BOE ushers in new era
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
The Cherry Hill Sun
5/15/2009

There are several new faces on the board of education and two new leaders, as the board ushered in a new era with its annual reorganization at the end of April.

New members Colleen Harron-Horiates and Wayne Tarken ran unopposed for two vacant seats in the board of education elections and were sworn into their new, three-year seats. Incumbent candidate Kathy Judge also reclaimed her seat.

Board members Lisa Conn and Seth Klukoff were elected as president and vice president by their fellow board members. Long-time president Sharon Giaccio and vice president Robert Russo did not seek re-election.

With the departure of Russo and Giaccio, the average experience on the board is now about three years, Conn said. It’s a young board, as the average experience on boards throughout the state is about seven years per member, she said.

But, the youth of the board should not be a deterrent for success, Conn said.

“In terms of being a young board, I don’t think that’s a major deterrence. We’re all committed to the best education for the kids, and that’s what will move us forward in the positive direction.

“It’s not something to fret,” she said. “We’ve always had a lot of community input. It’s very important to have them on board and continue on the process as it unfolds.”

The board will continue with business as usual, Conn said, keeping its budgetary process open to public input and striving to give Cherry Hill students the best education it can provide.

As president, Conn said she will focus on keeping the board running efficiently and effectively.

Conn said she does not have any specific goals for her tenure as president, because that’s not the job of a board president. The job of a board president is to further the goals of the board as a whole.

“We will continue to work on curriculum development through the blueprints of student success and continue to work on student achievement and closing the achievement gap,” she said. “We’ll continue to support the facilities steering committee and be ready to use any federal funding that may be available to fix our buildings.

“We’ll continue to meet the needs of our special education students and be committed to balancing cost and quality.”