School board welcomes back incumbents and invites newly-elected members.
By: Melissa Hayes
Members of the Board of Education reorganized Monday night, welcoming back incumbents Marty Abschutz and Matthew Speesler, and inviting new member Attilio DeFalco to the table.
Member Bryan Laurita, who most recently served as board vice president, was unanimously voted in as board president. Mr. Abschutz, who garnered the most votes in the April 19 election, was unanimously voted in as vice president.
"I’d like to take a brief moment to thank the board for your belief, your faith, your acknowledgement of my leadership. I feel privileged and honored to accept your confidence in leadership," Mr. Laurita said.
Members of the school board also spent time thanking Barry Nathanson for his contributions. Mr. DeFalco beat Mr. Nathanson by 12 votes.
"I want to thank Barry Nathanson for the hard work and effort he put forth on this board for the last three years," Mr. Laurita said. "We will miss him and I thank him for everything."
During public comment, Mr. Nathanson thanked the board and said that although he was not re-elected, he would not be going far.
"I’m just going to be speaking from this microphone," he said from the podium, where members of the public speak during meetings.
Mr. Nathanson said he will remain active and plans on attending the Township Council meeting when the school budget is on the agenda.
"I will continue to speak for the silent majority," he said.
Mr. Nathanson closed his speech with an update on the high school baseball team. He always closed with sports updates during board meetings.