In front a crowd of about 40 residents at the Jan. 15 Board of Education meeting, board member John Pope resigned from his position after more than six years of service.
Pope attributed his resignation to his desire to spend more time with his family. Immediately after Pope’s announcement, board President David Anthony praised Pope’s services through the years, and other members of the board echoed Anthony’s sentiments.
“John is my friend, and it is sad he’s leaving,” Anthony said. “It’s not common, but it’s not unusual for a member to suddenly resign.”
Pope’s term expires in April. His and two other seats will be up for re-election.
Pope was the chairman of the board’s budget committee and the leader of the Hoboken school district technology initiative, Anthony said. Pope will remain active with the board, he said, serving as a citizen member in the technology committee.
Some at the meeting said they had heard Pope might seek a job in the school system. If he were to seek employment opportunities with the Hoboken school district, by law he would have to wait six months after his tenure on the Board of Education, according to Anthony.
To immediately replace Pope’s seat on the board, Anthony, with the endorsement of Mayor David Roberts, nominated John R. Raslowsky II, principal of St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City.
With 10 years experience as principal of St. Peter’s, Raslowsky is a lifelong Hoboken resident with a master’s degree in education from Harvard University. The board unanimously approved the 40-year-old Raslowsky, who he said he is happy about completing the remainder of Pope’s term, and will run for the seat in the upcoming elections in April.
“Last week I met with Mayor Roberts and he asked me to fill in,” Raslowsky said at the meeting. “It’s too early to say what my plans are, but I look to be an active member of the board.”
According to Anthony, Raslowsky will be greatly beneficial with administrative issues brought before the board.
“This will be the first time we have an active principal with us,” Anthony said. “He brings a lot of experience with him.”
Roberts, in a letter issued to the board and read by Anthony during the meeting, said, “Raslowsky has an extensive and impressive background in the secondary and post-secondary academic settings. As principal of St. Peter’s he has done a tremendous job in educating a new generation of promising young citizens.”
Raslowsky said he has a personal connection to the board. His father served on it during the 1970s, and Raslowsky remembers going to the meetings late at night and watching his father at work.
“It’s funny how I’m now sitting where my father once sat,” he said.