Upon graduating high school, Tina Stoll never imagined herself as school board president, let alone for her alma mater. Fast-forward 41 years, she is stepping down from her position as president after steering North Penn through unprecedented waters for the past seven years. 

“I am a North Penn grad. Although, when I went to high school here, I did not care for it,” former school board President Tina Stoll said. “I graduated with about 880 in my class, and if you would’ve said to me back then, in 1983, 41 years ago, ‘You’re going to be school board president someday’ I would’ve laughed. It’s ironic to me that I am school board president.”

For Stoll, this realization wasn’t overnight. It wasn’t until her children went through the district that she saw all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into a smooth-sailing education. 

“It was when my kids went to school here and they were involved in activities, I saw how they got to participate in the school community and that’s what made me join the booster club, and I enjoyed seeing those kinds of things,” Stoll stated.

“I was president of The 12th Knight Booster Club for seven years, and we kept moving our games to other fields because our field condition in the stadium was not playable. I orginally began going to the school board to ask for the stadium to be upgraded and I got more and more interested so I started attending more meetings,” Stoll explained. “I also joined my local Democratic Party of Montgomery Township and it snowballed from there.”

Her spiked interest motivated Stoll to run for school board, but her success wasn’t immediate, and like all good things, getting elected took time. 

“I ran three times for school board, 2011, 2013, and 2015, and I lost each of them so I wasn’t going to run again. But then there was this group of people that were going to run in 2017 that I got along with really well. Someone else on the board at the time said ‘Why don’t you just give it one more shot’. So I ran a fourth time and we got on with our whole slate and flipped the board.”

Many people talk about seeing the world from a different point of view but that phrase became reality for Stoll overnight. For the first time in years, Stoll was on the inside looking out at the seats she once sat in as an audience member for school board meetings. Not only that, but Stoll was running them. 

“Because I had been the one that was going to the school board meetings the longest and had the most experience is how I got to be president. It was definitely like getting thrown into the deep end because even for all the meetings that I had gone to, it was one thing sitting on the audience side of the table, but it was a whole other thing sitting behind it.”

Looking back on the past two terms, Stoll has many fond memories of working on the school board, but most of them have one thing in common. Her team. 

“I like the community [school board] provides. The team that we have has been exemplary and we all get along well. I always give credit to us as a team because every one of us has different lives and personal experiences we bring to the table,” Stoll stated. “For instance, Mr. Kassa works with school safety and higher education, Dr. Gee is a principal at an elementary school in another district, Mr. Fusco is a special education teacher, Mr. McBain is a high school teacher in another district, Ms. Ramich is a social worker, and Mrs. McMurturie is a retired construction manager. Everybody comes from really different backgrounds, but everything is very relevant to the school and the issues we are having to deal with as school board directors,” she continued. 

When one pictures the duties of a school board president, it usually includes long lists of items waiting to be checked off, but with a team of this caliber, this is not necessarily the case. 

“As president, my role has been more ordinary things. I think it’s the team effort and everybody doing their part that makes us function at such a high level. I enjoy working with our team and the administration has been great too, especially with it being a tough couple of years,” Stoll said. “I think because we are a team and I trust my other team members part, it’s not as consuming for me [being President] as one might think. Being together now for seven years, [we have] become a well-oiled machine.”

Although the school board had been working together for a while at the time, when COVID-19 hit, they, too, were thrown into a state of uncertainty. Not only were they tasked with making sure their families were safe, but they were also in charge of determining the course of action for the North Penn School District as a whole. 

“Being on the board during COVID-19 was challenging for everyone, no doubt about it. And it was even harder because we were being put in the position of having to make decisions that truly affected people and their everyday lives. It was really hard to say school was going to be closed and we were going virtual, but it was also really hard to hear people say I have a sick child or ‘We have grandparents living in our house’ or ‘I’m afraid my child will get sick’,” Stoll explained. 

While dealing with the safety aspect, the board was also tasked with addressing the surplus of outside noise that erupted due to the differing opinions across the country on the controversial topic.

“Of course, everybody was very opinionated about what we should do and some people were not very happy with our decisions even though we tried our best to follow medical advice and what was being recommended,” Stoll stated. “It made us get tough skin, if we didn’t have one before that, we definitely did after. It was something having people coming up to the microphone and screaming at you or spitting on the ground. At one point, we had to get escorted in and out of the building with security which was annoying. I feel like that wouldn’t have happened before COVID so it was my job to try to keep everybody’s morale up, and we all knew that we had each other’s back and were looking out for each other. And as far as social media, we just had to learn not to look at it and tune it out.”

