Middletown Board Of Education Seeking Applicants To Fill Empty Seat Once Again; Deadline Oct 14th

The Middletown Township Board of Education is seeking interested Middletown Township citizens who meet the legal requirements to serve on the Board of Education.

Legal requirements for becoming a member of a local board of education are:

• An ability to read and write.
• Citizenship and one year’s residence in the district.
• No interest in any contract with, or claim against, the board.
• Not hold office as mayor or member of the governing body of the same district.
• Registered to vote in the district and not disqualified as a voter under N.J.S.A.19:4-1.


Interested citizens are required to submit a resume and/or letter of interest to Mrs. Joan Minnuies, President of the Board of Education, 834 Leonardville Road, Leonardo, NJ 07737, or P.O. Box 4170, Middletown, NJ 07748, stating their desire to serve on the board and their ability to handle the position. Submissions must be received by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, October 14, 2011.
The Board of Education will make the appointment for the balance of the 2011/2012 school board election year.

Middletown Board of Education Has Filled Vacant Seat; New Member To Be Sworn In And Seated Wednesday Night

Last week the Middletown Board of Education finally got around to conducting interviews to fill the open seat on the board vacated by the sudden resignation of Bob Banta, who was elected to the BOE just this past April.

On Wednesday July 13th, 8 people individually sat down to be interviewed by board members, 3 of those interviewed were individuals that sought election to the BOE this past April but didn't receive enough votes, the remaining 5 were new comers to the process.

Of those 8 individuals interviewed, the one chosen was new comer Sue Griffin, who resides on Holland Drive and has been a regular at BOE meeting will be sworn in as a member of the Middletown Board of Education tomorrow night.

I received this information from Allan Burns, who was one of the 3 who sought election to the BOE this past April.

After Allan Burns learned of the selection of Ms. Griffin, he was a little disappointed to say the least, he expressed to me that he didn't have a problem with her appointment and welcome the choice, but questioned whether she had prior experience or ran for election to the BOE in the past. He felt that if she had never ran, shared her views or answered questions from the public, it was a problem.

I understand that the Board of Education had no obligation to chose one of the 3 individuals that ran for the BOE this past April. Their job was to find, in their opinion, the best qualified person to fill the vacant seat left by Bob Banta's resignation, but I happen to feel that it might have been better if they had chosen either Allan Burns or one of the other 2 individuals that had campaigned back in April for the position.

Burns and the others stood at numerous gatherings and forums answering questions about themselves and their views on education while being vetted by the residents of Middletown. I think that the residents had a right to be familiar with the person that ultimately would have been appointed to the BOE. Residents will not have that chance to vet Sue Griffin themselves until next year when she will have to run for reelection to the Board of Education herself.

I am thinking that one of the main reason why Sue Griffin was selected to fill the vacant seat on the board was simply familiarity.

Ms. Griffin being a regular at Board of Education meetings and often expressing her views and concerns to the board, which I suppose is a good thing, showed that if you're committee enough to attend meetings and express your views to those that sit in authority then you'll have a leg up on others when such openings come up.

I wish her well and hope that she can be a calming and somewhat influential force on the Board of Education. I hear from many people that the current make up of Middletown's BOE is dysfunctional and lacks experience to handle important issues within the Administration.

Personally I would know if that was true or not but if I hear from several others, there must be some truth in it.