Edwina Lee Announces Retirement

Edwina Lee Announces Retirement

Edwina M. Lee has announced that she will retire from her position as NJSBA executive director at the conclusion of her contract on Oct. 31.

Lee was named executive director in 1999 after serving as NJSBA’s chief lobbyist. She began her employment with NJSBA just over 20 years ago.

“As a parent and a former school board president, I was enthused by the prospect of working for an organization devoted to the advancement of public education,” she said. “I imagined the job would be challenging, exciting and unpredictable.

“I wasn’t disappointed.”

Commented Kevin E. Ciak, NJSBA president, “I am confident that I speak for every president who has served with Edwina in expressing my deep appreciation for her strong leadership, her insight, and her compassion for our state’s schoolchildren.”

Lee informed the Board of Directors of her retirement plans at the conclusion of its March 31 meeting. For half an hour after her announcement, individual members expressed their appreciation to Lee for her leadership of the Association and her positive influence and guidance in their roles as local school board members.

Seamless Transition “We will never be able to replace Edwina, but we will need to go forward with a plan to identify a candidate for executive director who can continue the Association’s mission,” said Ciak.

NJSBA has established a plan to ensure a “seamless transition” of leadership, with the goal of naming a new executive director by October, according to Ciak.

Students First During Lee’s tenure as executive director, NJSBA achieved significant goals on behalf of the state’s local boards of education and public school students. Accomplishments include:

Research projects on student assessment, student mobility and special education funding, each resulting in legislation or significant state policy decisions.
Successful advocacy of the state’s $8.6 billion school construction program, and a grant program which directed a portion of that money to help non-Abbott school districts reduce the amount of borrowing and property taxes needed for new schools.
Advancements in public school governance, including the creation of the NJSBA Board Member Academy’s Certified Board Leadership program and the New Jersey Readiness Curriculum, aimed at improving school board-superintendent relations.
Participation in the State Action for Educational Leadership Project, a 21-state initiative, funded by the Wallace Foundation.

Lee also represents NJSBA on several state and national coalitions dedicated to school leadership and reform.

Significant Development During Lee’s service, the Board of Directors decided to relocate NJSBA’s operations to Hamilton Township, Mercer County. The new headquarters, expected to be completed in 2009, will be designed to meet the organization’s Long Range Plan goals in membership training and direct services.

The decision to relocate followed an extensive cost-benefit analysis by a committee of local school board members. The study group determined that the renovations and maintenance needed to keep NJSBA’s existing Trenton headquarters in operation would not be cost-effective.

What’s Best for Children The position of NJSBA executive director involves contact with high-level state and federal officials and the management of a complex organization. All of those efforts have one simple but important purpose, according to Lee.

“Our job is to make sure that local boards of education have the ability and the resources to do what’s best for children’s education,” she has often said.

A 31-year resident of Franklin Township in Somerset County, Lee served on the township’s board of education from 1980 to 1986 and as board president for three of those years. She was also president of the Somerset County School Boards Association and the Somerset County Educational Services Commission.

Post-NJSBA Life In her letter of resignation to the Association’s president, Lee noted that she is looking forward to retirement.

“Like many members of the Baby Boom generation, I am facing the prospect of what will come next in the pending decade,” she wrote in her letter of resignition to Ciak “I would like to focus my energies, time and interest on my family. They have graciously waited in the wings as I dedicated days, evenings and weekends to the mission of the Association.”

Lee and her husband have two adult children and two grandchildren.

Edwina M. Lee, NJSBA executive director, announces her retirement to the Board of Directors Saturday. She is flanked by Kevin E. Ciak, president, and Harry J. Delgado, vice president for county activities.

Ray Wiss, Bergen County representative to the NJSBA Board of Directors, congratulates Edwina Lee following the announcement of her retirement Saturday.

Bill Robinson, Morris County alternate to the Board of Directors, wishes Lee well following Saturday’s meeting.