The Shamong Township Public Schools Board of Education held its reorganization meeting on Jan 3 to welcome new and old members.
The session saw the swearing in of reelected board member Frank Locantore, the New Jersey School Board delegate. New member Keith Hopson won a one-year term in the November election, joining Board President Melissa Ciliberti and Vice President Jeffrey Warner, who will continue in those roles.
Superintendent of Schools Christine Vespe addressed what the board looks forward to in the new year.
We have a great board of education who are all looking forward to doing great things for students and our staff and working together with our administration,” she noted. “There was no change in positions – our president and vice president were reelected – so they have a very good working relationship, … (and) we’re looking forward to working with Mr. Hopson as our new member,”
Vespe also cited multiple projects this year at the schools, including new outdoor learning spaces at both Indian Mills Memorial Middle School and Indian Mills Elementary School, and a new basketball court at the elementary school.
With regard to the continuing pandemic and the effects of the new omicron variant, Vespe said there are no plans yet for schools to go back to remote learning.
“My plan is to keep our schools in person as long as we can staff our teachers and our support staff, as long as we have enough people here to run our school safely and effectively, we will keep open in person,” she said
“Of course we continue to follow CDC and health-department recommendations,” the superintendent added. “If there’s something we can improve upon, we will, or something we need to change, we would do that as well.”
The next board of education will be on Jan 18 at 7 p.m. For more information, visit https://www.ims.k12.nj.us/