• The evening's program was "Best Practices for Engaging With Your Board Attorney.” A team from the East Orange Board of Education was on hand to present and answer questions. They included, (from left to right) Dr. Christopher Irving, superintendent of schools, East Orange School District (Virtual), Andrea McPhatter, president, East Orange Board of Education; Khalifah L. Shabazz, partner, Souder, Shabazz & Woolridge Law Group; and Medinah E. Muhammad, vice president, East Orange Board of Education.

The Essex County School Boards Association met on Oct. 10 at The Appian Way in Orange.

Hasani Council (Newark), second vice president for legislation of the Essex County School Boards Association, called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone in attendance, both in person and virtually. He led attendees in the pledge of allegiance and introduced the other ECSBA Executive Committee members. He told everyone that ECSBA President Reginald Bledsoe (Essex County Schools of Technology) would be in attendance later in the evening.

The evening’s business proceeded with Lou Schimenti, associate director of exhibitions and cooperatives at the New Jersey School Boards Association, giving attendees a brief overview of Workshop 2024: Quest for Student Success.

The evening’s program was “Best Practices for Engaging With Your Board Attorney.” Presenters included Andrea McPhatter, president, East Orange Board of Education; Medinah E. Muhammad, vice president, East Orange Board of Education; Dr. Christopher Irving, superintendent of schools, East Orange School District; and Khalifah L. Shabazz, partner, Souder, Shabazz & Woolridge Law Group. After the program, Bledsoe delivered remarks. 

NJSBA Vice President for County Activities Barry Fitzgerald brought greetings on behalf of NJSBA’s officers. Each NJSBA officer has pledged to attend a meeting of each county association during the 2023-2025 NJSBA term.

Kathryn Weller-Demming (Montclair), an alternate on NJSBA’s board of directors, provided a comprehensive update on the Sept. 20 NJSBA board of directors meeting, ensuring that everyone was fully informed. Jeanne Cleary, an NJSBA field service representative, gave a field service update.

Also in attendance were ECSBA Immediate-Past President Josephine Garcia (Newark) and Robert Acerra, county activities coordinator at the NJSBA.

At the meeting, a variety of other important business was also conducted. The ECSBA Executive Committee announced that the next Essex County School Boards Association meeting will be hosted at Newark Vocational High School in Newark on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. The topic for the meeting will be “AI: Embracing the Power of Artificial Intelligence in Education” and “Best Practices for Social and Emotional Learning.” All newly elected board members in the November election will be invited to join the December meeting.

The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to all the speakers and attendees.