SAYREVILLE – Members of the Sayreville Board of Education have voted to keep the individuals who served as president and vice president of the board during 2019 in place for 2020.
The board held its annual reorganization meeting on Jan. 2 and the three winning candidates from the Nov. 5 election – incumbents Dan Balka, Lucy Bloom and John Walsh – were sworn in to begin serving their three-year terms.
After all members were seated, the board held elections for the positions of president and vice president.
Ciak, who served as president in 2018 and 2019, was nominated to serve as president for the consecutive year and was elected by the board members present in a 7-2 vote. He joined the board in 1994 and is the longest-serving member of the school district’s governing body.
Bloom, Ciak, Walsh and board members Christopher Callahan, Anthony Esposito, Carrie Kenny, Karen Rubio voted “yes” on Ciak’s nomination. Balka and board member Phyllis Batko voted “no”.
“Thank you to the board for their support in electing me as president again for another year,” Ciak said. “I think we probably agree that the biggest item facing the board of this coming year is the upcoming referendum that we’re putting out there for the for the voting public. Really, as I said at the last meeting, this is a chance to really define the Sayreville Public Schools for the next generation. This is Vision 2030, so the focus of the board’s work is getting that referendum passed, informing the community about its benefits and building the support needed to get it done.”
Esposito, who served as vice president in 2018 and 2019, was nominated to serve as vice president for a third consecutive year and was elected by all members present in an unanimous vote. He joined the board in 2016.
“I’d like to thank everybody as well,” Esposito said. “It’s greatly appreciated and I really do enjoy working with everybody on this board. It really is an honor. As Kevin said, the next 12 months are gonna be extremely exciting, busy and there’s a lot of work to be done, but if all goes well, we’re going to have state-of-the-art schools. Our test scores keep rising and we just signed a new leader in [Superintendent of Schools Richard] Labbe to take us aboard. We have a great board here that works together and exciting times are to come. I look forward to the next 12 months.”
- Business Administrator Erin Hill was appointed as board secretary, the public agency compliance officer for contracts, the qualified purchasing agent and the custodian of records;
- Director of Human Resources and Professional Development Edward Aguiles was appointed as the affirmative action officer;
- Director of Pupil-Special Services David Knaster as the McKinney Vento and Educational Stability liaison;
- Director of Facilities James Kolmansperger as the integrated pest management coordinator;
- Nicole Petrone as the treasurer of school monies;
- The law firm Bush Law Group as legal counsel to the Board of Education in an amount not to exceed $150,000;
- The firm Spiezle Architectural Group, Inc. as architects;
- The firm CME Associates as engineers;
- The firm Arthur J. Gallagher & Company as health insurance broker;
- The firm Willis Towers Watson as property and casualty insurance consultant;
- New Jersey Spine and Wellness, MD as board physician;
- Dr. Michael Simon as board medical consultant; and
- The firm Suplee, Clooney & Company as board auditors.