TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—The Westwood Regional Board of Education voted, 5-4, to allow its members to also serve as officers in volunteer parent organizations — such as PTOs, PSOs, clubs, Little League and Boy/Girl scouts — by nixing a policy prohibition on such dual public service.
Voting to approve the change at the Nov. 18 meeting were BOE President Frank Romano III, Thomas Snee, Michelle Sembler, Stacey Price and Michael Pontillo.
Opposed were Vice President Joseph Abou-Daoud, Roberta Hanlon, Andrew Gerstmayr, and Maureen Colombo.
Apparently the policy was amended “years ago,” noted one trustee, to prevent board members from also serving as officers on parent-teacher organizations, PSOs, and other volunteer groups and possibly exerting indirect influence or pressure on the administration when making policy decisions or funding decisions when dealing with such groups.
“When I was elected to the Board in November of 2019, I held a position on the Westwood Regional Middle School PSO as the co-secretary. I was told that I needed to resign from my position before I could be sworn in as a board member (prior to the January 2020 Reorganization meeting),” Sembler told Pascack Press.
“It didn’t feel right or necessary to me that I needed to give up my PSO position. I believed it would cause some unnecessary disruption to the organization and I was enjoying my time working with other parents on the PSO,” she said.
The board voted to remove a sentence in policy #0142 that prohibited individuals serving on parental organizations and simultaneously serving on the school board. Previously, any parent serving on a parent teacher organization or similar group had to resign if they were elected to the board.
Following a 20-minute discussion, Sembler moved the motion to delete the provision. She noted that her research found that no other school district in Bergen County had such a prohibition and noted the New Jersey School Boards Association said BOE members can take part in parent and volunteer organizations and also serve on a school board.
Some trustees disagreed with changing the restriction.
Gerstmayr said administrators “act differently when a (BOE) member is present … as an officer.” He said in some volunteer positions, board members will interact with administrators over funding for specific schools and noted “that kind of blurs the line of administering the district in my eyes.” Gerstmayr lost his seat in the Nov. 2 election.
Romano noted not a single one of 68 (of 72 total) school districts had a prohibition against dual service. “We’re cutting off a resource (volunteers) that’s necessary for schools to thrive,” he said, while supporting the change.
Hanlon said there was a “public perception” that a trustee might exert indirect power while on a volunteer group board, noting she was on the board when the initial policy change was initiated to require members to resign from parent organizations before they’re sworn in to the school board.
Pontillo, who also is Westwood’s police chief, repeated that no other known district imposed a similar restriction and said the prohibition on dual service “discourages volunteerism.”
Sembler said the board has had parents with outside connections, such as a mayor and police chief, and that “helps to foster a sense of community.” She said the BOE was “overstepping” by prohibiting dual public service.
“I’m both happy and relieved that the motion passed, so going forward, all current and future board members will be able to keep or obtain officer positions in their children’s organizations if they desire to do so. Revising our policy was the right thing to do,” Sembler told Pascack Press.