The Parkland School Board will meet 7 p.m. Jan. 3, 2023, at the Parkland Administration Center, 1210 Springhouse Road, South Whitehall, to fill Jarrett Coleman’s vacant seat after he announced his resignation.

Coleman’s resignation was approved by the board on Dec. 20, according to the news release.

The school board will appoint former Director Robert Bold to fill the vacancy.

Bold does not intend to run for school board in 2023, when six Parkland School Board seats will be on the ballot for election.

Board President Carol Facchiano commented on Bold’s appointment.

“The plan is for Mr. Bold to serve for the remainder of the year until the six school board directors are elected during the regular election process in 2023,” she explained. “By doing this, the school board stays nonpartisan and stands to benefit from Mr. Bold’s knowledge as a result of his long and dedicated history on the Parkland School Board.

“The board encourages anyone eligible and interested in running for the Parkland School Board in the upcoming election to do so by following the regular election procedure.”

Bold started serving on the Parkland Board of School Directors in December 1999 after retiring from a 30-year teaching career in the Allentown School District.

During his tenure on the Parkland School Board, he served as president five times and vice president three times.

He was on the Academics, Arts and Athletics Committee six times, the Building and Grounds Committee 10 times (four of them as the chairman) and the Personnel and Finance Committee four times (one of them as chairman).

As president of the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit Board of Directors from 2009-19, he regularly reported on activities and priorities that served students with special needs, always supporting equity endeavors.

He is a true advocate for public education and served as the Pennsylvania School Boards Association Legislative Liaison for Region 8 from 2007-19, according to the news release.

He served on the Lehigh Career and Technical Center’s Joint Operating Committee from 2002-19.

In 2009, Bold was designated a Master School Board Director by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association for demonstrating exceptional accomplishments in attaining the goals of effective governance and meeting the needs of students for the 21st century through educational excellence and equity of all students.

In 2011, he helped form the Parkland School District Education Foundation and continued to serve as the school board liaison to the education foundation for six years.

In 2018, the Parkland Education Association (teachers union) honored him with its first Friend of Education Award for always putting children first and supporting the administration and educators in the district.

In April 2021, Marie Maritch resigned from the school board.

At that time, it was determined that during an election year, it made sense to let the election process play out without any endorsement of potential candidates.

Therefore, the board decided to select Bold, noting he was not going to run for elected office that year.

With an appointment in 2023, Bold would fill a similar need for the school board as he did in 2021.