Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly nominated Liliana Norkaitis on Tuesday to fill the vacancy left by Aaron Poynton.

Norkaitis is the second person Cassilly has nominated for the seat since the abrupt resignation of Poynton, then the board president, on Jan. 8. Because Poynton was one of three appointed members on the Board of Education, Cassilly is responsible for nominating someone to fill the vacancy.

In late January, Cassilly nominated Terri Kocher, who had previously served on the board. But the Harford County Council, which has final say over who will fill the vacancy, rejected Kocher’s nomination.

Council members cited numerous reasons for not approving Kocher’s nomination, the most common being the lack of an application process before her selection by Cassilly.

Cassilly later began accepting applications from residents interested in serving on the board, which led to Norkaitis’ nomination. As of Tuesday, it was unclear when the council will vote on her nomination.

Norkaitis is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park and is one of the candidates who filed to run for the District C seat on the school board in the 2026 election.

She is a communications and outreach director in the Maryland General Assembly. Cassilly previously appointed Norkaitis to the Harford County Commission for Women, where she serves as the vice chair.

Poynton’s seat has been empty since his resignation, which came hours after the Board of Education voted to place Superintendent Sean Bulson on paid administrative leave due to a 911 call Bulson made in April 2024 from New Orleans, which surfaced in early January.

In the call, Bulson — who was attending a school-funded education conference with other Harford school officials — told police that a woman he had invited into his hotel room allegedly stole his wallet, two phones, an Apple watch, an iPad, and a laptop after he fell asleep around 2 a.m.

Poynton resigned, saying that he was taking a job out of state.

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