Local News

Spring Cove School Board adds new member

Waite sworn in to fill vacant post on school board

ROARING SPRING -- A former Spring Cove history teacher was sworn onto the school board Monday night after running as the sole applicant for the vacant position left by Kevin Smith.

Starting Oct. 19, Waite will finish Smith's term until the first Monday of December 2027.

Phillip Waite, a Central 1982 graduate, spoke about staying true to his Spring Cove roots during his opening statement.

"It's really about giving back," he said. "It was really about giving back to the school district that has impacted me."

After retiring from the Navy, Waite started teaching at Juniata Valley for two years before moving to Central for 33 more years, according to past Mirror reports.

"My emphasis is to give back to our district and our community," he said.

Following Waite's opening statement, board President Amy Acker-Knisely asked Waite three questions, including what his biggest challenge as a member would be.

Waite believes he'll face some difficulty viewing the district as a taxpayer rather than an educator and dealing with new obstacles such as artificial intelligence and state funding.

"But I believe I could do that," he told the board. "I would need a little education on how things work, and again, I wanted to be that person because there's a lot of challenges coming into education."

Board member Troy Wright nominated Waite for the open seat after Waite's interview.

"I think he'll make a wonderful board member," member Misti Fisher said.

Waite sat in as an official board member for the meeting's remaining minutes, including a 45-minute executive session discussing the approval of acting superintendent Rodney Green. He voted in favor of appointing Green.

In other news, the board unanimously approved a 4.9% Act 1 Index for the 2027-28 school year. The new rate is a 0.1% increase from last year's index at 4.8%.

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.