Bergen County Mom, Polio Survivor Joined School Board During Reagan Era. She's Leaving.

GLEN ROCK, NJ — When Rona McNabola joined the school board in Glen Rock in 1985, the iconic film about high school stereotypes, "The Breakfast Club," had just come out, Ronald Reagan was in his second term as president, and it would be another year before the Challenger space shuttle exploded.

Students were only one generation removed from the polio epidemic — in fact, McNabola is in a wheelchair after having contracted the disease as a toddler in 1948.

This past Tuesday, Rona McNabola attended her final Board of Education meeting, after four decades of volunteer service.

McNabola was an educator herself, beginning her career as a biology and general science teacher in Hawthorne until her first son, Paul, was born.

She bought her Glen Rock home in 1973 and eventually had a second son, Brian. Both boys attended Clara E. Coleman Elementary School.

While serving as president of the HSA at Coleman, a friend suggested she run for the Board of Education and offered to manage the campaign, according to a district spokesperson.

That campaign vaulted her into four decades on the board, except for a two-year break from 2006-2008.

Over the years, she has served as president and vice president of the board, offering advice on everything from community issues to accessibility for people with disabilities.

“People knew I was always going to ask about handicap accessibility, what the bathrooms were like, and about putting in ramps from the start of a project, for example,” McNabola said this week.

But after a long career of service, McNabola decided this year not to run for re-election.

She looked back fondly this week at what she had done.

“Once you begin volunteering in the schools, or serving on the HSA, you really begin to pay attention to not only your kids but all the kids in the school,” she explained. “You become more and more interested in the wider community of kids in Glen Rock."

She noted that a "school system" is made up of more people than many realize.

“Everybody in the district is just as concerned about what goes on in the schools as the Board members are,” she said. “It’s very nice living in Glen Rock and I don’t like to think about living anywhere else. Here, you get to know everybody — from the custodians and the people who work in the district, to the teachers and all the way up to the administration.”

McNabola became involved in other aspects of the town through her work on the board, at one point serving as President of the Bergen County School Boards Association and group leader of the New Jersey School Boards Association. She was also a member of the Glen Rock Handicap Persons Advisory Committee and other town committees.

'I have been in my house for almost 50 years'

“When I was younger, I was a member of so many committees, especially in Glen Rock,” she said. “As I take a step back, I see all of these new people in town and I believe they should be the people on those committees. I have been in my house for almost 50 years."

She added, "I will keep my eyes open, but the newer residents should be helping now.”

Ms. McNabola said that as her term comes to an end, she will miss the people the most, even those she disagreed with.

“I’ve asked myself if I would have ever met these people or understood where they were coming from as fellow Glen Rock residents if I wasn’t on the board, and my answer is probably not,” she said. “I got to know people very well and I will miss not knowing the people on the future Boards of Education.”

McNabola has served under nine superintendents, and said every one of them has viewed the schools slightly differently.

She said she values the way current Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brett Charleston does things “by the book.”

“If things need to be changed, they are planned and not changed on a whim,” she said. “I worked a lot with Dr. Charleston on policies and he really understands and follows them. I truly appreciate that.”

She said that she also felt it was time to leave because she had no family members in the district and was not as in the loop as she once was.

In a farewell speech at the Tuesday, Dec. 11 meeting, Ms. McNabola thanked all of the administrators and board members she’s worked with over the years, in addition to the voters (however they voted).

“I don’t know whether it was age or what, but I felt like it was time,” she said. “It helps that I feel comfortable about what is currently happening on the board.”

Read more recent news about the local schools here on Patch.

Watch Tuesday's school board meeting here. See information about upcoming meetings here.