POTTSTOWN >> Pottstown School Board Vice President Andrew Kefer announced at a series of committee meetings Thursday that he is resigning from the school board.
In an interview with The Mercury following the meetings, Kefer said he is moving his family to small town in West Virginia.
“It has 900 people and one stop light,” Kefer said.
Kefer, his wife Jessica and three daughters are moving to be closer to Mrs. Kefer’s family, and to a place that is less expensive to live.
“My father-in-law just paid his taxes on a house that is assessed at $150,000 and his tax bill was $400,” said Kefer.
Kefer, who gets up at 4 a.m. each week day to drive to the Philadelphia law firm where he works, said his firm opened an office in Pittsburgh and his commute will actually be shorter than it is now.
When a housing opportunity in West Virginia opened up, Kefer said he and his wife decided to make the change they had been considering for more than a year.
In particular, they decided it makes sense so their daughters cab start the new school year in a new school and not be pulled out halfway through the year.
“I know it seems kind of sudden, but we’ve been talking about this for a while,” he told The Mercury.
Kefer said he will miss Pottstown and still believes it has the potential to revitalize, but indicated the stress of living in his first ward home – loud neighbors, criminal activity, lots of sirens – has taken its toll as well.
“It will certainly be quieter,” he said of his new home.
He said he believes that Pottstown schools have been very frugal with tax money.
“I sincerely believe we get blood from a stone and have for a long time,” said Kefer, adding that he believes the borough and schools would be aided tremendously by a better school funding formula and less reliance on property taxes.
“I wish I had been able to do more, but when you are one vote on a board of nine people, the only way things get done is by consensus,” he said.
In addition to his time on the school board, Kefer also served for four years on the Pottstown Planning Commission and was a founding board member of the Mosaic Community Land Trust.
Kefer still has three years left on his school board term, which is his second.
The school board has 30 days to name his replacement.
