SAYREVILLE – A departing member of the Sayreville School District Board of Education has been recognized for her service.
Dec. 21 marked the final meeting for board member Carrie Kenny, who had been a member of the panel since 2019. She did not seek re-election in the 2021 race.
In recognition of her service to the district, Kenny received a plaque at the meeting.
“Thank you [Kenny] so much for giving up three years,” board President Anthony Esposito said. “People think it’s just a quick meeting here and there and it’s not. If you do this right, I’ve always said, that it takes up a lot more time than people realize. You don’t get paid, you get a lot of grief, but i thought you did an outstanding job.”
“We’re going to say goodbye to a very beloved board member who has made a tremendous impact on this Board of Education, on this school district on this community and on me,” Superintendent of Schools Richard Labbe said. “Carrie, I can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done in the very short period of time you’ve been here and I can’t list all the amazing things that you’ve done because you’ve done so many of them, but I do want to mention a few that stand out to me.”
Labbe praised Kenny for assisting the community when the coronavirus pandemic was beginning last spring, while also teaching in the South Amboy School District.
“We had a small group of people who volunteered to risk their safety and that of their family to prepare meals and supplies and to deliver them to the community,” he said. “That group consisted primarily of staff members and one Board of Education member, who was Carrie Kenny, or Mrs. Carrie as I would commonly refer to Carrie as.
“She never missed a day, but the most remarkable thing about that was she was also teaching,” Labbe continued. “She was spending countless hours in the evening reviewing the work that her children submitted, talking to them virtually, speaking with their parents because she was taking her morning to be with us to help the community. I couldn’t help but just think we are so incredibly blessed to not only have someone like this in our community, but to have someone like this serving on our Board of Education.
“I hope everybody understands fully, Carrie, what you’ve done for this board, this school district and this community because it’s been so much. You also have been an incredible contributor to our academic programming due to the time you put in on our Student Achievement Committee. You are an extraordinary educator; moreover, you’re a remarkable parent and an amazing person. You combine those three very unique qualities and you provide so much wisdom and so much judgment with regard to academic programming, instruction and curriculum we have benefited tremendously from.”
The superintendent concluded his comments by praising Kenny’s work with the board’s Student Discipline Committee.
“I’ve worked on our Student Discipline Committee with many people,” Labbe said. “Carrie, the way in which you facilitated those student discipline hearings and we’ve had a lot, especially this year, it’s just amazing to see not only the educator in you and the leader in you, but to see the parent in you come out. That parent came out in everything that you did.
“You have this remarkable way of being a very proficient and competent board member, an extraordinary educator, but also bringing that parent perspective into everything that you’ve done and everything that you did,” he said. “No greater time does that shine than on those student discipline committee hearings, where in which we get to see the empathy, the compassion, but also the discipline and it’s truly inspiring and amazing. As I said previously, we are so very blessed to have had the three years that we’ve had with you.”