School board names new Transportation head

BY ANN GENADER
WEST MILFORD — The West Milford Board of Education appointed Kathleen Fanning as supervisor of the West Milford School Transportation Department Tuesday night, effective Aug. 21. Fanning replaces Charles Mazzei, who resigned in May.
The district is currently looking into outsourcing the entire Transportation Department, including its bus drivers and management.
Joan Fredericks, president of the West Milford Bus Drivers Association, and Karen Wilm, a 19-year Transportation Department employee, addressed the board before voting to hire Fanning.
Wilm asked that the board rethink their action prior to their vote and consider her for the position.
Wilm has held many positions in the district during the 19 years she has been employed there. She started as a bus driver, then worked as a dispatcher and later was an administrative assistant. Wilm said her acquired skills included management and negotiations. She said she knows the school system and the children well.
Fredericks, noting that a new supervisor from out of the township would be new to the district, said that a person unfamiliar with the area would not know it as well as someone from within.
The board went into an executive session for discussion and then returned to the meeting room to hire Fanning. There were no comments in public from the board or audience after the action was taken.
Fanning's salary was set at $68,000 prorated with health benefits.