It was a momentous evening for faculty members at the district’s Board of Education meeting on June 19 as four staff members received probationary appointments and four received leave replacement positions for the 2017-18 school year.

New probationary staff members included Christopher Nazario, Pamela Dembinski, Christopher Gianesses and Jessica Tiefenwerth. Those that were appointed leave replacement positions included Heather Graham, Tara Masterson, Lauren Rosenthal and Steven Navarra. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nicholas Stirling highlighted each individual before the Board voted on their approval to transition into their new roles in the district.

In addition, Forest Road Elementary School teacher Lisa Freisem and Shaw Avenue Elementary School teacher Christina Kaye were approved by the Board for their passage through gate. Gate is a unique district-wide process which examines a teacher as they move through their years in the district. It allows the administrators to take a closer look as to what is happening inside the classroom and reward those teachers with excellent progress the opportunity to move to the next salary range.

Although unable to attend the meeting, Dr. Stirling also spoke about retiring Board trustee Cristobal Stewart. A significant member of the Board for the past nine years, Stewart was praised and thanked by his fellow Board members and Dr. Stirling for his service and dedication to the district.

“Chris was a leader,” said Board president James Lavery. “He would open our eyes to things that maybe we did not see and give us a different perspective. We thank him for his service and he will be missed.”