Six-year BOE veteran resigns before term’s end.
By: Lea Kahn
Wednesday night marked the last school board meeting for veteran school board member Lawrence Reccoppa, who has served on the Lawrence Township Board of Education since 1999.
Mr. Reccoppa, 49, submitted a letter of resignation to school board President Philip Benson this week, becoming the second school board member in six weeks to resign. Janardhan Manickam resigned, effective Jan. 1.
Dr. Manickam and Mr. Reccoppa were serving three-year terms that would have expired in April.
Schools Superintendent Max Riley said a replacement for Mr. Reccoppa was expected to be named at the school board’s special meeting Jan. 20. Carole Drury of Karena Lane was named by the school board to replace Dr. Manickam last week.
In his letter, Mr. Reccoppa cited "increasingly demanding professional commitments" as the reason for his resignation effective Jan. 13. He is a vice president in the Institutional Trust Services Group at JP Morgan Chase in Manhattan.
Mr. Reccoppa said his professional commitments would likely prevent him from attending most if not all of the school board meetings and committee sessions in the next six months. He said he did not feel it was fair to keep the seat if he could not participate and carry his share of the workload.
"It’s not fair to the township or the students, and it would probably be more of a distraction to the school board than they deserve," Mr. Reccoppa said of his inability to attend meetings.
Although he had already decided not to seek re-election, Mr. Reccoppa said his decision to resign early was made easier because of the number and quality of candidates who had stepped forward to replace Dr. Manickam.
During his six years on the school board, Mr. Reccoppa served on the Personnel, Policy, Resources, Finance and Educational Program committees of the school board. He said he was most proud of his efforts involving early literacy and the successful school bond referendum.
Mr. Benson, the school board president, said he was sorry to see Mr. Reccoppa resign. Mr. Reccoppa had "consistently" been the voice of reason and a constant reminder to the other board members of their role as policy-makers and not as micro-managers, he said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Riley said the nine candidates who had applied but were not appointed to fill Dr. Manickam’s seat would be contacted to find out if they are still interested in serving.
Regardless of the nine candidates’ responses, the application process will be opened up to other persons who may want to serve, Dr. Riley said. They would have to meet the same criteria to read and write, to be a United States citizen and registered to vote, and to have lived in Lawrence for at least one year.
An applicant may not be a member of Township Council, have a financial interest in any contract with the school board or have a claim against the school board.
The would-be school board members will have a chance to address the school board at the Jan. 20 meeting, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Lawrence High School Library. Then, the school board will go into closed session to discuss the candidates. It will return to open session and make an appointment, Dr. Riley said.
Following the appointment to fill Mr. Reccoppa’s seat, the school board will enter into its "retreat," Dr. Riley said. The board expects to discuss its goals for the coming year. The retreat is open to the public, he said.

