WEST MILFORD — Two newcomers will join the West Milford Board of Education at their re-organization meeting in January, 2016 to begin serving their three year terms as school board members. Teresa “Terry” Dwyer and Glenn Huber, along with incumbent Trustee Greg Bailey, received the most votes in the November school board election, winning them the three available seats.
Current Trustee Steve Drew ran unopposed for the final year of the two-year unexpired term he was appointed to and served last year.
Dwyer and Huber beat out incumbents Kevin Babbitt and Inga Koeppe. First time candidate William Cytowicz also lost his bid for a seat.
The winners react“This will be my seventh term on the West Milford Board of Education and, as always, I thank my fellow West Milford residents for their support and backing,” said Bailey. “I will continue to work hard supporting our students and staff with always one goal in mind - that every single student in West Milford has everything that they need to achieve their goals and dreams.”
Dwyer, a former teacher in the district, received the most votes in last week’s school board election.
“I am quite moved by the trust the people in my community have given me as indicated by the number of votes I received," said Dwyer. "There is a lot of work to do. I am looking forward to working with other board members to bring transparency, academic stability, and financial stability to our district. Tax payers who do not have children, and tax payers with children in the district have every right to be included in decisions that will affect them.”
Huber, an attorney who is also new to the board, thanked his supporters and laid out his plan.
“I would like to thank my supporters throughout our community,” he said. “I am looking forward to working with other trustees to hire a strong superintendent with the leadership skills needed in our district, and who will focus on improving school culture and the partnership between parents, students, teachers and administrators. I plan to look for ways to better utilize tax dollars and improve hiring practices in the district.”
School closure rumorsDuring the campaign, an email was allegedly sent out through a non-profit organization supporting the incumbents and saying the challengers were planning to close a school, namely Maple Road Elementary School.
“I thought the email that was circulated about the closing of a school, Maple Road School specifically, was a stupid mistake made by whomever sent it,” said Dwyer. “It was allegedly sent by non-profit groups, The West Milford Parents Association and The West Milford Educational Foundation. I was very surprised that these organizations would promote this without speaking to any of the candidates. I never approached the topic with any board member or citizen, and I will never agree to closing a school or to redistricting. Our township is too spread out and neighborhood schools are very important to those neighborhoods. Financial stability can be brought about in other ways, without penalizing our students.”
Huber chalked it up to old fashioned politics.
“As for the school closure rumors, I believe that those were old fashioned political fear-mongering on the part of an incumbent,” said Huber. “I had not contemplated a school closure, or discussed with anyone. It’s my understanding that there is no such plan currently being considered by the board. My decisions on the board will be based upon what is in the best interests of West Milford students, families and taxpayers.”
As for Bailey, he wouldn't support closing a school if the discussion comes up.
“I have never commented on rumor or innuendo and I am not going to start now,” said Bailey. “However, many years ago, the same thing blew across my desk relative to another location in our district. I was against it then and I would be against it now.”
Drew, too, said he wasn’t aware of any plans or talks of closing a school. His focus will be elsewhere.
“I am not aware of any plans to close any schools in the future, and I have no plans to start any such discussions. There are infinitely more important issues facing the district and I can think of no reason to start a topic that would simply alienate parents, students and citizens.”
Taking their placesBailey, Drew, Dwyer and Huber will take their seats on the board in January alongside current school board President Marilyn Schultz, Vice President James Devor, and Trustees James Foody, Debbie O'Brien and Rodney Robbins.
What are your thoughts about the school board race? Go to westmilfordmessenger.com.
- Patricia Keller