Patrick Breslin, who was re-elected to another term, was selected by a unanimous vote of his colleagues to the post of Board President.
Jill Gladstone, current board member, was elected by her peers to the position of Board Vice-President, with Lynne Hurley casting the only ‘nay’ vote.
Previously, board elections in New Jersey were held around mid-April. They included an up-or-down vote by the public on the school budget, after which the board was sworn in and on the job within days after the elections.
However, enabled and encouraged by newly enacted legislation from the State of New Jersey, the BR-BOE voted early in 2012 to move the school elections to November. At that time, the school board – by a vote of 5 to 3 – also moved to disallow the public from voting on the school budget.
Patrick Breslin, Jill Gladstone, and Cindy Cullen were not in favor of the latter, and voted against that change. Arvind Mathur was absent, away on business that evening.
Otherwise, the procedures for the Board’s re-organization this year are the same as before.
The major difference is that since school board elections now occur in November, the date for the installation of newly elected board members and for the re-organization itself has been moved by law to early January of the following year.
Last night’s meeting was accentuated by a celebratory tone in honor of the newly elected school officials – it lasted only about 45 minutes. With few exceptions, only the legal requirements of re-organization were addressed.
Aaron Kurdyla was supported by his family who proudly sat up front to observe the proceedings. Aaron’s dad, Allen Kurdyla, is President of the Bridgewater Township Council.
Families and friends of other board members were also present in support.
Sitting together in the audience were four former Bridgewater-Raritan School Board members; namely, Christine Rose (she now sits on the Bridgewater Township Council), Howard Teichman, Anda Citroen, and yours truly.
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