At the final board meetings of the three boards of education that have been in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands for so many years, the Superintendent Tara Beams noted that in her three years here she has been part of the meetings for all three boards, a total of 26 members. Through those years, with board members changing, she has dealt with 44 different members, she said, noting how great each was, how wonderful it’s been and how bittersweet it is that now the Highlands and Atlantic Highlands boards will exist only in history and memory and Henry Hudson’s board is changed and expanded. sad
Each of the boards had little social hours just before their last meetings to ‘celebrate’ or say goodbye to each other and be thanked for all their volunteer time.
As well they should be. It isn’t easy being a Board of Education member. It isn’t easy giving up all that time, sitting in sometimes very dull meetings and making decisions in the expectation they are all for the good of the student, and all within the taxpayers’ ability.
What was missing among all these congratulations was any mention made of ALL the board members over ALL the years so many people have been serving these boards. Many of those former members are still living in the area and would have loved to be able to share their own bittersweet memories of boards that will no longer exist.
In Highlands alone, Joan Wicklund was a long time member of both the local school at one time and the Hudson board for a very long time, devoting her heart and soul to everything for the school and the kids. Pat Robertson brought experience and hard work to the board., always knew what she was doing, always had great input, and also has feelings about the change. But they weren’t invited to share. Neither were Karen Jarmusz, Pam Semmel, Dolores Monahan, and so many others. The list goes on of so many men and women who gave so much and would have liked to be recognized at the very end. But no invitations went out to them, even those living in town. How very sad.
Superintendent Beams has only been here a few years so understandably she doesn’t know or realize how close these people have been to the school and how much that board has meant to them. I’m sure it’s the same with Atlantic Highlands residents. I’d be certain the superintendent doesn’t even know how many generations of the same families have served, or how many spouses have served. Has she ever even heard of Sam Brown? Or wow, Florence Adair?
It was nice of the superintendent to thank all the bosses she has known and it was appreciated. But so many others before she came to Highlands, names and personalities, are part of the history of the boards of education which will soon be history. They should never be forgotten.
