After listening to emotional appeals from more than 30 residents, teachers and administrators about who should lead the School District of Lancaster for the next five years, the SDL board angered many in the crowd by naming Pedro Rivera the district's new superintendent.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves!" someone yelled after the divided board voted 5-4 to appoint Rivera, 35, who is director of human resources for the School District of Philadelphia.

The district will negotiate a five-year contract with Rivera that takes effect July 1.

Board members Patrick Snyder, Barbara Boben, Marta Howell, Michael Rowen and Stacy Marten voted for Rivera; Linda Owens, Nenita Miller, Janelle Simms and Jackie McCain voted against him.

The dissenting board members attempted to have the board appoint Leon "Buddy" Glover superintendent before it voted on Rivera, but their motion failed when the five other members voted against it.

The crowd of about 200 was decidedly in favor of Glover, 58, a retired SDL administrator with 33 years' experience with the district.

Speaker after speaker extolled Glover's virtues as an advocate for students, competent administrator and caring educator who knows the district and the challenges it faces.

Others said the fresh approach of someone like Rivera is what the district needs to move in the right direction.

Despite the admonition of board president Snyder that speakers maintain a respectful tone, the meeting often became heated, with several residents accusing the board of ignoring the will of the people.

Even before the public spoke, Miller set the tone by criticizing Snyder and vice president Rowen for deciding Friday to announce that the board planned to vote for Rivera. The announcement was made, she said, before she and other board members were aware it was happening.

"We were left to appear ignorant and in the dark by your decision to release information to the press," Miller said.

Such "heavy-handed tactics fly in the face of the consensus-building the school board was hoping to achieve and which must still be accomplished," she said.

District resident Cathy Slick praised Glover, saying he "has walked the walk" and deserves the superintendent's job.

"By hiring outside the district, you on the board are giving the people who teach and our principals in this district the clear message that you can't go anywhere in the School District of Lancaster," she said.

Glover is "a home-grown applicant who shows that you can make it," resident Victor Muhammad said.

Muhammad said he understands how Latino community members would "want one of your own" in the superintendent's post, but he said Glover "cuts across racial lines — period."

"It just seems like this board has been cut across racial lines because the white minority is applying an apartheid-type divide-and-conquer tactic with your elitist attitude," he said.

"I'm looking at dream killers right now."

Several other residents said the district doesn't need another superintendent from outside the district without strong ties to SDL.

Retired Lancaster principal Diane Fisher said she served under five different superintendents who came and went after only a few years.

"It gets very old," she said. "It gets old because everyone wants to leave their mark, so they come with lots of changes and lots of new ideas, and we try to make those changes happen, and they're gone.

"Then another one comes in with lots of changes and lots of new ideas, and we try again — and they're gone.

"Our district needs stability," she said to the board. "You can give them that stability" by hiring Glover.

Fisher said she worked for years under Glover and "would follow him to the ends of the Earth."

Several members of the audience, including Buchanan Elementary School principal Deb Leese, suggested the board appoint Glover superintendent and Rivera deputy superintendent — although no such position exists in the district.

"If it's a matter of money, let me tell you, we don't have the money to go through the dissension your decision will cause and going through another (superintendent) search in three or four years," resident Rhea Starr said.

Several people referred to Rivera as "an outsider," prompting a response from Carlos Graupera, president of the Spanish American Civic Association.

"Let's play it straight; let's not use code words," he said, pointing out that the public didn't raise such "a ruckus" over outsiders in the past when the candidates were not Latinos.

He said good people can come from outside or inside the district, but the important thing is for the community to unite behind them — no matter their background or ethnicity.

Another resident argued for the changes she said Rivera would bring to the district.

"People are saying we need stability, people who know Lancaster, people who know the system here," she said. "But we also need to think about change.

"We need someone with fresh eyes … to bring new ideas, new energy. We need that for our kids."

Former school board members Veronica Urdaneta and John McGrann urged the audience to unite behind the new superintendent so the district can move forward.

Glover, reached at home after the vote, also called for unity.

"Now that the decision has been made, I hope that the community will not be divided and that we put the kids in the center and move forward," he said.

Glover said he supports Rivera.

"I want to thank all the people who supported me throughout this process and the kind words and letters — all the things they had to say," he said.

"I was overwhelmed by that support, and I hope they apply that same kind of energy to see what we can do to help the School District of Lancaster by working with the new superintendent."

E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com