Lerner Appointed Board President, Breslin Appointed Vice President

Following the April 27 school board and budget votes, the reorganized Tuesday, welcoming Evan Lerner and Arvind Mathur back to the board and Ann Marie Mead to the board for her first term.

The board also celebrated the "yes" vote for the budget, as it was approved in the election.

Lerner was elected as board president for the next year, while member Patrick Breslin was elected to the vice president position.

“I want to thank the board for their efforts on the budget,” said resident David Doheny. “I want to thank the parents on their support for this, and congratulations to the winners. I am looking forward to working with you in the future to keep Bridgewater school district as wonderful as it is.”

Also given a position during the meeting were board members Lynne Hurley and Jill Gladstone, who volunteered to be representatives to the Council of Schools. Breslin and Lerner will serve as liaisons to Bridgewater Township, while Mead will serve as the liaison to Raritan Borough.

Breslin and board member Jeffrey Brookner were chosen as representative and alternate respectively to the Somerset County Educational Services Commission Board of Directors.

Many more appointments were made during the reorganization meeting including:

• The appointment of several banks as depositories for the district, namely Bank of America, Bank of New York, Beneficial Bank, New Jersey Arbitrage Rebate Management Program, New Jersey Cash Management Fund, New Jersey CLASS Cash Management Fund, PNC Bank, TD Bank and Wells Fargo.
• The board established the dates, time and locations for regularly scheduled board meetings. All meetings will be at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Wade Administration Building on Newmans Lane, with one in March and one in October being held at John F. Kennedy Primary School in Raritan.
• The board voted to approve the existing curricula as is already used by the district.
• The board voted to adopt the existing textbooks as they are already in use throughout the district.

 From this, the district also made several personnel appointments:

• Peter Starrs as board secretary
• Peter Starrs as investment officer
• Peter Starrs and Kathy Gacos as purchasing agents with a bid threshold of $36,000
• Ronald Rossi as treasurer of school monies
• Suplee, Clooney and Company as auditor
• Schwartz Simon Edelstein & Celso, LLC as general attorney
• Adams Stern Guiterrez & Lattiboudere LLC as special education attorney
• Lindabury McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, PC at a rate of $150 per hour as negotiations attorney
• Andrea Kahn of McManimon and Scotland as bond counsel
• Parette Somjen Architects as architect of record
• John Kripsak D.O. as coordinator of medical services
• Ray Ruth, manager of buildings and grounds, as chemical hygiene officer
• Ray Ruth, manager of buildings and grounds, as AHERA Asbestos Program Manager
• Ray Ruth, manager of buildings and grounds, as integrated pest manager
• Ray Ruth, manager of buildings and grounds, as designated person, right-to-know officer
• Peter Starrs as custodian of records
• Walter Kalicki as attendance officer
• LaFontaine & Budd, namely James Rick, as insurance agent of record
• Willis of New Jersey as health and dental insurance agent of record
• Monica Butler as DYFS Liaison
• For affirmative action officers, manager of human resources Gerald Nazzaretto, vice principal Valerie Ulrich and school business administrator Peter Starrs were appointed.
• Alan Iachini as coordinator of 504 services
• Valerie Ulrich as the district anti-bullying coordinator
• Peter Starrs as public agency compliance officer

As for board committees, Anda Cytroen will serve as chair of the policy committee; Cindy Cullen will serve as chair of the personnel committee; Gladstone will serve as chair of the curriculum committee; Hurley will serve as chair of the finance committee; Mead will serve as chair of community relations; Breslin will serve as chair of the facilities committee; Brookner will serve as chair of the board's negotiations committee for the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association and the supervisor's union; and Mathur will serve as chair of the negotiations committee for the principals' union.