2 Re-elected In Point Pleasant Boro School Board Election

POINT PLEASANT - Two were re-elected to the Point Pleasant Board of Education on Tuesday.

Three people filed to run for two seats on the school board: Damian Lardieri, Board President Joan A. Speroni and Board Vice President Cheryl Salway. Former board member Matt Jordan ran as a write-in candidate.

Here are the results:

SPERONI: 4,608 35.38 percent
SALWAY: 4,288, 32.92 percent
Damian LARDIERI: 3,166 24.31 percent
WRITE-IN: 964 7.40 percent

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Speroni and Salway, running as a team, said it's been an "honor and a privilege" to serve the community since 2017 even as "there have been and continue to be so many challenges to face, especially during the current world pandemic situation we are experiencing."

"Both Cheryl and Joan not only serve this district, but each work in schools every day," the team said on their website.

Speroni is a school secretary, and Salway is a special education teacher.

"(We) know first hand what is going on in schools from their experiences, and (our) only thoughts and concerns are for the education of the Point Pleasant Borough students, while protecting their health and safety as well as the health and safety of our amazing teachers, administrators, and staff," the team said.

The team said they know "the current instructional environment isn’t perfect, and it certainly doesn’t work for everyone, but with guidance from the governor’s office, the NJDOE, as well as our own central administration, we believe that this is a temporary situation and will work towards the day schools can fully reopen."

On his Facebook page, Lardieri said one of the great fundamentals of being an American is "choice," saying: "We do not have the ability to change the past and that isn’t always a bad thing."

"We can use past experiences to identify new strategies and expand our present abilities for many things, but most importantly, the education of the children who will continue this process in the future," he said.

Jordan said: "During my prior term, I served on several committees, including the contract negotiations committee. While negotiations were arduous and time consuming, it afforded me the opportunity to work closely with Mr. (Vincent) Smith, the superintendent, and Mr. Corso, the business manager."

"Certainly, there were differences of opinions, but disagreements are essential to the process, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for both men and the way they do their jobs," he said. "During negotiations, I also worked tirelessly with representatives of the teachers’ negotiation committee, as we worked out a new contract. Although the sessions were rarely a 'lovefest,' I believe both sides retained a mutual respect for the other, and, in the end, the shared goal of maintaining and/or exceeding the high level of education and instruction in this district was achieved."

Since the change to this year's election was announced by Gov. Phil Murphy because of the coronavirus, there have been many questions about how the process will work.

Every the ballot sent through the mail had to be postmarked by Nov. 3. It must be received by your county's election boards by 8 p.m. on Nov. 10.

"Every vote should be safe. Every vote should be secure. Every vote should be counted," Murphy said of the process.

See our full election coverage for New Jersey on our topic page.