Peng, Romano Take Leadership Roles During Edison BOE Reorganization

EDISON, NJ — The Edison Board of Education recently held its reorganization meeting, with Sharon Peng and Joseph Romano taking leadership roles.

Peng was nominated and voted board president by 8 votes.

Romano and Virginia White were nominated for vice president, with Romano winning by 5 votes to 4.

Peng, Romano and Vishal Patel also took their oath of office ahead of the vote. Peng begins her third term a BOE member.

In her remarks to the community, Peng began by wishing everyone a happy New Year and thanking her fellow board members for giving her the opportunity to serve as president. She hoped to work together with board members to tackle issues impacting students.

“The New Year presents us with ne hope and new start. This year, the board must ensure long-term stability for our district,” Peng said. “That begins with hiring a qualified, energetic superintendent that is committed to our district, who know our schools and understands the needs of our students and staff.”

I respectfully submit that we must double down on our effort to solve school overcrowding in a way that provides out students with what they need, but also mindful of our taxpayers.”

Peng noted the various curriculum changes made in the district last year. She said the board will reexamine and rectify the curriculum change after listening to feedback from parents and staff.

Several committees were also eliminated last year, including transportation and special ed, Peng said.

“12,000 students and their parents rely on school transportation every day. It’s critical to restore that transportation committee, to oversee that it’s well done," Peng said. “Also, 10 to 12 percent of our students need individualized special care by our district. We must restore the special ed committee, so their needs are no longer ignored.”

During the meeting, Peng made two motions – the first was to issue a request for proposals (RPF) for legal services for general counsel, and the second was to immediately issue an RPF for a bank depository.

Given that the district has a daily balance of $45 million stores in the bank, we need to look for banks that will provide is with the best interest rate possible,” Peng said.

Both resolutions passed after receiving a unanimous vote from board members.

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