P.O. Box 909 ● Trenton, NJ 08605-0909 ● Phone: 609.695.7600 ● Fax: 609.695.0413 ● Web: www.njsba.org/PI

Raymond Wiss Honored with Bergen School Boards Award

TRENTON, May 10, 2011—The Bergen County School Boards Association presented the 10^th annual Janet S. Lobsenz Award to Raymond R. Wiss, a school board member in Bergen County for 19 years, at its spring meeting May 5 in Allendale.

A member of the Northern Valley Regional Board of Education, Wiss is also the current president of the New Jersey School Boards Association.

The Janet S. Lobsenz Award is named after the New Jersey School Boards Association field service representative who retired after nearly two decades of service to local school boards in Bergen and Sussex Counties.

“The Janet S. Lobsenz Award is presented to a Bergen County board member who shows a commitment to his or her professional development, as well as that of other board members in the county,” said Peter Wendrychowicz, president of the Bergen County School Boards Association, who presented the award to Wiss at the association’s meeting. “This individual also needs to demonstrate commitment to school governance — not only locally, but also at the county and state levels.”

The recipient of the award must also be recognized by the NJSBA as a Certificated Board Member, a designation that is earned after acquiring advanced training in leadership and governance through the school boards association. Fifteen members of the Bergen County School Boards Association’s Executive Committee unanimously selected Wiss to receive the award.

Wiss has been a member of the Northern Valley Regional Board of Education since 2001, having served as the board’s president and vice president. Previously, he was a member of the Old Tappan Board of Education from 1988 to 1995, also serving as board president during that time.

From 1996 to 2000, he was mayor of the Borough of Old Tappan.

On the state level, Wiss had served on NJSBA’s Board of Directors since 2007, and was elected president of the New Jersey school Boards Association in May 2010. He has trained other school board members throughout the state, including service as a group leader for NJSBA’s New Board Member Orientation to and as a presenter at NJSBA’s Advanced and Leadership Training Sessions.

He has also served as a member of the Bergen County School Boards Association Executive Committee from 1991 to 1995, and from 2002 until the present.

Wiss is a managing member Wiss & Bouregy, P.C., attorneys at law. He received a bachelor’s in political science from Rutgers University, where he was a Henry Rutgers Scholar, and he earned his J.D. from the Seton Hall University School of Law.

He and his wife Pam have been married 36 years and have three adult children.

The New Jersey School Boards Association is a federation of 588 local boards of education and includes 44 charter school associate members. NJSBA advocates the interests of school districts, trains local school board members, and provides resources for the advancement of public education.