Frank Prazenica Jr., a Freeport Area School Board member who worked as superintendent of the South Butler County School District during his 40 years in public education, will be the Democratic candidate in the special election to represent the 60th District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Prazenica, of Buffalo Township, was selected Thursday by party officials from Butler, Armstrong and Indiana counties to face Republican candidate Abby Major in the special election to replace eight-term Republican Rep. Jeff Pyle, who retired earlier this month due to health issues. Major was Pyle's chief of staff.The special election will be held May 18, the day of the primary. The winner will serve the unexpired balance of the two-year term Pyle began in January. The 60th District includes parts of the three counties.If elected, he said he would be available to residents of the district.“The first thing I would like to do is reach out to as many people as I can in the district and make myself available to the people of the district,” Prazenica said.He said he would support Democratic Party goals and would not vote to raise taxes.“I'd like to be involved as much as possible in bringing job opportunities to the community,” Prazenica said.He said he supports the new Butler County Community College campus in Ford City because it will provide education that can help residents obtain jobs, and he would pursue funding for school districts in the 60th District.“I will be an advocate for education in my community and the commonwealth,” Prazenica said.In addition, he said he wants to work with educators to develop a way to give school districts more flexibility in how they can hire and use substitute teachers.Prazenica said he began his career as a teacher at Butler High School and the intermediate high school.After nine years, he was hired by the Burrell School District in Westmoreland County where he worked as an assistant high school principal and then principal.Next it was the Plum Borough School District in Westmoreland County where he worked as the high school principal and later as assistant superintendent before he was hired as the superintendent of the West Mifflin School District in Allegheny County.Prazenica then worked as the South Butler superintendent for many years before retiring, but he returned to serve as acting superintendent after his successor, David Zupsic, resigned in June 2017 and helped the school board in its search to hire another superintendent.He retired for good in January 2018 after the board hired David Foley as superintendent.Prazenica is a member of the Freeport school board and serves as president of the Intermediate Unit 28 board of directors in Indiana.

Frank Prazenica Jr.