Fiero elected president of Jackson school board

Barbara Fiero JACKSON — Barbara Fiero has been elected president of the Jackson Board of Education for a one-year term.

Sharon Dey has been elected to serve as the board's vice president for a one-year term.

The two women were elected to those positions when the board held its reorganization meeting on April 28.

At that meeting, Business Administrator Michelle Richardson announced the official results of the April 21 school election. Tracey Murnane, with 1,009 votes, Marvin Krakower, with 2,023 votes, and Theresa Schiazza, with 2,022 votes, each won a three-year term.

The candidates who were unsuccessful in their bids to win a seat on the school board were Matthew S. Genovese, John Morvay, Barbara Anne Vigliotti, Martin Spielman, Nicholas Antonoff Jr., and Sal Duscio.

The board has seven members.

The other members of the board are Scott D. Sargent and Linda Lackay.

When the board began the business portion of the meeting, Fiero and Krakower were both nominated to serve as president. There was one roll call vote. Krakower voted for himself and was supported by Sargent and Murnane. Fiero voted for herself and was supported by Dey, Schiazza and Lackay.

Fiero won the presidency with four votes.

Dey and Krakower were then nominated for vice president and Krakower declined the nomination.

In a roll call vote, Dey voted yes to her nomination and was supported by Murnane, Schiazza, Fiero and Lackay. Krakower and Sargent voted no on Dey's nomination.

Richardson also noted that for the first time in eight years, voters approved the tax levy that was proposed by the board to support the budget for the upcoming school year.B

y a count of 2,926 yes votes to 2,803 no votes, the $64.9 million general fund tax levy was approved by voters on April 21. The Jackson School District's total budget for the 2009-10 school year will be $137,228,603.

In other business, board members and administrators discussed a new meeting schedule.

"We are presently (meeting) on Tuesday nights, which gives us a conflict with some of the township (council) meetings," Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella said. "I have asked that we provide the board an option for Wednesday night, which eliminates the Township Council conflict, except for the Jackson Zoning Board of Adjustment. But everything else is pretty much clear."

In addition to its regular meeting, the board also holds a Committee of the Whole meeting.

Lackay said she would like to accommodate people who would like to attend school board meetings and township meetings.

Fiero suggested that several committee presentations be held at the board's Committee of the Whole meeting, including athletics, buildings and grounds, policy, scholarship recognition, technology, transportation, and curriculum and instruction.

Lackay said it would make for a more unified forum.

Krakower said few members of the public come to the board's Committee of the Whole meeting, and Sargent agreed with that statement.

Lackay said she did not see any disadvantage to having all board members get all of the pertinent information at the same time.

Krakower said more people attend the board's regular business meeting and said many today do not have the time to attend multiple meetings.

Lackay suggested giving committee reports at the regular business meetings.

It was suggested that the Committee of the Whole meeting begin at 7 p.m., with the board's regular business meeting to begin at 7:30 or 8 p.m.

The board will hold a Committee of the Whole meeting on May 20 at the Administration Building, 151 Don Connor Blvd.

The board will hold a regular business meeting on May 27 at the Fine Arts Center at Jackson Memorial High School, Don Connor Boulevard.

The board will hold a regular business meeting on June 24 at the Fine Arts Center at Jackson Memorial High School.

A meeting calendar for July 2009 through April 2010 may be finalized at the board's regular business meeting in June.