The Board of Education on Tuesday voted to appoint first-year member Joe Tonzola as the panel's vice president.
The vote to appoint Tonzola to the position was 5-0. Board President John Tavis and member Deidre Kukucka were absent. Tonzola abstained from the vote.
Board member Robin Cervantes nominated Tonzola. It was seconded by board member Anne Moonan. There were no other nominations.
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Tonzola takes over for the panel's former vice president, Laurie Cannon, who unexpectedly quit last week. Cannon has a year left on her term. Her seat has not yet been filled for the remainder of the calendar year.
But by Friday's deadline, seven people filed to run for the remainder of Cannon's year on the board.
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Tonzola thanked Cannon, who was not in the audience, for her years of service on the board, saying that while the two did not always agree, he knew Cannon always had the best interest of the school children at heart.
"Heaven knows that Laurie and I did not always see eye to eye on everything,'' Tonzola said. "But Laurie, I knew, was always here for the children."
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