School Board Meetings Could Move In Bridgewater-Raritan

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — The pros and cons of moving the home site for future Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Board of Education(BOE) meetings were discussed on Tuesday night.

Meetings had previously been held at the Wade Administration Building at 836 Newmans Lane in the Martinsville section of Bridgewater. Due to renovation work needed after Hurricane Ida in 2021, the meetings were moved to the high school's media center.

The renovations included new carpet, paint, and adding a few video terminals for presentations to Conference A and B at the Wade Administration Building.

With renovations underway, Superintendent Robert Beers presented the idea of moving future meetings back to the Wade building.

"Just my biased opinion I think it's a better venue, especially with a renovated space. We are also not taking space away from students or activities," said Beers, referring to how students in the media center are oftentimes asked to move to allow for staff to set up for the BOE meetings.

Most of the Board members agreed the move would be a good idea.

"I've always said that the Wade building was the best venue. I particularly like the idea that the room is being redone and the right equipment is there now. That was the problem - I think we did not have the right capabilities with the technology previously. Also, parking for us and people who want to speak is easier," said Board member Stacy Friedlander.

"I think its a great idea," Board member AJ Joshi said, who also asked what the new space's capacity is.

Beers said the room can hold up to around 70 people. He noted that if the Board did have a teacher or faculty recognition presentation or anything similar, the meeting would be moved back to the high school to be able to seat 100 people.

Board member Jessica Levitt agreed that the Wade building is "a more appropriate venue for most of the meetings for comfort and convenience."

However, she did note some issues in the past including being far for residents living in other areas of town such as Raritan and Bradley Gardens; and also capacity.

"There were a few times that were unanticipated when it was an issue that was emotional and suddenly a whole bunch of parents showed up. I don't know how we handle that if it's unanticipated and we suddenly have a hundred people there," said Levitt.

Business Administrator Peter Starrs said that if there was an unanticipated amount of people at a meeting the Board could opt to adjourn it and then advertise to host it at a larger venue two days later.

The decision to move the venue will come up as a resolution for the Board to vote on in the near future.

Beers noted that future meetings could begin to be held at the Wade building by the summer, in July or August.

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