Rumson BOE Appoints Beyer to Board

“She’s been interested in being on the board for about a year and a half,” Rumson Board President Colleen O’Connor said of newly appointed board member Maura Beyer after she was sworn in at last night’s meeting.

Beyer, of 24 Highland Ave., has lived in Rumson for 12 years, has four children in school in the district and has been described as a "highly visible" PTO member and parent.

“Because she has a lot of children of different ages in the school district, she has been involved in pretty much every aspect of what goes on, on a day-to-day basis, at the schools,” which played a major part in her selection, O’Connor said.

Beyer, who said that she’s been very involved in the district since her oldest child was in kindergarten said that, especially since she has four children in the Rumson schools — ages 13, 11, 9 and 8 — she is “looking forward to it. I love the schools and believe in what the schools are offering my kids. I want to continue in helping to give my kids the opportunities that I know these schools can give them.”

The board president went on to explain that Beyer’s predecessor, Colleen Hodge, whom she said had to “regrettably” resign because of an out-of-state relocation, had a similar background and availability.

“She (Hodge) was instrumental in all the daily activities in the schools and was available during the day for meetings,” O’Connor said. “These are not number one qualifications, but Maura has been very visible, her background is similar and that’s what we were looking for (for) right now.”

And Beyer would like to extend “for right now” into the future in a more permanent capacity.  She said that she is running to fill Hodge’s unexpired term through 2014, after her few temporarily appointed months on the dais are over.

She will serve in that capacity until whoever wins the election in November is sworn in to Hodge’s seat in early January at the board’s reorganization. If the winner is Beyer, then she will sit on the board for those remaining two years of Hodge’s unexpired term.

Russell Binns, another candidate for the temporary board spot, had said during the interview process that he had filed his petition to run to fill Hodge’s full unexpired term in November as well.

In the meantime, Beyer sat on the dais at her first meeting Thursday night.

“I’m very excited about what I can accomplish,” she said.