New and Reelected Trustees Sworn in to Board of Ed

Members of the Paramus school community gathered together on Thursday as Alison Donoghue, Anthony Feorenzo and Bernadette McCausland were sworn into office as Board of Education trustees during the annual Board of Education reorganization meeting.

The two incumbents (McCausland and Feorenzo) along with Donoghue bested a seven candidate field during the first ever November election. Donoghue, the transition coordinator for the River Dell Regional School district for the past 10 years and licensed social worker earned the highest number of votes with 3,001, ousting former trustee Frank Straka.

"I'm looking forward to this opportunity to learn fom all of you," Donoghue said. "I'm excited to be involved in this decision making process and hope to contribute my ideas to some of what is already in the works. I want to thank the voters for allowing me this great opportunity to be more involved in the community."

McCausland, who garnered 2,248 votes is a former CPA and controller prior to joining the Board of Education in 2009. While Feorenzo, the owner of Mercury Construction Retail, with 2,185 votes picked up his third term on the board.

"I want to thank my husband Edward," McCausland said. "Edward and my family have sacrificed a lot of time with me so I can volunteer. I also want to thank the voters for giving me another three years to serve as a member of the Paramus Board of Education."

Trustee Joanne Bergmann was elevated from the position of Board Vice-President to Board President for 2013 and Sharon Bower was approved as the new board vice-president.

"We all come from different walks of life, different idea, but it is all paramount to a really great board," Bergmann said. "We try to make a consensus and the important thing to remember is that what we're doing is about the kids, the welfare of children and their education. As long as that is our base we can't go wrong."

Superintendent Kenneth Rota also introduced the new Supervisor of Secondary Education, Kathleen McCabe. McCabe is expected to join the district in the coming weeks and will have her office located in Assistant Superintendent Sean Adams' former office in the high school.

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