BY LAUREN MATTHEW
Staff Writer
OLD BRIDGE — The Board of Education re-elected its president Tuesday and bid farewell to a longtime school official who wrapped up her term on the board.
Annette Hopman will again serve as president as the board sees through to completion several major projects, including the merging of the two high school campuses. Barbara Rossi will continue as vice president.
During the brief reorganization meeting, re-elected incumbents Gail Kubicke and Frank Piccillo were sworn in to new three-year terms, and newcomer Fred Colabella took his place on the dais.
Board members, Hopman said, thanked members of the public for voting in the April 19 school election — especially for approving the board’s budget and a second question to provide added security at several schools.
“I was glad they went out, especially for the security question,” Hopman said. “It’s going to make the children feel safe.”
The new security system, she said, will also have a peace-of-mind benefit for parents. Parents will know that the board listened when they asked for heightened security, Hopman said. The calls from parents came as Old Bridge was experiencing numerous bomb threats at several schools earlier this school year.
Board members also said good-bye to Joan George Tuesday night as she officially left her seat.
“I think I have known Joan longer than any other board member,” Hopman said.
George has worked in the Old Bridge district for many years — as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent, Hopman noted. She was also the first woman in Old Bridge to receive a doctorate, according to Hopman.
When Hopman had a Girl Scout troop in the 1980s, troop members were asked to research women in Old Bridge. One girl, Hopman remembered, drew George’s name. George, she said, wanted the girls to know they could be anything they wanted to be.
“I wanted the public to be aware, besides everything she did for Old Bridge, she was the mother of four boys,” Hopman said of George.
George came back to work in the district after her retirement, serving a three-year term on the school board.
“She was phenomenal on finances,” Hopman said. “She knew where every dime was.”
Now, the board will look at the year ahead, Hopman said, and re-form committees to deal with district issues.
A form will be sent to each board member, asking for their three choices for which committee they would like to serve on. Hopman and Rossi will then choose committee chairs.
“Everybody gets to chair a committee,” Hopman said.
That process should be completed within the week, she noted.
With the unification of the township’s high school campuses, the implementation of an elementary school redistricting plan, and a new security system all in the cards for the year to come, Hopman said the board will take everything in stride.
“We’re going to work together as a board,” she said.
Input from the community will be key, she said, and security information will come from those who know the most about it — the police department.
“We work as a board,” Hopman said. “No one board member does anything on their own.”
“I believe in my heart all the board members are [on the board] for the right reason,” she continued.
That reason, Hopman said, is to work for the township’s children, in close cooperation with central administration.
“We should have the easiest transition we’ve had yet,” she said.