Three Members Sworn Onto Township School Board

Three school board members, including Susan McGowan, who already had finished six years, and two newcomers Linda Wooldrige and Priti Shah, were on Monday night sworn to start new three-year terms on the nine-member Board of Education.

Each of the newly sworn in board members began with expressing thanks that the public had voted 2,451 to 1,840 to approve a $74.36-million tax levy to fund the 2011-12 school budget.

However, one of those board members, Shah, could potentially have her place on the board later filled by incumbent Beverly Cwerner, who trailed Shah by just two votes in the third vote count since the April 27 election. Nine candidates competed for the three seats on the board in that election, including two incumbents.

Last Monday, Shah was certified as the official winner of the third available spot on the board on the basis of a four-vote lead over Cwerner.

However, Cwerner said Thursday she was considering asking for a vote recount after that lead shrank to two as a result of uncounted absentee ballots. 

School officials at Monday's meeting said they hadn't been notified of any request for a recount. Cwerner was unavailable for comment on Monday.

School Business Administrator Nick Markarian said Shah was sworn in as a new member on the basis of the latest election results issued by the county, which gave Shah 1,193 votes and Cwerner 1,191 votes. McGowan was the top votegetter with 1,712 votes and Wooldridge, an active volunteer in the school system, received 1,419 votes in the April election.

Markarian said the school district will return Cwerner to the board if she asks for a recount, and if she is shown to be the winner.

During her first comments as board member, Shah thanked everyone who had voted in favor of the budget, and who had voted for her. "It [the election] clearly shows that every vote really does count," she said.

McGowan said she also appreciated support she had received, and promised she could be reached by phone or email.

"I look forward to serving on the board," Wooldridge said.

Later during the meeting, School Board President Susan Carlsson thanked Cwerner for her service on the board, especially o the board's curriculum committee, which now lacks a chairman. Cwerner had filled that position.

Also on Monday, Carlsson was unanimously chosen by her fellow board members to remain as the board's president for another year. McGowan was chosen as vice-president.

Also on Monday, faculty members wearing red shirts showed up to present a united front as discussions continued on terms of a teachers contract to replace the pact that expired last June 30. Any settlement will be retroactive to that time.

Carlsson and a member of the 600-plus members of the Bernards Township Education Association said the two sides have a meeting scheduled for May 17 to try to work towards a settlement with assistance from a state-appointed fact finder, a step that follows unsettled mediation attempts.