Schools
Edison School Board Elects New President, Welcomes New Members
At the meeting, school Superintendent Bernard Bragen explained why the district chose to continue in-person classes.
EDISON, NJ — Doug Schneider was unanimously elected Board President at the Edison Public Schools BOE reorganization meeting on Monday, Jan. 3. Schneider is a newcomer to the BOE and along with Brian Rivera and Biral Patel, took the oath of office on Jan. 3.
Board member Shivi Prasad-Madhukar was elected to serve as Vice President unanimously.
"I want to congratulate Doug and Shivi for taking the leadership role. I look forward to working with you guys... it’s going to be a tough year with the pandemic and everything. The new leadership will make the school district much better," said outgoing President Jerry Shi.
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During the meeting, Superintendent Bernard Bragen addressed concerns from a few parents who wondered why the district was in-person, while other New Jersey school districts went virtual due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
Bragen said students suffered many “significant learning losses” at every level, and online learning “wasn’t the same” as being in a classroom for many students.
Find out what's happening in Edison-Metuchenfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The Superintendent noted that many students were struggling with mental health issues.
“When you have students that are attempting suicide, I would argue that yes it (social/emotional learning) is important. Where some of our students are with their ability to cope with frustration, the burdens of being in school on a regular basis, and things that they haven’t navigated for almost a year-and-a-half, many are struggling,” Bragen said.
“These decisions are not made in isolation, that we would take easily.”
Bragen said many New Jersey school districts, like South Brunswick, went remote due to staffing concerns. That situation hasn’t risen in Edison, he said. Although there are COVID-19-related staff absences, the school district has enough staff to open schools safely.
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