Reorganization brings former members back
Bailey elected school board president,
Barney, vice president
HAZLET — The Board of Education votes are in. The gavel was handed over to a new Board of Education president; a former vice president was put back in the post, and a new meeting night was agreed upon.
That’s what happened at the April 24 board reorganization. There’s now a relatively new nine-member dais with two former members back on the board, and someone new in a seat.
With incumbent Thomas Sansevero ousted, winning the vote of the public for three seats were: former board members Joseph Lamb, 49, of 18 Pineknot Ave., with 1,516 votes; Richard Barney, 65, of 25 Annapolis Drive, with 1,432 votes; and newcomer Joseph Belasco, 46, of 45 Croman Court with 1,646 votes.
Board member Lee R. Bailey was unanimously elected president and Barney was picked as vice president by a 5-4 split vote.
The new board members are anxious to work toward the same sort of goals. Barney is one of the two who have been there before and firmly believes that finding equitable state funding for the middle-income school districts is key.
"It’s great to be back and to be vice president," Barney said outside the meeting. "I’ve been vice president before, and I’ve been president before. So, now it’s like going home. I plan to take it slow, feel my way around the important issues and see which way the bullet’s going first."
A 25-year Hazlet resident and retired Port Authority police officer, Barney spent six years on the board, from 1993 to 1996, and is ready to help source the funding and lobby for a mandatory change in the state aid formula that he says has gypped middle-income districts for one year too many. His goal, he said, is to get the aid figures up so that taxes become more balanced and programs or staff aren’t cut.
With Barney in the vice president’s seat, Lamb is another familiar face back on the dais, and as with Barney, it’s feels like going home to Lamb, too.
"It’s really nice to be back," said Lamb. "It’s a shame that someone had to lose. I was in the same spot last year when I lost by 10 votes. But I’m back and ready to get to work on lobbying to change the state aid formula and getting special education kids more mainstreamed."
Belasco, the newcomer to the board, shares many of the same views with his colleagues and is anxious to start learning how to effect change.
Speaking of his first night on the dais, Belasco said, "I’m excited about being on the board. Tonight was a real learning experience. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get my hands dirty real soon and start working for the kids of Hazlet."
The Jersey City teacher says he’s seen a lot and is ready to share his perspective and ideas with the residents of the township in which he’s lived for 11 years. With a master’s in special education from N.J. City University in Jersey City, Belasco feels he fits the puzzle for the position (on the board) because he’s a parent, a taxpayer, a teacher and an aspiring administrator.
In addition to his master’s degree, Belasco also has a supervisor’s certification from N.J. City University and a technology certification from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Jersey City arm. Currently, he is also attending the principals’ and supervisors’ academy in Jersey City, which is an in-service program run by the city.
Belasco has been a crisis intervention teacher in Jersey City for the past 14 years. Before that, he spent 10 years as a special education teacher in Bayonne’s high and elementary schools and did a one-year stint as a special education teacher in Little Falls in between the two positions.
Budget woes are high on Belasco’s priority list. Feeling that the will is there to get grant money, but the ways have been limited because of a flawed state formula, Belasco believes ways need to be found to initiate programs while working to attain grant money.
After being sworn in, new members got down to board business and unanimously voted to change the meeting night to Mondays from Wednesdays. Board members pointed out that the meetings were held on Mondays in the past and it seemed like a better day, at the beginning instead of the middle, of the week to conduct board business. The reason for switching to Wednesdays, said Board Secretary/ Assistant Superintendent Bruce Quinn, was that the board attorney, Michael Gross, was unable to attend Monday meetings. The Monday schedule will start in June. Corresponding to the Wednesday schedule, it works out to be the first and third Mondays of each month. If there’s a conflict, said Quinn, and Gross needs to be at a Monday meeting he cannot attend, the schedule will be amended as the situation arises.
Other appointments made were the school treasurer, Ronald J. Mehlhorn Sr. at an annual salary of $6,695, and Dr. Asha Jain as the school physician at a salary of $10,750 a year. The board auditor will be the accounting firm of Hutchins, Farrell, Meyer and Allison, P.A., to perform the general audit of accounts, including food service, special projects and enterprise funds of the 2001-02 school year at a fee of $20,950. The law firm of Kenney, Gross, Kovats and Campbell, Red Bank, was reappointed as board attorney for the 2002-03 school year at a monthly retainer fee of $1,750 and $120 per hour for services rendered, which are not included in the retainer fee.