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Ringgold appoints Toprani to vacant school board seat
Board Director Maureen Ott questioned the process and unsuccessfully asked for the decision to be tabled.
By MAX ROBINETTE mrobinette@yourmvi.com
The Ringgold School Board appointed a former Washington County district attorney to fill a board vacancy Wednesday.
The board chose Steve Toprani in a 5-3 vote, with board members Carol Flament, Gail Glaneman, Sarah Fine, Sherrie Garry and President Bill Stein approving the appointment. Gene Kennedy, Maureen Ott and Paul Mountain voted no.
Toprani has nearly 20 years of experience as an attorney in western Pennsylvania, serving as district attorney from 2008 to 2012. He was also a long-time solicitor in Charleroi and previously served on the Ringgold School Board in 2015.
He currently serves as solicitor in Donora and North Charleroi, as well as a court attorney.
A Ringgold graduate, Toprani ran for state representative of Pennsylvania’s 49th Legislative District against Bud Cook, R-West Pike Run Township. Cook won the tightly contested race by a slim margin.
Toprani plans to run again for the school board in November, when his current seat is up for election. He’s currently crossfiled as both Democrat and Republican.
“I have three kids in the district and one of them is in kindergarten, so I’ll be around for a long time, God willing,” he said. “I see it as an opportunity to give back to a community I grew up in and love and offer my skills to provide the best possible education we can at the lowest cost for taxpayers.”
The board selected Toprani among 13 candidates interviewed. Flament made the motion to appoint Toprani, saying she was impressed by his interview.
“I believe all the candidates who came did a great job in their interviews,” she said. “But I feel that he stood out in it.”
Upon making the motion, other board members expressed concern over the appointment process, arguing that the board didn’t follow fair procedure.
Ott spoke for dissenting members, saying she felt the board needed more time to field candidates.
“I think the process that Ringgold has used to fill this open seat has some serious flaws,” she said. “We got 13 people to apply. It was wonderful to see so many letters of interest from the community.
“After receiving the letters, board members were not given any opportunity to provide input regarding how the field should be narrowed or how the voting should be conducted.”
Ott additionally claimed the board failed to conduct a sufficient interview process.
“We were told that each candidate would be allotted 15 minutes for an interview and the interviews would consist of six questions for each candidate. Three of the questions required only a yes or no answer and they were largely already addressed in the letter of interest.
“No follow up questions were permitted and the average interview lasted five minutes. Not all board members were present for the interviews. We’re being asked to base our decision tonight on the letters of interest and those interviews.”
Ott cited a neighboring school district’s prudent selection process in a similar circumstance and argued the district should halt the vote and establish a more thorough process itself.
“They saw letters from 16 qualified candidates,” she said. “They would have multiple rounds of interviews and multiple votes in public to methodically narrow the field.
“They did this over the course of three meetings because they were making a sincere effort to identify the individual best suited to fill the vacancy. It is regrettable that our board is unwilling to put forth the same effort.
“To all the candidates who applied, thinking there would be an impartial process in which they could be considered for the vacancy, I apologize to you for thinking you had a fair chance.”
Ott’s comments struck a nerve with multiple people in attendance, who applauded following her statements.
Ott’s comments appeared to persuade select board members, too, as Kennedy and Mountain both briefly advocated for a more reflective selection process.
Stein pointed out that the current procedure is the same procedure the district has used in the past. He also claimed that the district only had 30 days from Feb. 28 to select a candidate, giving members two weeks to detail a new procedure and fill the seat.
Stein also clarified that if members decided not to approve Toprani, they would continue cycling through candidates until one earned five votes from the eight person board.
Ott then called to table the motion to nominate Toprani. The vote to table the motion failed 2-6, with Ott and Mountain as the only yes votes.
Following the failed vote to table, Ott brought up an email sent to board members prior to the meeting that alleged Toprani improperly crossfiled on his ballot petition, arguing she didn’t want to nominate someone who could cause the board legal trouble.
“It goes toward the ethicalness of this candidate and the professionalism of this candidate,” Ott said. “If this person, who is an attorney, violated the law, this candidate shouldn’t be qualified for this position.”
Stein disagreed with Ott, saying the district doesn’t know the referenced law and grounds for such accusations were shaky.
Prior to the meeting, fellow school board candidate Paula Harshaw brought up the crossfiling issue, claiming Toprani’s filing on the Democrat ticket was invalid.
“If I’m a Republican, I can carry a Republican ballot and get signatures to run,” Harshaw said. “I have to find who is a Democrat to cross-file so that I can be on both the Democrat and Republican ballot.
“(Toprani) signed an affidavit on both of those documents saying that he was a registered Republican and Democrat. It is not possible to be registered as both Republican and Democrat.”
Harshaw also claimed there was a case currently in the Court of Common Pleas addressing a similar issue and asked the board to remove Toprani from consideration. “So I’m asking (Toprani) be removed from the voting this evening,” Harshaw said.
In a telephone interview after the meeting, Toprani said Harshaw’s claims don’t make sense and constitute a solely political attack.
“It was a purely political move,” Toprani said. “Honestly, I feel bad for her that she felt the need to attack me at a meeting I wasn’t even at. I’ve been through this process plenty before – her claim has zero merit.”
Harshaw said she filed a petition against Toprani with the Washington County Court of Common Pleas.