Beth-Center hires interim superintendent

DEEMSTON – A retired superintendent from Greene County will temporarily replace the former top administrator in Bethlehem-Center School District.
The Beth-Center board unanimously hired Thelma Szarell as interim superintendent at a special meeting Monday, replacing Linda Marcolini, who resigned Friday before her contract expired.
Szarell, who retired last year from West Greene School District, will be paid $250 a day until the board hires a new superintendent. She is expected to begin working at Beth-Center this week, district solicitor Jim Davis said.
The board also authorized the district to advertise for applicants to replace Marcolini, who was 2 ½ years into her contract when she resigned for reasons that were not made public.
The board, working from a blank agenda Monday, hired Szarell after spending 1 ½ hours behind closed doors.
Szarell, of Morris Township, worked for 41 years at West Greene and was its superintendent for a dozen years before she retired at the end of the 2015-16 school year.
Marcolini did not return a message left at her office last week, and she could not be reached Tuesday.