The Trenton Times published the following article on May 16, 2013. To read the full article, click here.
City school board votes in new president, vice president
By Jenna Pizzi/The Times of Trenton
on May 16, 2013 at 11:00 PM, updated May 16, 2013 at 11:01 PMTRENTON — School board members voted in a new president and vice president last night following the removal of the previous president and a former president by Mayor Tony Mack.
The board unanimously selected Sasa Olessi Montano as president and Mary Taylor-Hayes as vice-president.
Olessi Montano, who appeared at the brief meeting via Skype from Spain, was the board’s vice-president last year.
“I’m going to do my best to lead the district in the best interest of our students,” Olessi Montano said.
Taylor-Hayes said she is hoping that this new year can be a positive one for the board and the district’s students.
The board also welcomed Patrice Daley and Roslyn Reaves-Council, who were sworn-in last month in advance of Rev. Toby Sanders’ and Nicola Tatum’s terms expiring this week.
Mack gave no reason for declining to appoint Sanders to a second three-year term.
Former board President Tatum said the two terms she had served were enough.
Daley, who is a mother of two students in the district, said she hopes to bring her parental experience to the board.
“I think that education is first and foremost,” she said. “I am pleased to be working to move this in the right direction.”
Reaves-Council and Daley have backgrounds in healthcare, Olessi Montano said.
The relationship between Mack and Sanders was strained, and the two men had not spoken in a year and a half, Sanders said in April. The pastor was notified of his removal in a one-sentence letter mailed to his home, which said his services were no longer required on the board.
Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717