Susan Carlsson Presides Over Last BOE Meeting

After six years on the Susan Carlsson on Monday presided over her last meeting, speaking and voting her mind as was usual, and packing up her name plate to take with her when she leaves the township.

Carlsson, said she would do her final packing up on Tuesday morning and head down to her home at the Shore she shares with her husband. She added that her daughter has just graduated from Cornell University and she has a son at Rutgers University — having made the point earlier that she no longer has children in the Bernards school system.

But before she exited the stage, Carlsson was lauded by her fellow board members for her many volunteer hours and by Schools Superintendent on June 30.

Goger added her thanks to Carlsson for the two-term board member's hard work. She said that in taking on the presidency of the Somerset County School Boards Association while serving the school board in other capacities, Carlsson really had extended herself "above and beyond."

Resident Michelle Coppola said most people have no idea how many hours Carlsson put in while on the board. "I feel like you have really changed and helped the district," she said.

The board's vice-president, Susan McGowan, read what she said was a partial list of Carlsson's contributions, including serving on and often leading all of the board's six subcommittees, regularly attending PTO meetings, being a liasion to cover Township Committee meetings, and being an active member of the Bernards Township Education Foundation. She also was credited with advocating legislation to help the district.

Carlsson said she sees her own biggest success as helping to line up successors to Goger and Schools Business Administrator and Sean Siet, director of curriculum, is lined up to become assistant superintendent.

As experienced administrators within the Bernards school district, both already have been moving into their new roles, Carlsson said.

One of her final votes on Monday was to cast the deciding vote in whether to approve Siet's one-year contract as assistant superintendent for next year. Four out of eight of the nine-member board said they were reluctant to approve the contract for $156,000 because it included the potential for a bonus, if approved by the county superintendent's office and the new school board.

Carlsson noted that the bonus would be up to $3,600.

Carlsson said her biggest regret in leaving the school, and moving out of Bernards Township, will be leaving a "fantastic town" where she has so many friends.

"My kids got a great education here," she added.

Carlsson said she had sought to be appointed the board and lost one election before she was elected to her first term six years ago. She has been president of the Board of Education for the past two years.

She said previously that she has been living in a rental for the past year after moving out of the family house, just so she could fulfill her final term. However, she said she decided to resign after the board moved school board elections to November, effectively extending that term from April through Dec. 31.

McGowan said it is her understanding that she will move without further action into the position of board president at the next school board meeting.

At that meeting, scheduled for June 11 at the , the board is scheduled to interview two candidates seeking to be appointed to fulfill the final half-year of Carlsson's term, due to expire at the end of this year.

Until this year, board memberships had expired in April, following school board elections. However, due to the school board's November, Carlsson's three year term, which previously would have expired this April, had been extended through the rest of 2012.

The two candidates are newcomer Louis J. D'Autorio and former board members Bev Darvin Cwerner, whoaccording to schools Superintendent Valerie Goger.

Board members are scheduled to interview the candidates at the June 11 board meeting, also to be held at the according to the board's business office. The board is expected to make a final selection following the interviews, and the successful candidate would be sworn in immediately," says the township school district's website.

The board member chosen to fill Carlsson's unexpired term then would have the option of seeking election for a full three-year term on the November ballot.

The deadline is June 5 for filing a petition with Somerset County for all candidates seeking to be included on the ballot in November's school election, school officials have announced.

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