The Palmyra Board of Education held its annual reorganization meeting last week at the Delaware Avenue School.
While the board has several members from last year, Kate Allen-Yoakum was newly elected to a three-year term. Current members Laurie Beck, James Dickinson and Mark Russell were sworn in to continue their work on the board. In the November election, Beck and Russell were reelected to three-year terms and Dickinson was elected to a two-year unexpired term.
In an interview with The Sun after the election in November, Allen-Yoakum expressed her happiness at winning a seat on the board.
“I was really excited to be elected,” she noted. “I ran a campaign where I met a lot of people in town and felt really strongly about the things I was running for. I was also really grateful to be elected.
“I was happy that I made the decision to run,” Allen-Yoakum added, “because when I made the decision, we had only been here for three years. So I question, can a newcomer even win a local election?”
Allen-Yoakum’s swearing in was not the only update that shook up the Palmyra board; the roles of president and vice president also changed. Board member Sean Toner replaced Russell as president and the latter was elected to replace Beck as vice president.
New year board of education meetings are for Jan. 8, Feb. 12, March 11, April 8, May 13, June 10, Aug. 26, Sept. 16, Oct. 14, Nov. 11, Dec. 9 and, in 2021, Jan 6. All such meetings will be held at 7 p.m. in the Delaware Avenue All Purpose Room located at 301 Delaware Avenue in Palmyra.
