Can Julian Stolz Be Removed From East Penn School Board?

Residents who want Julian Stolz to resign from the East Penn School Board will have to vote him out of office if he doesn't step down.

Pennsylvania has no recall process such as states like California and Wisconsin.

Here, a school board member can't be removed unless he or she commits a "very, very infamous crime" such as a felony under the state constitution or commits malfeasance such as act that financially harms the school district, according to Emily Leader, acting chief counsel for the Pa. School Board Association.

A board member can also be removed for failure to attend two consecutive meetings without cause.

Stolz is serving a four-year term which ends in 2015.

Stolz is currently running for Emmaus mayor and Emmaus borough council. He will have to give up his school board seat if he wins one of those posts and wants to accept it.

Stolz came under fire at the March 25 school board meeting when parent Lou Schuler confronted the board with this Twitter exchange between Stolz and Todd Kincannon, former South Carolina GOP executive director:

Kincannon: “There is nothing more brain rotting than public schools. God I pity the proletariat for having to send their inferior crotchfruit to them.”

Stolz: “@ToddKincannon as a School Board director, I wish I could disagree. As a sentient being, I cannot.”

Stories on the controversy have generated hundreds of comments on Patch with some residents defending Stolz and others calling for his ouster.

"Here you have a person who is making statements in public. They aren't illegal. They're just not something people approve of. But he has a First Ammendment right to speak," said Leader.

In a case of an illegal act, the district attorney or state attorney general can be asked to bring action to remove a school director.

"Unless you have a legal reason [to remove someone], you have to do it at the polls," said Leader.

A Patch poll asking readers if an apology is enough from Stolz drew 56 votes with 78 percent of those who voted saying "no."

Stolz on Monday tweeted his intention to resign from the school board but that was apparently an April Fools' joke.

The next meeting of the East Penn School Board will be Monday at 7:30 p.m. at 800 Pine St., Emmaus.