New School Board Member Selected in Bedminster

Bedminster resident Monica Burch was chosen as the newest member of the Bedminster Board of Education after an interview process Thursday evening.

There was a vacancy on the board after former member Jason Anagonstis resigned in August.

Resident Drew Isaacs was originally the only one to submit an application in October, but the board opted not to vote on whether to give him the position after he was interviewed at the Oct. 22 meeting.

Instead, they said, they needed more time to deliberate, and had some concerns they wanted to address before finalizing the appointment.

But when the board missed the 65-day deadline to fill the seat, the decision was passed on to the county superintendent, and residents were invited to submit applications by Nov. 15.

The county superintendent narrowed down the five interested candidates to two, Burch and resident Laura Govan.

“The county superintendent interviewed all five candidates, and felt that we were very lucky because all five were very qualified,” said board of education president Louis Casella. “She narrowed it down to two folks, and thought those two were the most qualified.”

“Because of it being so close between the two, she thought it best to throw it back and let the decision be made locally, to give us the opportunity to talk to the two folks and find out who fits best,” he added.

Both woman were interviewed by the board of education Thursday, and then the final candidate was chosen.

Burch was sworn into the board immediately after she was chosen.

Burch has been very involved in the school district since she moved to Bedminster, and brought her kids to the school district from Rutgers Preparatory School.

“My kids were in Cub Scouts, so I was a co-leader there, and I helped the eighth grade fundraising chair,” she said. “I helped with Spring Fling, and I am on the PTO Programs Committee now.”

“And I am working on another committee looking at teacher evaluations, and working with teachers and parents,” she added. “That is an interesting committee that I’m working on.”

Outside of the school, Burch said, she is working with the township’s recreation committee.

In addition, Burch, who started with work in the corporate world at Dow Jones and Merrill Lynch, currently has a business in which she holds workshops for kindergarten through eighth graders in science, engineering and technology.

As to a question from the board about some of the issues she thinks are most interesting in the district, Burch said she knows the teachers’ contract is a major concern, as are budget constraints.

“There is the issue that more kids than we think are going to be at Bernards High School,” she said. “Somehow we have to find out before we do our budget because it’s all part of the costs.”

And, Burch said, she understands there are always lots of budgetary constraints, particularly with the district set with a 2 percent cap.

In instances where they are down to the wire about cutting, and facing issues of what else could possibly be done, Burch said she would want to look at all line items in the budget.

“The resources are our personnel, that actually is the foundation of any school,” she said. “What I want to do is go through the budget and look through every line item and see where we can cut. Sometimes there are things you can cut that you don’t think you can cut, sometimes things can stagnate.”

“Sometimes it takes brand new ideas, a fresh view and somebody to look at it again,” she added.

As for working with others on the board, Burch said she does have strong opinions, but she likes to hear other people’ takes on what she is thinking.

“What I tell kids is the best thing about having a group is that everyone looks at things differently, and can add to the plate,” she said. “I come with an idea and want other people to look at it and see how we can change it.”

And Burch said she is most proud of the school for its teachers.

“I love that the teachers know the kids, work with them and they’re good teachers,” she said. “My kids went to private school, and I could not tell the difference between here and there.”