By MICHAEL NUNES
Staff Writer
EAST BRUNSWICK — Two months after board member Kevin McEvoy stepped down to become mayor, the East Brunswick Board of Education has filled his vacant seat.
Barbara Reiss, co-president of the Robert Frost Elementary School Parent Teacher Association (PTA), was unanimously voted in by the board to take over McEvoy’s unexpired term at a special board meeting on April 11.
“I am very excited by this opportunity, and I look forward to serving the kids of East Brunswick,” Reiss said, who has two children in district schools.
Reiss will have to run for reelection in November and, if she wins, she would serve out the rest of McEvoy’s term, which is set to end in 2019.
“I believe I speak for my colleagues on the board that [Reiss] has an extremely impressive application and we were pleased with the discussion we had,” said board member Meredith Shaw.
Reiss was interviewed publicly at the March 31 board meeting along with Adam Neary, who in previous years ran as a Democrat for Township Council and is currently chief of staff for Assemblywoman Nancy Pinkin (D-Middlesex).
During the interview, Reiss stated that she would like to see more computer-coding classes introduced throughout the district.
There were eight applicants for the position, according to district Business Administrator Bernardo Giuliana, and members of the board decided who to interview.
During his comments, board member Brad Cohen thanked those who applied for the empty seat.
“We’re very lucky and blessed that we had a lot of good applicants that applied, and coming to our conclusion was at times difficult because we had two very qualified candidates,” he said.
On Jan. 14, former Mayor David Stahl resigned in order to become a municipal judge in Woodbridge. McEvoy was one of three names put forward by the township’s Democratic party to fill the seat. When the East Brunswick Township Council selected McEvoy to fill Stahl’s unexpired term, he had to resign from his seat on the school board.
Three members of the board, Curt Philipczak, Holly Howard and Vicki Becker, were not present at the meeting.