Safety Issues, Illness Contributed To Wayne Board of Ed. No-Shows

WAYNE, NJ — Plenty of community members showed up to what would have been the last Wayne Township Board of Education meeting before a contentious election. But five of the nine board members did not attend the public portion, thus ending the meeting after the executive session because they failed to meet quorum.

The absences without explanations left the crowd confused, as many stayed after and conducted their own discussions. The five members who didn't show up to the public portion included Board President Cathy Kazan, Vice President Suzanne Pudup and Members Sean Duffy, Dawn Kumar and Donald Pavlak, Jr.

The four present members included the three candidates running for re-election: Eileen Albanese, Matt Giordano and Stacey Scher, along with Michael Bubba.

Kazan told Patch that safety concerns prompted her decision not to attend, saying that the meetings have become "quite contentious, menacing and unpredictable."

Here's Kazan's full statement:

"Speaking for myself as Board President, I will tell you why I did not attend the meeting last evening. Since the last meeting, I have been receiving and deliberating over competing legal opinions from the Township attorney and the Board attorney as to roles and responsibilities for safety and security at meetings, which have become quite contentious, menacing and unpredictable.

"I believe it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of all participants at our public meetings. That includes our Trustees, Staff, and members of the community. I expect to have these matters settled well in advance of the next meeting. I do not speak for other members who had conflicts last evening. The lack of quorum is not new. It has happened before and was not previously planned as some have opined. I apologize to the community who felt their voices were silenced. We will reconvene on November 11th. I anticipate that most of the issues at hand will continue to be there for discussion, and we will be there to hear them."

Pudup told Patch she supports Kazan's statement and has no further comment.

Kumar didn't attend any portion of the meeting, because she didn't feel well. She doesn't know what happened during the executive session, she told Patch.

Patch also reached out to Duffy, Pavlak and Superintendent Dr. Mark Toback for comment and will update with any responses.

Tuesday's General Election features eight candidates running for three seats. The next Board of Education meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Nov. 11 at 50 Nellis Dr.

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