BEA school board approves new member to fill vacancy. Is there a conflict of interest?
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- Gina Pighetti, a retired professor, will fill a vacant seat on Bald Eagle’s school board.
- Due to the vacancy’s timing, she will serve on the board until December 2027.
- She is the sister of a district administrator, which may lead to conflicts of interest.
The Bald Eagle Area School District board of education quickly moved to fill a vacancy left by one of its members.
Gina Pighetti, a retired animal science professor and Bald Eagle Area native, will temporarily fill a vacant seat on the board after member Brandi Bartley resigned due to family obligations. The board voted Wednesday to appoint Pighetti to fill the vacancy after reviewing applications and hearing presentations from four candidates.
Though it did not come up during board discussion, Pighetti is the sister of Skip Pighetti, the district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and innovation. Christopher Santini, the district superintendent, said Thursday that their relation should not be a major concern while she fills the vacancy, though she may need to occasionally abstain from some votes and discussions.
Pighetti, a Howard resident who earned a doctorate from Penn State, taught at the University of Tennessee for more than 20 years. In her presentation, she cited experience working to evaluate curriculum and assess student needs as essential to understanding how to serve Bald Eagle’s school district.
“I just enjoy working with kids. I enjoy being in service, and that’s partly what I enjoyed being at the University of Tennessee,” Pighetti told the board. “Frankly, I miss it. I miss being part of that educational work group, making those decisions that help students meet their goals and meet their passions. I feel that I can do that again through a school board position.”
A self-described “total nerd” for data, Pighetti said she hopes to help the district’s school board obtain and utilize more information to make decisions and evaluate its priorities. She said her recent experience working as a substitute teacher in the district will also help her understand their needs.
“I think that gives me perspective on some of the challenges our teachers are facing, students are facing and how people can address those,” she said.
Pighetti said the district must address growing challenges presented by technological advancements, including artificial intelligence. She said the district must support diverse groups and backgrounds, including poor and rich families and students who plan to skip college and study trades instead.
Managing resources is the biggest challenge Bald Eagle’s district faces, Pighetti said.
“That’s the number one issue,” she told the board. “If you had all the resources you wanted, you could do everything. But you can’t, so we have to prioritize. You can do that by getting the data, talking to people, figuring out what the challenges are and making a game plan.”
Pighetti was the only candidate nominated for appointment during the board’s voting meeting on Wednesday. All six present board members voted to approve her nomination, with members Mark Kresovich and Jason Penland absent.
Tina Greene, the board president, thanked all four applicants for their interest in joining Bald Eagle’s school board.
“It is probably one of the most awkward situations the board has to get into, doing this publicly,” Greene said. “Please continue to come to meetings. Be part of things. Run for office, whether it’s here or in local communities, because that’s where we’re underserved, in general, at the local levels all across our commonwealth.”
What comes next?
Pighetti was sworn in minutes after the board approved her appointment on Wednesday. She will fill the vacancy until Dec. 6, 2027.
Under Pennsylvania school board policy, a resignation within the first two years of an elected board member’s four-year term bars an appointee from serving the remainder of the term and instead sets up a special race during the next municipal election (as is seen in State College’s district, where voters in November will elect a board member to fill a two-year term). Because Bartley resigned within 60 days of the next municipal election, Bald Eagle’s solicitor concluded Pighetti could serve the remaining two years of Bartley’s term.
Unlike in some other districts, the organization of Bald Eagle’s school board limited the potential pool of applicants for the vacancy. Bartley was one of three board members representing Region 3, which consists of Boggs Township (east), Howard Township, Howard Borough and Milesburg Borough, and any applicant must reside within those municipalities.
Potential for conflict?
Santini, the superintendent, noted there is potential for conflicts of interest for Pighetti while she serves on the board, which essentially supervises district administrators like her brother, the assistant superintendent. Some elements of the Pennsylvania school code and other relevant laws have preventative measures for such a case.
Notably, Pighetti would likely need to abstain from any board discussions or votes related to her brother’s work, including potential contract extensions or performance evaluations. In an email to the Centre Daily Times, Santini noted that Skip Pighetti, a longtime Bald Eagle teacher and elementary principal, started his new role in January and has a contract that extends beyond his sister’s newly approved school board membership.
“In a small school district, it is not uncommon to have one or more board members who are related to, or married to, a school district employee. We have more than one of those connections on our board,” Santini wrote in an email. “Each board member is one vote out of nine, so a single board member alone is unable to get things done without the support of at least four other board members. That usually helps to prevent conflicts of interest in situations such as this one. Our board is comprised of nine independent thinkers who have their own strong opinions and beliefs on the matters that come before them, which also helps prevent conflicts.”
Santini said the district received applications from “four excellent candidates.” He said the relation between Gina and Skip Pighetti “does not take away her strong credentials and experience that should be an asset” to Bald Eagle’s school board.
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