McGuffey School Board appoints board member
McGuffey School Board appointed a familiar face to fill a board vacancy during a special meeting Thursday.
David Haines replaces Edward Shingle, who resigned from the board Dec. 7.
Haines, a McGuffey graduate who also served as high school band director at McGuffey for 22 years before retiring in June 2016, briefly served on the board from July to November 2017.
At that time, he replaced Frank Archambault, who had resigned in June 2017.
Haines, of Donegal Township, will represent District 1, which is composed of Blaine and Donegal townships, West Alexander and Claysville. He bested one other candidate, Betty Shingle, who also applied to fill the vacancy left when Archambault resigned.
Interviews for the position were held at the beginning of the special meeting, with each candidate answering six questions.
“I feel that we have a lot of work to do, and I’d like to contribute to that,” said Haines.
Haines said finances continue to be an issue.
“I believe McGuffey School District is like a lot of other school districts in the state. We are at the mercy of Harrisburg with regard to funding,” said Haines. “The biggest concern right now is obviously revenue to provide what we want to provide to the students of McGuffey. Where are we going to get that revenue and how do we achieve our goals with what is probably going to be a diminishing revenue situation? Those decisions aren’t going to be easy. We have to find a way to make decisions that are best for the students without overburdening the population of the district.”
Haines will serve the remainder of the term, which ends Nov. 30, 2019.