Summer session

Who didn’t expect it to eventually come to this? Two factions on a splintered Middlesex Board of Education with sharply different ideas on how a school district should be run. One side, pretty much compliant with the administration. The other, willing to question everything.

Caught in the middle – as typically happens in instances like this – are local property taxpayers who fund millions of dollars in school spending. This year, they feel the wallet pinch of a 7% increase in school taxes and get to watch their two school board blocs try to outmaneuver each other.

This dynamic has recently manifested itself in stalled personnel decisions. A group of resolutions were blocked from approval in July. Four board members – Danielle Parenti, Sharon Schueler, Todd Nicolay and Amanda Bayachek – supported the personnel proposals. That was not sufficient to officially approve them, since the quartet did not constitute a majority of the entire nine-member board. Two board members – Patricia Reynolds and Thomas Thornton – were absent. Three other board members – Martin Quinn, Jeremiah Carnes and Justine Decker – abstained from voting, which blocked the personnel resolutions from formal approval.

That approval had to wait until a Wednesday, Aug. 5 special meeting. July’s four would-be approvers were joined by Reynolds to comprise the five votes needed to okay the personnel motions. Reynolds recused herself from one measure that called for the hiring of her son to a teaching position. The three board members who abstained in July were absent from the revote. The machinations basically delayed the series of personnel actions for several weeks. The resolutions included contractual appointments, hourly positions, substitutes, extra-curricular stipends, a leave of absence, resignations and other actions.

So, what happens next?

There’s been no explanation from either the resolutions’ supporters or abstainers as to the reasons for the current game of can you top this. That reflects a fairly common aspect of Middlesex school board meetings – little comment or clarification. The board and administration need to be more informative.

The only thing close to an explanation was Quinn’s comment that he was surprised when he opened his information packet prior to the July meeting. Was something slipped in that not all board members were apprised of? A misunderstanding or some keeping others in the dark? Either way, the abstainers should have showed up for the Aug. 5 session. It’s given the appearance that their July abstentions were an opportunistic stunt rather than a principled stand.

The community’s school parents have been through much the last few years. A long-running contract dispute with district teachers and the controversial principal switch at one elementary school. Property owners without school children have watched their tax bills rise, this year at a greater rate than recent years. Now, there’s open squabbling at board meetings. Isn’t it time for some stability? Will the start of a new academic year bring additional turmoil or the ability to work together?

Nothing wrong with a bit of dissent at school board meetings. It’s unrealistic for nine people to continually agree on everything. That doesn’t happen anywhere else in real life. But disagreement should be possible without creating a circus atmosphere.

The well-known saying is that the only thing constant is change, which could be the motto of the Middlesex school district. Nicolay, Reynolds and Bayachek will not seek re-election in November. They will be replaced by Cheryl Tarbous, Toni Sickle and Hardik Shah, who are running unopposed for three board seats. It will be the second consecutive year that an entire slate of new board members gets seated.

Roughly a year ago, an idea was floated for a referendum aimed at giving the Middlesex mayor school board appointment authority. The proposal went nowhere, with even current Mayor Jack Mikolajczyk expressing reservations about taking board selection ability away from voters.

While the mayor does not want to be solely responsible for the board’s future composition, it appears the Borough of Middlesex Republican Organization (BMRO), as a group, does not have similar reservations.

If November’s unchallenged candidates are sworn-in next January as expected, the new board will have a distinctly GOP connection. It will comprise three members – Thornton, Sickle and Shah – who are listed as BMRO district reps on the group’s website. Also seated will be Carnes and Quinn, both former Republican Borough Councilmen. That’s five of nine board members. Last year’s slate of school board challengers ran under the For the Taxpayers slogan, the same banner being used by this year’s group. 

The ballot petition submitted recently to Middlesex County by the 2026 candidates reads like a Who’s Who of the local Republican Party. The signers included the local GOP’s current chairman and co-chair, a former mayor, the current mayor and several others who are active Republicans or related to them. There was no public hint that this year’s trio would run without opponents. But under the circumstances, some might view the GOP’s actions as a sort-of Republican school board coup.

Before local Democrats start howling, they should acknowledge their party has dominated the school board at times in the past. In prior decades, it hasn’t been uncommon to see the spouse of a Democratic Borough Council member or two serving on the board. Not that long ago, the board’s president was a former Democratic councilman. The board’s current vice president has a former Dem councilman in the family.

Hopefully, the local GOP understands that with influence comes accountability. In a year or two, if school taxes continue to rise disproportionately, if standardized test scores are not up to snuff, and if parents continue to have concerns, perhaps the disgruntled will start bringing their beefs to the monthly BMRO meetings. Remember active Republicans, if you want Board of Education center stage, you’ll be the first ones to get hit with the tomatoes.

(Copyright 2026 Dave Polakiewicz. All Rights Reserved)

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