Jon Costas, who served as mayor of Valparaiso from 2004 to 2020, will now serve a four-year term appointed to the Valparaiso School Board, following the result of May 31 final interviews of the candidates.

Costas, 65, fills the vacant seat of Karl Cender, who is completing his third four-year term and currently school board president.

“Jon is a proven leader and bridge-builder,” said council member Jack Pullio, Fourth District, who is one of the council liaisons for Valparaiso Schools.

“We are confident his expertise will make Valpo Schools stronger than ever.”

Jennifer Buck, who is employed at a local credit union, was the other candidate for the board vacancy. Buck said she favors an elected school board process, while Costas has maintained his support of an appointed school board.

Both applicants answered questions posed by the council, and also submitted questions from the public during the May 31 second interview. Council Member At-Large Evan Costas did not participate in the interviews or the final vote, since his former mayor father was an applicant.

A state statute requires the Valparaiso School Board must have at least one member from each political party. “Party affiliation” is determined by the last primary in which the applicant voted.

The public could watch the two rounds of May council interviews of candidates via remote access watching the livestream on the city’s web page and Facebook feed. Each applicant was given 25 minutes to answer questions which were provided in advance and all of the applicants were asked the same questions given in the same order as read by City Attorney Patrick Lyp.

One question posed addressed disruptions during “heated” school board meetings last year, asking how the board could remedy concerns in the future to allow for the public to be included and provided opportunity for comment while not impeding the meeting discourse.

“It can mean late nights for a meeting, because whoever is attending wants to have a say, and should have that say,” Costas said.

“People need to be heard, while being respectful of others, and of the process. Covid has made the past year difficult.”

Costas said in addition to measuring “on time graduation rates” to gauge the success of a school, he believes using metrics to follow the success of students after high school in college and in their post education careers is another key factor to track the success of a school system.

Valparaiso School Board members are paid an annual stipend of up to $4,336. In addition to Costas, the other school members include Erika Robinson-Watkins, Jennifer Bognar, Vice President, Kurt Minko, Secretary and member Rob Behrend.

Valparaiso Community Schools District consists of 12 public schools, K-12, serving 6,235 students in Porter County.

Phil Potempa is a freelance reporter and columnist for the Post-Tribune.