ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Allentown School Board is now scheduled to interview nine applicants to fill two board vacancies at its meeting Thursday evening.
The board was set to interview candidates at the meeting to fill a seat left open by state Sen. Nick Miller, who resigned from the board effective earlier this month. But now it is also dealing with a second vacancy left recently by Charlie Thiel.
- The ASD school board plans to fill two board vacancies Thursday night
- Board member Charlie Thiel resigned abruptly, citing "professional obligations"
- Nine applicants are set to be interviewed
In a letter obtained by LehighValleyNews.com, Thiel submitted his resignation effective Jan. 6, citing “professional obligations.” Thiel owns a security consulting company and had served on the school board for about 10 years.
A spokeswoman for the district said the board will vote to accept Thiel’s and Miller’s resignations Thursday and also choose candidates to fill both seats. By law, the board has 30 days after accepting a resignation to fill a school board seat. The selected candidates are expected to be sworn in during the regular school board meeting on Jan. 26 and serve until the December 2023 reorganization meeting.
The nine applicants for the two seats include Andrene Brown, Milagros Canales, Louis Holzman, Karen Ocasio, Evelyn Santana, Shellie Santiago, Kiara Santos, Zaleeae Sierra and Ana Tiburcio. Being a member of the school board is a volunteer position.
Andrene Brown
Brown is a founder and executive director of the Fine Feather Foundation. The organization provides after-school and summer art classes that focus on children’s mental health needs. She recently applied for a seat on the Allentown City Council vacated by State Rep. Josh Seigel.
Milagros Canales
Canales is the president of the Old Fairgrounds Neighborhood Association. She is also president of Princess to Pirates, an event planning company. She received the 2017 Allentown Human Relations Commission (HRC) award for overall excellence. She is also a board member of Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, a nonprofit organization that works to help children succeed by improving neighborhoods.
Louis Holzman
Holzman is the director of business development for Altitude Marketing in Emmaus and founded Queen City Realty in Allentown. He founded and is vice president of the Allentown Young Professionals, and volunteers with the Allentown Arts Commission and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley.
Karen Ocasio
Ocasio is the benefits manager for the City of Allentown. She’s worked for the city in that position for more than four years. Previously, she was an administrative assistant with Lehigh Pretrial Services. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Cedar Crest College and a master’s degree in Human Resources from Penn State University.
Evelyn Santana
Santana is a certified nursing assistant at Phoebe Ministries, a senior living retirement community in Allentown.
Shellie Santiago
Santiago is a former teacher who has a home business, Lettering for Freedom. Santiago designs hand-lettered signs and gifts. She uses some of the proceeds to sponsor children through two different charitable organizations.
Kiara Santos
Santos is a 2013 graduate of William Allen High School.
Zaleeae Sierra
Sierra is the youth coordinator at Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley. Promise Neighborhoods is a nonprofit organization that works to help children succeed by improving neighborhoods. She is a graduate of William High School and studied at Lehigh Carbon Community College.
Ana Tiburcio
Tiburcio is the owner of A&M Tax and Services in Allentown. She also works at Jey and Tax Services and Tiburcio and Associates Tax Preparation. She has 10 years of experience in tax preparation. She went to Northampton Community College where she studied early childhood education.
