McGowan Out, Loprete In as Franklin Lakes BOE President

Susan McGowan stepped down as president of the Franklin Lakes Board of Education at the beginning of a meeting Tuesday night, passing the gavel to Laurence Loprete to finish her term.

“After considerable thought and reflection,” McGowan said in a prepared statement, “I stand by the decisions I have made, knowing I have made them for what I believe are the best interests of our community and in order to move forward with our collective pursuit of the highest standards.”

The board had recently come under fire for its decision to cut ties with curriculum director Cheryl Best, a decision coming on the heels of accepting the resignation of Superintendent Frank Romano.

Following the shake-up in the administrative staff, a candidate for Woodside Avenue principal withdrew her acceptance of the position last week, criticizing the board for what she said was lack of support for its administrators.

“Based on the discussions and actions taken by the Franklin Lakes Board of Education recently, I am not confident the commitment or loyalty would be reciprocated,” said Christine Laquidara, the would-be principal.

“The dysfunction didn’t just appear at the last few meetings,” resident Vicki Holst said during the public comments. “It’s been festering since the November elections. Changing the seating arrangement at the table doesn’t change the issues that the current board members have demonstrated.”

Holst read a letter that called for resignations “as a measure of accountability” for the loss of the administrators, a letter she said had obtained 171 signatures from Franklin Lakes residents of voting age.

Others expressed support for the board, including Franklin Lakes resident and Ramapo Indian Hills board member John Butto.

“What I saw tonight was very encouraging,” Butto told the board, pointing to a what he said was a prodcuctive discussion of issues on the agenda. “I believe that the town needs to come together. We may agree to disagree, but if we can work together I believe we will make the schools better by doing so.”

McGowan said afterwards that she hoped new leadership would help resolve some of the conflict on the board and enable members to more easily reach “consensus.”

“For a variety of reasons I think it was the right time for a change in leadership, for the board to move forward on a heavy agenda,” she said.

Loprete will finish out McGowan’s term, running the board’s meetings until it reorganizes next January.

“I know that we will try, and try to work in a very professional way,” Loprete said after thanking McGowan for her service. “We’ll agree to disagree, I guess is the best way to say it. We know there’s a lot of work to be done, and hopefully we can do it in a very professional way that’s reflective of Franklin Lakes.”