POTTSTOWN PA – With uncontested races for all five seats up for election Tuesday (Nov. 8, 2011) on the Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors, there was no surprise in the outcome.

Previously appointed board members Patti Grimm and C. David Faulkner, both running for election for the first time; board member Jodi Adams, who had not filed to seek re-election but accepted a place on the ballot as a write-in candidate; and newcomers Justin Valentine and Theodore C. Coffelt all will take places at the board table during next month’s reorganization meeting.

With all voting districts across three townships (Lower, Upper and West Pottsgrove) reporting, in results still considered unofficial until certified by the Montgomery County Board of Elections, Grimm proved to be the highest vote-getter. The results, in descending order of votes received, were:

• Grimm – 2,728, 20.28 percent;
• Valentine – 2,711, 20.15 percent;
• Faulkner – 2,699, 20.06 percent;
• Adams – 2,682, 19.94 percent; and
• Coffelt – 2,633, 19.57 percent.

A total of 13,453 votes were cast, the county said.

Board members gathered for their first meeting of the month Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Ringing Rocks Elementary School on North Keim Street, only a half-hour before the polls closed. With the reorganization meeting on the horizon, district Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis thanked two departing directors, April Kontostathis and Fred Remelius, for their eight consecutive years of service.

Departing Pottsgrove school director Fred Remelius, left, receives a clock from district Suerintendent Dr. Bradley Landis. Board member April Kontostathis was similarly honored

“You both did a lot of work behind the scenes,” board President Michael Neiffer said of the pair. “You gave this district stability when it needed it, and it has improved as a result,” he added. Both received commemorative clocks as parting gifts from the district.