Principals Switched In Hoboken Schools, And Resident Asks About The Pool

HOBOKEN, NJ — The Hoboken Board of Education voted to approve a string of principal and vice principal switches at their meeting Tuesday, and a resident talked about pool hours for the public.

Among the new administrative roles approved Tuesday:

• Ryan Sorafine leaves Connors Elementary to become principal of Hoboken Middle School, the district's only middle school.
• Christopher Williams will become vice-principal of Hoboken High School.
• Dr. Robin Baskinger will be the vice principal of Hoboken Middle School.
• John "Jack" Hamlin becomes vice principal at Connors.
• Former HMS Principal Anna Marra will become the director of grants management and personnel services for the district.
• Former HMS Vice Principal Ivan Ramos will become the director of the Academic Support Center at Hoboken High School.
• Former Brandt Vice Principal Kimberly Mara becomes director of the district's early childhood program.

The new roles take effect this Friday.

Longer Pool Hours

Hoboken resident Kevin Davis questioned the public hours that the city's Recreation Department was offering to the public at the Hoboken High School pool this summer, particularly because there were none for the public after work hours.

The city of Hoboken announced last week that the Recreation Department would staff the Hoboken High School pool for the community to come in for several hours per day, Monday through Friday.

In response to Davis' question on Tuesday, Superintendent Dr. Christine Johnson said she had told the city on more than one occasion that night hours were available to the Recreation Department if they wanted to take advantage of them.

On Thursday, the city announced that they will now open the pool on four Saturdays this summer: July 16, 23, Aug. 6, and Aug. 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The open swim schedule is as follows:

• Monday through Thursday 12 – 1 p.m.

Also:

• Monday & Wednesday 1 – 4:30 p.m.
• Tuesday & Thursday 3 – 4:30 p.m.
• Saturday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

More Roundtables For The Public

The district is holding "community roundtables" in person and virtually for any community member to talk about the district and learn more. The first sessions were for district parents only, followed by more for the community starting this month and running through September. Find out dates and how to sign up here.

At the meeting, former council candidate Paul Presinzano said that his child will start in the public schools this fall. But he said that there shouldn't have been community meetings about the future of the district that are just for district parents and not other community members, comparing this to taxation without representation.

The 35-minute meeting can be watched on YouTube here.