Five candidates have been invited to participate in interviews to fill a vacant spot on the Upper Perkiomen School Board during tonight's workshop meeting. The members expect to appoint James Glackin's replacement in order to meet the state's 30 day requirement, according to Raeann Hofkin.

District officials received 10 letters of interest before the deadline of 4 p.m. on Oct. 17. One person did not qualify, and one other application was withdrawn, according to Hofkin.

            "I'm really surprised we received that many (applications)," she wrote in a Tuesday text message.

            The board reviewed the application and narrowed the pool to five for an interview, according to the member. The successful candidate will serve out Glackin's term, which expires Dec. 1, 2021.

            Glackin, a Marlborough Township resident, died on Oct. 1. Vice President Mike Elliot remembered Glackin as a concerned school board member, great scout leader and a friend during the Oct. 10.

            "I'm going to miss him," Elliot said during the meeting.

            A public school teacher in the Philadelphia who ran successfully opposing the new middle school on Montgomery Avenue in Upper Hanover, Glackin voted with the majority at his first meeting to cease construction of the new three-story school for sixth, seventh and eighth graders during a four-hour meeting on Dec. 4, 2017. By the same 5-4 margin, the members also voted to approve a motion to cease seeking funding for the project, estimated at $55.890 million.

            Two weeks later, Glackin reversed course. He cast three pivotal votes reviving the construction.

            During a three-hour meeting, Glackin cast the decisive vote to reject Raeann Hofkin's amendment directing the administration to send termination letters to the project's four main contractors. Then, he supported Elliot's motion to reverse the motion terminating the project.

            Immediately after that vote, Glackin cast one of six votes against President Kerry Drake's motion to pause the project for 120 days.

            One of three newly elected board members who ran on a platform opposing the project, Glackin explained that the money already spent on the new school – estimated at approximately $10.2 million – "crossed a line" in his mind. Glackin said it would not make sense to "throw that money away" by abandoning the construction.