Sussex County School Boards Association Focuses on Guiding Principles of Policy at Meeting

The Sussex County School Boards Association met Sept. 30 at Farmstead Golf Club in Lafayette.

Wayne Dunn (High Point Regional), president of the Sussex County School Boards Association, called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone in attendance, both in-person and virtually.

NJSBA Vice President for County Activities Barry Fitzgerald (Lenape Regional, Burlington County) was in attendance to bring 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. Sussex County Executive County Superintendent Dr. Gayle Carrick was also in attendance and gave the board members an update on behalf of the Sussex County Office of Education.

The business of the meeting proceeded with Michael Kvidahl, NJSBA associate director of marketing, giving the attendees a brief but valuable overview of Workshop 2024: Quest for Student Success. Ronald Hoffman (Hardyston Township), an alternate on the NJSBA board of directors, provided a comprehensive update on the Sept. 20 NJSBA board of directors meeting, ensuring that everyone was fully informed. Kelly Mitchell, an NJSBA field service representative, welcomed board members and encouraged them to contact her with any questions or concerns. Tammy Smith (Knowlton Township), treasurer of the Educational Leadership Foundation of New Jersey, attended the meeting to update the attendees on ELFNJ.

The evening’s program was “Guiding Principles: The Board’s Role in Policy.” Kim Gatti, NJSBA Director of Policy, gave an excellent presentation to the SCSBA members. Robert Acerra, NJSBA county activities coordinator, was also in attendance. A variety of other important business was also conducted at the meeting.

The SCSBA Executive Committee will host the next Sussex County School Boards Association meeting at Sussex County Community College in Newton on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. The topic for this meeting will be “The Vaping Issue in Our Schools and The Board’s Role in Ethics.” This meeting will also invite all newly elected board members in the November election to join the meeting.