BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE
Staff Writer
EDISON — The Board of Education has picked its new leaders and has renewed professional contracts that won’t put a hole in taxpayers’ wallets.
“I told all the contractors that if they wanted to renew with us, there would be no increase of any kind,” said Business Administrator Daniel Michaud. “I’m happy to say that they all understood our financial predicament, and each agreed to accept the terms that have been in effect for years.”
Three new board members were sworn in, and a new president and vice president were elected in 9-to-0 votes at the April 28 reorganization meeting.
Longtime board member, Barry Miller, 62, of Central Avenue, was elected president. Miller, who has worked for the township as its supervisor of the Division of Sewers for 35 years, served on the board from 1993 to 1996, then again from 1998 to the present.
Miller served as vice president from 1995 to 1996. He replaces outgoing board President Robert Barry, who lost his bid for a third term in the April 19 board election after serving on the board since 1999.
“It’s great to have the opportunity to be the board president, especially at a time when there are three new board members and a relatively new superintendent,” Miller said. “I’m honored that the board had the confidence in me to vote me in as president so overwhelmingly. It’s an overwhelming task, but it’s a challenge I look forward to.”
Miller said he plans to work closely with the community.
“This is the first time in a while that there are so many new people on the board and new administrators,” Miller said. “We have had success with our budget and we’re looking at a bond issue in the fall. I’m looking forward to doing whatever I can to make things easier.”
New board member William Van Pelt was selected as board vice president.
Van Pelt, Jersey Avenue, retired from the Edison school system a few years ago as its supervisor of middle school athletics. He coached the Edison Youth Basketball League and spent five years as a coach in the North Edison Little League.
Van Pelt, 60, said his experience as a teacher in the district for 35 years gives him unique insight.
“I’m looking at things from a different perspective now,” he said. “On one side, as a supervisor/teacher, I became well versed in that very specific area. Now, I’m looking at everything from A to Z.”
Van Pelt said he was looking forward to working with the current administration.
“When you get elected, it means the people have given you their trust,” he said. “I’m hoping I will live up to that trust and do the right thing for taxpayers, kids and the administration.”
Also sworn in were Joseph Shannon, Rieder Road, a township police officer, who has three children in the district, and Raymond Koperwhats, a retired physical education teacher at the Bridgewater Raritan High School and elementary school. Koperwhats, a longtime Edison resident, has a master’s degree in education from the former Trenton State College.
Most of the primary professionals, such as the board architect, auditor and attorney, have had the same contracts for about five years with no added perks or hikes, Michaud said.
The board attorney, Joseph Jankowski, of Wilentz, Goldman and Spitzer, Woodbridge, was awarded another year’s contract for an $80,000 retainer.
“That fee includes most all services performed for the board,” Michaud said. “The only exceptions are any cases that go to court. Then his fee would be $125 per hour, which is still quite reasonable.”
The schools architect, Peter Campisano, a partner in USA Architects, Somerville, was also rehired for his contingency fee of 6 percent of any construction costs.
“In other words, if we have a project that’s projected to cost $100,000, he would get $6,000 to do the architectural work necessary,” Michaud said.
The contract of the board auditor, Andrew Hodulik, of Hodulik and Morrison, Highland Park, was also renewed at $43,000 a year.
“All the other contractors’ fees have been frozen for at least three years, if not more,” Michaud said.