Quam chosen to fill vacant South Fayette School Board seat
Photo courtesy of Arik Quam
Arik Quam
The South Fayette School Board appointed Arik Quam to fill a vacant seat on its board during the district’s April 24 meeting.
Quam replaces William Newcomer, who resigned in early April. Since Newcomer was re-elected in 2017, Quam takes over his term and will serve until 2021.
“I’m really a strong believer in the public school system, as that’s the best education we can give our students and children,” Quam said. “I have a desire that I want to ensure that. … I want to add up with other eight members and give our kids a great opportunity in South Fayette.”
A 12-year-resident of South Fayette, Quam is the vice president of Walsh Construction, the 11th largest contractor in the United States, according to its website.
Quam works in Walsh’s Pittsburgh office, specializing in transportation in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and other nearby states. He thinks his experience in construction and managing large budgets at Walsh will serve him well on the school board.
“I can bring some of those construction and budget experiences to the district and combine some of those complementary aspects to the board,” Quam said. “You don’t want nine people that are the same. You want the nine to complement each other, and I think I can help do that.”
Quam grew up in Chicago, attended Rose Hulman Institute of Technology and has worked at Walsh for the last 21 years. He moved to South Fayette in 2005 for the same reasons, he said, that many others are moving to the district, causing school enrollment to balloon.
“The school district absolutely was a determining factor there and a player in the decision,” Quam said.
Quam, who has two children in the district, was interviewed last week when the board held open interviews to fill the open spot.
He said he’s most passionate about ensuring the district is supporting its special needs students, as Quam’s daughter has special needs.
“Her entire education life has been in the school district, and they’ve done great things there,” Quam said. “I want to continue the strong support that the district has already done for special needs.”