At its first meeting of the new year, the West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education elected Anthony Fleres of Plainsboro to be the new president, and West Windsor resident Richard Kaye to be the new vice president. In addition, newly elected board members Louisa Ho and Scott Powell of West Windsor and Taylor Zhong of Plainsboro were sworn into their positions.
In a special meeting on January 8 the board also interviewed the candidates who sought to be appointed to fill the vacancy caused by Plainsboro member Yibao Xu’s death. After deliberation in closed session, the board selected Rachel Puno Juliana, a resident of the Crossings at Grovers Mill East since 2007, to fill the position (see sidebar, page 14).
The next full meeting of the board will be Tuesday, January 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Grover Middle School.
The board also approved contracts or agreements with numerous professionals and consultants who perform business, financial, legal, medical, engineering, and other services for the district, as well as several individuals and companies that work with the Special Services division. A full list can be found on the district website at www.ww-p.org.
In other personnel matters, Tracy Brown was appointed to the position of media specialist, to replace Mary De Nunzio who resigned; Mary Pierson was appointed to be the acting transportation coordinator, and High School North secretary Elena Dougherty retired after 14 years of service to the district.
The board, elected officials, the administration, and members of the public all paid tribute to Hemant Marathe, the former board president who stepped down from the Board on December 31.
Among the commentators was Debbie Baer, teacher and outgoing president of the teacher’s union. Said Baer: “Hemant helped us move through some difficult times and made things really work in our district. His actions always proved that he strived to do the best for our students, and on behalf of the teachers, I thank you for your service.”
Former board members Diane Ciccone and Linda Geevers (currently vice president of the West Windsor Town Council) thanked Marathe together, complimenting him on all of the hard work he had done over the years, and his outstanding leadership especially when handling major projects such as the building of new schools.
“You helped shape our phenomenal district,” said Geevers. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart and from the people of West Windsor.”
Plainsboro Deputy Mayor Neil Lewis also thanked Marathe for his 10 years as president and his service to both towns in the district, and Fleres noted that Marathe was a good leader because he always let others speak their minds and voice their opinions.
On behalf of the administration, Superintendent David Aderhold thanked Marathe “for always sticking with us doing the tough times, telling it to us ‘straight,’ and keeping everyone’s best interests at heart.” Aderhold also noted that January has been designated Board Members Recognition Month, and accordingly thanked all of the board members for their service.
Kaye, the incoming vice-president, praised Marathe’s skill and intelligence, noting that he could now make a career out of teaching and consulting from the township, to the county, the state, and the world. “But, and I hope you thought about this when you decided to retire, now you will be returning full-time to a house full of women [Marathe’s wife, daughters, and mother-in-law], so now we will see just how clever you really are.”
Marathe, who is known for his sense of humor, thanked everyone for their support, noting that his family would “definitely not agree with all of the kind words everyone is saying about me.”
“I have served for a long time, and was thought to be a trouble maker when I first came to the board. But I have worked with some wonderful people, including Debbie Baer, former superintendents Bob Laughton and Victoria Kniewel, Larry Shanok, and all of the board members past and present. And the three new kids on the block — David Aderhold, and Assistant Superintendent Martin Smith and Gerard Dalton. They will do a wonderful job; the district is in really good hands, which is one of the reasons I decided to step down. Besides, when the superintendent is younger than you and has more kids than you, it is time to go!”
In response to his goodbye speech, Marathe received a standing ovation — and a chorus of laughter — from the audience.
#b#The New Officers#/b#
Along with his wife Marcia, the former executive director of the WW-P Education Foundation, Tony Fleres has lived in Plainsboro since 1993. His son, Mark, a WW-P graduate, now attends Stevens Institute of Technology. Daughter Amanda is in high school in the district.
Fleres, whose father was a carpenter and mother a seamstress, has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the City College of New York. He earned his MBA from the University of Connecticut in 1980. He works as a design manager at an engineering firm in New York.
Originally elected to the board in 2006, Tony Fleres had previously been chairman of the finance committee and then appointed vice president after the resignation of Robert Johnson.
Richard A. Kaye, is a retired educator with a 44-year career as a teacher and building principal, including 25 years in the South Brunswick school district. He moved to Village Grande when he and his wife, Judy, formerly a technical recruiter, retired.
Kaye was raised in New York City. His father was a corporate operations manager, and his mother was an executive with a major electrical services company. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Queens College, he earned two master’s degrees — the first from New York University and the second from the City University of New York.
Kaye was elected in 2012 to his third term on the board. He has served on the administration and facilities committee and as chairman of the curriculum committee.
#b#New Member From Plainsboro#/b#
Rachel Puno Juliana, a licensed lawyer in New Jersey and California, served on a school board in Northern California from 2002 until 2007. At that time she and her husband, Chuck, also an attorney, moved to Plainsboro. They have two children, Charlie, 6, a kindergartener at Wicoff, and Bella, 4.
Juliana has a bachelor’s in rhetoric from University of California-Berkeley and a law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. She currently works for a Fortune 500 company based in Northern California.
In announcing her application, Juliana noted her previous experience as a school board member and wrote “I understand the challenges that school boards face in providing the best possible education to our community’s children and also the importance of working together as a board to make decisions that best serve our students.
“I also believe that my experience as an attorney provides a different perspective that would be valuable to the board and to the school district. For every issue that comes before the board, I will strive to thoroughly understand the issues and the impact that it will have on our children and the district. I will consider all points of view and work with my fellow board members and the administration to make the best decision for the district to advance its primary mission to provide the broadest and most diverse educational platform for the continued success of the district, its students and teachers,” she wrote.
