North Penn names new board president, veep for 2025

For the first time in the 2020s, North Penn School Board has new leaders in the center seats.

Board members voted unanimously on Monday night to name member Cathy McMurtrie to be board president and member Juliane Ramic to be vice president, ending an era with Tina Stoll and Christian Fusco in those two posts.

“I know that we will support Cathy and Juliane in their new roles, every bit as much as you guys supported Christian and myself,” said Stoll.

“We have one more year left of our service, just so people don’t think we’re resigning; we just figured it was good to pass the baton while we’re still here,” Stoll said.

Stoll and Fusco were both elected to the board in 2017 and reelected in 2021 to second four-year terms; Stoll was appointed board president starting in 2018 and Fusco has held the VP spot since 2019, leading the board through three school years impacted by COVID-19, contentious public debate about masking and vaccinations, and much-discussed renovations of North Penn High School’s Crawford Stadium and Knapp Elementary School, plus the past two years centered on planning major renovations to the high school.

Taking their spots will be McMurtrie, an engineer and project construction manager who was elected to the board in 2019 and has led the board’s facilities and operations committee since 2022, and Ramic, an immigration expert and advocate for refugees and immigrants who was first appointed to the board in early 2018, then was reelected in 2019 and 2023.

During the reorganization meeting on Monday night, Stoll nominated McMurtrie to serve as board president for the 2025 calendar year, and the rest of the board approved unanimously, prompting the two to switch seats and swap nameplates, and Stoll to hand over the gavel to run the rest of the meeting. Fusco then nominated Ramic to take his post of vice-president, which the board also approved, before superintendent Todd Bauer voiced thanks to the outgoing leadership.

"It truly has been a pleasure, working closest with Mrs. Stoll and Mr. Fusco, and I'm sorry to say it's almost on a daily basis," Bauer said. "Every email that comes in, every phone call, every emergency, every communication we send to any of our schools, or the full community, Mrs. Stoll is informed."

"For your leadership as president and vice president through, I don't think anyone would argue, the most challenging times in public education, your leadership through the pandemic, and many other things, on behalf of just me — thank you," he said.

    North Penn school board President Tina Stoll, left, and Vice President Christian Fusco speak after being reappointed to those positions during the board's annual reorganization meeting on Monday, Dec. 4 2023. (Screenshot of NPTV video)
  

Board member Jonathan Kassa added that he thought the two "raised the bar, in terms of governance and transparency, and representing the community, year after year, and standing up and showing up," and Stoll said she felt it was an "honor and a privilege" to do so.

"I'm just really grateful to be working with such a great team and with a great administration: I couldn't have asked for better people to work with," she said.

Fusco added that he "always felt a little unworthy, to sit as a leader among such a strong group," and was impressed with what his fellow members "bring to the table"

"Every one of you does this because you love your community, you love your neighbors, you care about the kids in this district, you care about the staff, and you care about North Penn," he said, calling his tenure as VP "the privilege of a lifetime."

    The Democratic ticket of "North Penn Neighbors for Progress" candidates celebrate after victories on Election Night, Nov. 5 2019. From left to right are board members Tina Stoll, re-elected member Tim MacBain, newly elected member Cathy Wesley, member Jonathan Kassa, re-elected member Elisha Gee, newly elected members Wanda Lewis-Campbell and Al Roesch, re-elected member Juliane Ramic and incumbent Christian Fusco as seen in November 2019. (Credit: MediaNewsGroup)
  

Housekeeping items for 2025 followed, as the board discussed their committee assignments for the upcoming year; the only changes, according to Bauer, are that Ramic will now chair the board finance committee in place of Fusco, and that McMurtrie and Ramic will take over for Stoll and Fusco on the board's personnel committee.

The only public comment on the reorganization and leadership changes came form resident Jason Lanier, who noted that in the time since Stoll and Fusco took over the leadership posts, he's seen only a handful of votes against any action items.

"You don't debate, you don't actually look into the information, you just vote yes. What kind of nonsense is this? You guys are supposed to actually discuss, and have difference of opinion, and want to challenge one another. This is how you get the best of things," he said.

Fusco countered the comment by saying "the unity, that gets criticized by some, is done as a sign of strength in the decision-making, for our administration, for our students, for our teachers, and for our community."

"There are times, in private conversations, when we've talked about disagreements, that people have swallowed a 'No vote,' recognizing that for the good of the district, and the good of the team, it made sense to go ahead and support something that there may have been some skepticism over. The reason why we're able to do that is because the people that serve on this board, put their service ahead of their personal interests," he said.

North Penn's school board next meets at 7 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2025; for more information visit www.NPenn.org.

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