“It’s unsettling sometimes when you see people make comments about you who don’t know you but on the other hand, we have a lot of supporters so it’s nice to see people write supportive things. People didn’t see all the people emailing and contacting us behind the scenes, who were thanking us for what we were doing,” Stoll continued. 

At such a difficult time throughout the world, Stoll expressed how helpful it was for the directors to stay unified and continue to trust each other. 

“I think that was the most difficult part hands down and again, I credit the team because we got through it together. Some neighboring boards are not as unified and I think if that were us, it would have been more difficult going through that. We were very aligned in what we felt we had to do so it made a difficult time more bearable,” Stoll said. 

Unlike many other political positions, being on the school board is completely volunteer. Not only does this mean the directors don’t get paid, but it also means they are living a normal life like everyone else in their community. 

“I always say we are at the local level so people see us at the grocery store, the mall, or a restaurant. We’re not like your senator who you’ll never see because they are in Washington DC or somebody who has security all around them,” Stoll laughed. “You could run into us anytime, anywhere.”

Despite the difficulties that arose with COVID-19, the former school board president also reflected on the many successes this group of directors had over their time together. 

“I think the biggest accomplishments were that we successfully got through COVID-19, we finally started the North Penn High School renovation project, which even though the referendum itself failed, I do feel that the fact we gave the community a chance for their voices to be heard about whether or not the ninth graders get moved up was a big accomplishment,” Stoll recalled. “The day after the referendum failed, the administration was already working on option two. I think it is a long-overdue project and it is finally going to get started in late spring so that’ll be good.”

Despite there being no term limits for school board positions, Stoll among a few of her colleagues agreed to only serve for a certain amount of time to allow for fresh eyes in the position. 

“There are no term limits for school board, but when Mr. Fusco, Mr. Kassa, and I first ran, we said that if we were lucky enough to be elected and then reelected, we would only serve two terms,” Stoll stated. “At this point in our country’s history, I feel like offices should be term-limited. I think many people have been in office for too long and it’s really hard to break an incumbent as they already have the means to raise the money and have backing. When you are spending all that time raising funds, you are not able to sort out constituents because you are spending so much time trying to reach the next election. So we decided we didn’t want to be that way. Having fresh eyes is always a good thing,” she continued. 

Although she still has one year left in her term, Stoll has passed the gavel on to Mrs. Cathay McMurtrie to allow her to adjust while she is still there to help. 

“Mr. Fusco and I decided to step down now because we thought it would be good to help with the transition while we were still here. I know Mrs. McMurturie appreciates that as it allows us to work together so she could ask questions regarding how things are done or when things have to be done by.”

Looking ahead to her final year on the board, Stoll is looking forward to moving the renovation along and helping the transition be seamless.

“[In my last year], I hope to get the high school project well underway, which it looks like it will be and I hope to help Mrs. McMurturie transition smoothly into her new role as president. We are also working on getting replacements for Mr. Kassa, Mr. Fusco, and myself for the next election and working to get them elected onto the board so our team can continue the way it has been,” Stoll stated. 

Although it can seem daunting to run for school board, Stoll referred to the importance of keeping public education safe and effective, and the only way to ensure this is if people put themselves out there and run in elections. 

“We are a really big district and it’s always weird to me how few people step up to run for political office. Yes, it is volunteer, but it is very important. It’s also very fulfilling when you are working with a great team of administration and you see the things you are doing affecting positive change. For example, putting full-day Kindergarten into place. That was a big deal, “ Stoll said. “I think sometimes people are intimidated by putting themselves out there.”

“[Being a school board member] is a very important job and people depend on us. I think public education has been under attack for the last couple of years, or probably even longer, and we need people to step up and defend it so that it’s here for our grandchildren, and I hope that continues,” Stoll continued. 

Although she didn’t enjoy her experience at North Penn, Stoll has a newfound appreciation for the district after having children passed through and working as a school board director. 

“I think my children got an excellent education at North Penn and I’m very grateful for all the things they offered from gifted to special needs and everything in between,” Stoll explained. “And with all the extracurriculars, there is something for everyone no matter their interest so I think it’s important to make sure it remains that way for kids moving forward.”

Although Stoll feels it is time for her to step down from the board next year, she also realizes it is bittersweet and there is so much she will miss. 

“I am going to miss the comradery of our board and the administration and it was truly a pleasure working with them,” Stoll said. “I was disappointed when I lost the first three times, but in the end, it worked out in my favor because I got to work with this amazing group.”

“[For anyone that wants to be on the school board], my advice would be to work with a team and make sure everybody’s voices are heard and that their ideas are considered and everybody is working towards the goal of the betterment of public education and making sure that our schools are the best in the state,” Stoll concluded.