School board prez needs to play fair

Woodbridge Board of Education President Patricia Hardiman is not serving the residents well by unfairly doling out board committee appointments to her favorites on the school board.

Hardiman’s insistence that it is her prerogative to assign board members to committees for the “best interest” of each committee would be laudable if it were not so laughable.

How else to explain her actions at the recent board reorganization meeting where she gave two board members six committees and another only one?

Hardiman gave board members Larry Miloscia and Judy Leidner six committees apiece. That’s right, six.

Board member Diane Acquisto, who cast the lone vote against appointing Hardiman as board president, was given one committee, even though she was recently re-elected to a third term and has more experience than the others.

Leidner clearly cannot devote enough attention to six committees. In addition to serving as board vice president, she is running for a seat on the Borough Council.

Community United for Better schools member Kellie Cuzzola was right when she insisted there be a fair representation in all the committees of the number of people on the board.

Hardiman compounded the problem by appointing Joyce Grehl to several committees, even though Grehl resigned from the board last week because she and her family are relocating.

And whoever replaces Grehl will inherit the committee assignments, whether they have experience or not.

Hardiman said she doesn’t know who will fill Grehl’s seat, but her replacement will chair one committee.

Acquisto, with six years’ experience, will chair none.

James Griffin, who came in fourth in the race for three board seats, should be the one who fills the vacancy.

It would make sense to appoint the voters’ fourth pick. It would make sense, but that doesn’t mean that’s what will happen. It will be interesting to see who actually gets the seat.

Power games like the one played at the reorganization meeting serve only the players, not the taxpayers, and not the children. They deserve better than this.