Penn Hills School Board candidate given go ahead after lawsuit was scrapped

A Penn Hills School Board candidate’s run for a seat will continue after a suit challenging her residency was thrown out.

Board President Erin Vecchio filed a lawsuit on April 8 against candidate Qiana Buckner that accused her of living in Monroeville. A person living outside of a borough, city or township is unable to run for or hold office within that community, according to the state’s public school code.

The case was dismissed by Judge Jack McVay on May 14. McVay said the type of complaint that Vecchio filed was not valid.

A quo warranto is used to challenge the right to hold or continue in public office. Since Buckner does not hold the office Vecchio was trying to challenge, or any office, the quo warranto was insufficient. The judge also stated he already denied Vecchio’s challenge to Buckner’s nominating petition since Vecchio failed to serve the Elections Division on time as required by the Pennsylvania Election Code.

Vecchio said she began to suspect Buckner didn’t live in the township in February.

A letter sent to Buckner from a district booster club to a Penn Hills address Buckner submitted as her home address was returned with a note to forward the mail to a Monroeville address.

“If you don’t live in Penn Hills, you don’t have a right to run for school board,” Vecchio said.

Buckner told TribLive she lived in Monroeville for a short stint in 2023.

“I was living in an apartment on Alcoma Boulevard (in Penn Hills) with my boys, and we outgrew the apartment,” Buckner said.

She set up a lease for a four-bedroom home in Penn Hills.

“Two weeks before we were supposed to move into the home, the landlord stood us up,” Buckner said. “My boys went with their dad, and I ended up moving into a hotel.”

Buckner said she lived in an Extended Stay location in Monroeville for about two months. During this time, Buckner changed her address to the Extended Stay rather than rent a P.O. Box, she said. She said this is the address Vecchio is claiming she still lives at.

Buckner said she moved in with her family in Penn Hills in December 2023 after a car accident and changed her address to her family’s home around the same time. She said she has lived there ever since.

“There’s no crime in living with family,” Buckner said.

Vecchio said she attempted to challenge the validity of Buckner’s candidacy in March, but the petition was thrown out when Buckner wasn’t served on time. Buckner said she wasn’t aware of the petition until people texted her the decision for the petition to be thrown out.

“They did not serve the election department which is a fatal flaw. They did not serve Qiana, and they did not show up for court,” Chuck Pascal, Buckner’s attorney, said about the event in March.

The complaint also accuses Buckner of filing her petition with more than one address. After moving in with her family, Buckner said she began renting a P.O. Box so her mail wouldn’t get mixed in with her family’s. She put both addresses on her candidate petition with the P.O. Box as the mailing address and her family’s home where she currently is residing as her residence.

“This is all preposterous,” Buckner said.

The complaint filed by Vecchio includes records of Buckner’s voting history, which shows she is registered to vote in Monroeville.

“(Vecchio) has lived in Penn Hills her whole life and she loves Penn Hills,” said Vecchio’s attorney, Dayne Dice.

Dice also serves as the district’s solicitor. Vecchio personally retained him as her attorney, and no district funds are involved in the lawsuit.

Pascal filed a motion to dimiss the suit on behalf of Buckner, alleging the complaint did not meet multiple requirements to be sustained, including lack of jurisdiction and that Vecchio lacks standing to file the suit against Buckner.

While living with her family, Buckner said she has been trying to find a home to buy rather than chance the same situation with another landlord. She said she plans to close on a home in Penn Hills on May 15.

“I think this will be the icing on the cake when I do finally close. This will be put to bed,” Buckner said.

The complaint was dismissed with prejudice, meaning the quo warranto action is unable to be refiled until after the November 2025 general election.