linda McDonald resign? Should a court be asked to remove her? These are questions currently being considered by Nazareth parents who are upset that recently elected school director Linda Director Linda McDonald may have been improperly elected.

McDonald has served on the sometimes contentious school board before, and in various capacities. She's been president and VP . But she resigned, effective January 11, 2016. She told the Board she was moving to Massachusetts at the end of 2015.

At the time of her resignation, she was employed at Essroc as a development analyst. Essroc does have a plant in Massachusetts.

According to an anonymous letter I received over the weekend, McDonald registered to vote in Massachusetts and even voted there in the November 2016 election.

Recently, McDonald found a new job with Air Products as a business support coordinator. Her LinkedIn page indicates she started there in July 2017.

In October 2017, she purchased a home in Upper Nazareth at Westminster Way.  In November 2017, she waged a write-in campaign for school director and won.

But did she reside in the school district for a full year before her election?

Section 322 of the Public School Code provides that a school director must be a citizen, at least 18 years old, of good moral character, and a resident of the school district for at least one year prior to the date of election or appointment. It is questionable whether McDonald meets this residency requirement.

According to my information, she has attended no meetings since her election, but she will be brought in as needed by some of the more senior directors who are unconcerned about whether she was lawfully elected so long as she votes with them.

I have reached out to McDonald but have heard nothing.

The appropriate way to remove McDonald from office is by quo warranto. Only the District Attorney or his designee has such authority.
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2018 at 10:07 AM

    As a Nazareth resident and tax payer, my question to our illustrious school board would be: Why would someone on their own want to fraudulently obtain a position on the school board when there supposedly is no compensation involved? Has she resigned due to these revelations yet?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bernie O'HareFebruary 17, 2018 at 12:55 PM

    Yes. I think the Superintendent wanted her as a reliable vote to support him, but I do not know that.

    ReplyDelete

You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.