Marple Newtown school board welcomes new member, reelects leaders

At its customary reorganization meeting following the November elections, the Marple Newtown School District school board did little reorganizing, as it welcomed just one new member and voted to keep its existing leaders.

While Barbara Harvey, Dave Dezzi, Nichoals Siano and Kate Byrne were all elected to the school board in November, they had not previously been on the board.

Byrne, who ran as a Democrat, currently serves as staff counsel for Travelers insurance company, and according to Marple Newtown Democrats’ website, she has represented Pennsylvania municipalities in both premises liability and civil rights litigation. Earlier in her career, she served as an assistant district attorney at the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, specializing in crimes against older adults.

In addition to Byrne, Harvey, Dezzi and Siano, other members of the board include Matthew Bilker, Dana Altobelli, John McKenzie, Lisa Pacell and Nick Reynolds. During its Dec. 1 meeting, the Marple Newtown school board voted unanimously to reelect Bilker and Siano as president and vice president, respectively.

Bilker ended the meeting by thanking the board for its support over the past year and voting for him to continue serving as president. “I’m looking forward to a positive year of working with this board, with this administration, with this group of teachers and with the kids that we have in our district,” he said. “I think we have a lot of bright things ahead for us this year.”