The eight remaining Sharpsville Area School Board members spent more than an hour Monday interviewing three of the four candidates to fill the opening left when board member Charles “Chaz” Rice resigned last month.

The candidates interviewed thus far are:

• Daniel Houck, 43, of 44 Charles St., Clark.

A Republican, Houck works as a supervisor for a wrap-around services agency.

Houck has a master’s degree in counseling and sociology and is working toward a doctorate.

This is his first foray into public office.

A father of two Sharpsville students, “my wife and I believe in the district,” he told the board.

“This is one opportunity to get involved,” he said.

It’s important for school board members to “have their ear on the community,” he said, adding he understood that “no matter what you do, you’re not going to make everyone happy.”

• Beverly Barrett Scurpa, 43, of 470 7th St., Sharpsville.

A Democrat, Mrs. Scurpa works as a surgical services technician at UPMC Horizon, Farrell.

She also serves as judge of elections for the borough’s first precinct.

Her husband is a teacher and his brother is a high school principal, she said.