CEDAR LAKE | In her first meeting following re-election to the Hanover School Board, Pat Kocot was elected Tuesday to lead the board as its president.

Kocot previously served 16 years on the board.

Newly elected board members Mary Joan Dickson and Dale Poston also joined members Todd Wilkening and Robert Petyko on Tuesday.

Poston was elected vice-president, and Dickson was elected secretary. All votes were unanimous.

Wilkening requested that all votes henceforth be roll-call votes so the record reflects each member's decision, a request to which his colleagues agreed.

Also, the board agreed -- without a vote -- that it is no longer mandated for school principals to attend board meetings, a requirement of the past administration.

Kocot announced appointments and liaison positions to various boards, and the members concurred. Kocot will be the liaison to the St. John Town Council, and Dickson will serve as liaison to the Cedar Lake Town Council.

Petyko will serve on the Northwest Indiana Special Education Cooperative board and the Cedar Lake Park Board. Poston will be the legislative representative and will join Wilkening on the construction committee.