Schools

Beverly Drive Resident Takes Board Seat

Board appoints Dana Boguszewski to the serve the remaining year of Barbara Sargent's term

After nominations for three candidates and two separate votes, the Board of Education named Beverly Drive resident Dana Boguszewski to fill the remaining year of Barbara Sargent’s term.

Boguszewski won the one-year seat on the Board of Education after receiving the majority of votes in a second round of voting at Monday’s meeting. She bested applicant Peter Bambic and Vernon Spencer Sr., who also received nominations from board members.

The first round of voting resulted in a stalemate where none of the nominees received a majority vote. In response, the board took the two candidates with the highest number of votes and held an additional vote.

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Bogusewski lived in town for 10 years, works as an emergency room nurse and decided to run because she has young children in the school district, she said.

“I know I’m going to be here, so why not have an opinion,” she said. “We are the voice of the children and the community.”

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Her concerns include classroom size—a topic she noticed by interviewing her neighbors— and transparency.

“The only thing that really seemed to concern, out of the 30 people I stopped to ask, was classroom size,” she said. “The reason why was all of these beautiful builders building these homes, they’re afraid that these classrooms are going to be overwhelmed and we’re not going to have spaces for our children.”

She also thought the schools should have consistent curriculum from school to school.

“It would be nice if, when a student arrives at for instance, Auten Road School, there is no disconnect between English, math penmanship,” she said.

Her ideas for revenue generation included working with local businesses and area pharmaceutical companies to support students.

“To increase revenue, it would also be nice to start up a partnership with local businesses and pharmaceutical companies to help with scholarships,” she said. “Why not start internships at a young age, maybe in sophomore year of high school, in the summer.”

While she admits that charter schools are a family’s choice, she felt the answer to the schools was in Hillsborough’s existing programs.

“If a family feels the need to send their child to a charter school, that is their choice,” she said. “But I don’t see why they just don’t want to come here to our schools. This is a great system and we have so much to offer.”

Originally, seven residents filed for the open board seat, though only five appeared for interviews Monday. The residents interviewed included Vernon Spencer, Senior, Peter Bambic, Dave DiFreese, and Steven Sloan.

Sargent resigned from her seat at the board’s May 17 meeting, after being named superintendent for the Readington School District. The board unanimously accepted her resignation during its Monday meeting.


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