PA PSERS Board of Trustees Certifies Election Results

HARRISBURG – The PA Pennsylvania School Employees’ Retirement System has announced the election results for two positions on the Board of Trustees.

 

The candidates were the only PSERS members to submit nominating petitions for their respective 3-year trustee positions and therefore were elected by acclamation pursuant to Board policy. The acclamation vote occurred at a public meeting of the Board of Trustees on Friday, Oct. 8.

 

The candidates’ terms begin Jan. 1, 2022.

 

Susan Lemmo, a resident of Clearfield County and an art teacher at Curwensville Area School District, was an incumbent candidate. She has held one of three board seats elected by the active certified PSERS members since 2014. 

 

Ms. Lemmo has been a teacher since 1990. She has a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s of Fine Arts from Penn State University.

 

Ann Monaghan, a resident of Hawley, Wayne County, was the sole candidate for the Board’s active non-certified trustee position. She is the registrar, homeless liaison, foster care point-of-contact and attendance officer in the Wallenpaupack Area School District, which serves Wayne and Pike counties. 

 

Outside of her job, Ms. Monaghan serves on Hawley Borough Council and Hawley Sewer Authority Board. She also is an officer of nonprofit, Hawley Forward at the Hawley Hub, a community center for after school programs. 

 

Monaghan will replace Trustee Deborah Beck who opted not to seek re-election. Beck, a high school principal purchasing secretary in the Upper Darby School District in Delaware County, has served on PSERS Board since 2013.

 

“Deb Beck has served PSERS Board and its members with honor and conviction for eight years, and she will truly be missed,” said PSERS Board Chair Chris Santa Maria. “I congratulate Sue Lemmo on continuing her service, and I am sure Ann Monaghan’s longtime experience in public service will serve our members well.” 

 

About the Board

 

The 15-member Board of Trustees is an independent administrative board of the Commonwealth. The Board stands in a fiduciary relationship to the members of PSERS regarding investment decisions and disbursements of the System's funds. The Board also performs other functions outlined in the Public School Employees' Retirement Code, such as certifying contribution rates, authorizing the actuarial valuation and independent audit of the System, and publishing an annual financial statement on the condition of the Retirement Fund. 

 

About the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System

 

PSERS, founded in 1917, began operations in 1919 to oversee a statewide defined benefit pension plan for public school employees. PSERS' role expanded upon the passage of Act 5 of 2017 to include oversight of two new hybrid options consisting of defined benefit and defined contribution (DC) components and a stand-alone DC plan. As of June 30, 2021, PSERS had total net assets of $72.5 billion and a membership of about 256,000 active, 240,000 retired school employees and 26,000 vested inactive members.