School board reorganizes; approves $13.6M budget

Two members of Red Bank Development

Initiative sworn in

By sandi carpello

Staff Writer

RED BANK — W. David Tarver may be the school board’s most inquisitive member.

Just moments after being sworn in to the borough’s Board of Education last week, the founder of the Red Bank Development

Initiative posed several questions to his fellow board members.

Those concerns ranged from whether the board would come up with a mechanism to evaluate contractors’ annual performance to why teachers need to be paid overtime for just a couple of extra hours a week.

"Shouldn’t there be some give-and-take?" he asked.

Tarver and Initiative member Juanita Lewis were sworn in to three-year terms at the board’s May 1 reorganization meeting.

Incumbent Mary Ellen Mess, a nine-year board member, was sworn in to her fourth term.

The induction was followed by the Red Bank Middle School’s marching band’s 10-minute rendition of the Caribbean classic "Iko Iko."

The board then unanimously elected Janet H. Jones as president, while giving accolades to former board President John McMahon, who did not seek re-election this year.

Rosemarie Kopka was elected vice president, narrowly defeating Karlheinz Haas in a 5-4 vote.

During the meeting, the board also approved a resolution adopting the 2003-04 school budget.

The $13.6 million budget, calling for a 13.8-cent increased per $100 of assessed valuation, was supported by borough voters in a 433-347 vote.

"I cannot overstate the importance of the action that our community took," said district Superintendent Dr. John Krewer. "I want to thank everyone who voted for the budget and for the groups in the community who allowed us to come and make a presentation [on the budget]."

The board reappointed Bruce Loversidge, the borough’s chief financial officer, as treasurer of school monies at an annual salary of $3,600; Boynton and Boynton as the board’s insurance group; and the firm of McOmber and McOmber as the school attorney at an annual retainer of $10,000 per a separate retainer agreement, with a $135 hourly billing rate for extra services.

Committee appointments will be made at the next board meeting.

While they sit on the board, Tarver and Lewis plan to continue their work on the Red Bank Education Development Initiative a borough-based nonprofit educational organization.

Tarver decided to run for a position on the board after the school board severed its relationship with the organization last fall.