BOE's Golderer Calls for Board Retreat

At the Thursday meeting of the Parsippany Board of Education, Communications Committee chair Susy Golderer offered a potential solution to the apparent divide between groups of board members.

During her committee report, Golderer said the goal of the panel, which was newly instituted under Board President Frank Calabria, was to facilitate better relations between the school board and the people of Parsippany.

"The consensus [is that] we need a more cohesive board," she said.

To achieve this, Golderer suggested holding a board retreat, where members would have an opportunity to hash out conflicts, work on communications and trust issues and build board unity.

The committee chair said the panel is working on details and possible dates.

She said she believed a retreat could bring board members together and, hopefully, smooth over issues that make it more difficult for the BOE to operate smoothly.

"Once we get past that part," said Golderer, "we can really communicate with the community."

Board member Anthony Mancuso said that a retreat generally is a good idea.

"But when the person calling for it is the same person that has been publicly making remarks against the board and fellow board members, I don’t think the request is genuine," he said, referring to incidences in which . "You don’t need a special retreat to learn to work with others."

At the same time, despite his skepticism, Mancuso said he is willing to give it a go for the good of the board, the schools and Parsippany.

"It can’t hurt," he said.

Golderer's comments came before the BOE took away her title as its co-vice president. After the board's Policy Committee announced its decision that having two co-vice presidents violated bylaws, the : the person who had shared the job with Golderer, Frank Neglia.