Schools

Board of Education Welcomes New Members, Elects New Leaders

Dr. Stephen Parker was selected as the new President and Deborah Taylor was selected as the new Vice President of the South Brunswick Board of Education.

The South Brunswick Board of Education turned the page on a new chapter last night with the swearing in of two new board members, Patrick Del Piano and Deven Patel.  The two recently elected board members were sworn in last night, along with incumbent Arthur Robinson, to fill the seats once occupied by Martin Abschutz and Matthew Speesler, who combined for a total of 24 years of experience sitting on the Board of Education.

"(Dr. Speesler and Abschutz) always did what was right for the students and the community's educational programming," said Superintendent Gary McCartney.  "When they were here the quality of educational programs and the quality of our students were always improving and it takes leadership to do that.

"(The new board members) come here wanting to support the educational programs we have in place and we're delighted to have them join us to learn more about our programs while brining in some new ideas."

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Dr. Stephen Parker was elected by the board to replace Dr. Speesler as the new President of the Board of Education, while Deborah Taylor was selected to replace Dr. Parker as board Vice President.

During her nomination of Dr. Parker, Taylor praised him for being calm and thorough during his five years on the board, while maintaining a professional demeanor.

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"This board is united in its desire to present the best education we can to the children of South Brunswick," Parker said.  "I'm sure there are times we will disagree on an issue, but it is my pledge to hear all sides before we decide on a particular issue.  I thank the community for its support."

During his nomination of Taylor for Vice President, board member Daniel Boyle called her an excellent role model and a good mentor for the board.

"We've had two highly experienced and committed board members in (Dr. Speesler and Abschutz) and it's my goal to step up and maintain the goals they had for this community," Taylor said.  


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