Red Bank school board
elects new member
By jane waterhouse
Staff Writer
RED BANK — Two candidates took center stage at the Aug. 20 meeting of the Board of Education to interview for the vacant seat left by Judy Burton.
Burton resigned June 26, saying she found it difficult to effect change in an atmosphere where "personal feelings, attitudes and individual perspectives are elevated to the highest order and become the basis for decision making."
Board president John McMahon began the selection process by commending the candidates, Sylvia Tagliareni of Ambassador Drive and Richard Doherty of South Street, for their interest and experience.
"You both have fantastic credentials," he said.
Responding to a series of general questions, Tagliareni, who has worked as a teacher in Hazlet and at Rumson Country Day School, expressed a desire to widen her perspective.
"What I would bring to the board is my experience as an educator," she said. "I’ve had 30 years in front of the classroom. Now I’d like to be able to work on the other side of the table."
Tagliareni was asked about the major challenges facing Red Bank schools.
"I think we need to address the issue of state scores and also the public perception based on those scores," she said.
Tagliareni added that it was important to identify the specific needs of all students in the district. In discussing her qualifications, she said she had been involved in writing curriculum, technology and state standards. She complimented the board for improving school facilities and championing technological development.
McMahon ended the interview by asking Tagliareni what she felt her neighbors in the borough thought of the Red Bank school system.
"Not too many of my neighbors have children," the teacher said.
Candidate Richard Doherty opened with a prediction.
"For the next few years the board will be navigating in troubled waters," he said. "We’ve had six superintendents in the last 10 years. The average tenure for a superintendent in New Jersey is less than three years. Because of the special needs of the children in Red Bank, we need to do better than that."
Besides the superintendent, Doherty said, the major issue facing the board was raising the bar on education. He warned the board that a power struggle with the Red Bank Charter School "isn’t worth your time and energy" and that such energy would be better focused on the changing demographics in the borough.
"A large portion of the kids are coming in with significant problems in language and reading," Doherty said. "I suspect some of [the ESL students] would have trouble with language skills and grammar in their own language. The board has to prove it has the foresight and wherewithal to face these problems and see that the job gets done."
Doherty said he had served on the board for a period of 18 years, filling a number of positions. He listed what he considered to be the board’s most important functions.
"First and foremost is the selection of a superintendent," he said. "Second is the continuing evaluation of that superintendent — the superintendent should always know where he stands with the board at any given time. And third is the preparation of a budget."
Doherty said that board members have essentially two powers — the power to persuade and the power of their own vote.
"There shouldn’t be steamroller pressure for unanimity," he said.
When asked how his neighbors viewed education in Red Bank, the 30-year borough resident replied, "The quality of education is certainly as good as I received as a student. The social experiment within this diverse community is invaluable. I’m a firm believer that separate is inherently unequal."
Doherty said he felt that all the major issues were reaching a head.
"It’s all coming together at once," he said.
The board then voted unanimously to elect Sylvia Tagliareni.