BOE Celebrates, Thanks Solomon

The Board of Education officially said thank you to one of their own Tuesday night, recognizing former BOE member Richard Solomon for his nine years of service.

Solomon, elected to his first of three terms in 2001, was defeated for reelection by Mitch Slater in the April election. Tuesday's meeting marked a celebration of his tenure by the board.

"Tonight is the night that we will say thanks and celebrate the years that Richard Solomon served on the Board of Education," BOE President Julia Walker said. "This is bitter sweat for me and all of us. He has served with distinction for nine years."

Walker focused the recognition ceremony on Solomon's contributions to the board in several areas, including energy conservation, the budget, management, facilities and policies. She noted he is one of the longest serving policy committee chairs in Westfield BOE history, being able to review the entire policy manual during his tenure.

Walker cited Solomon's intellectual contributions to the board during his nine years of service, noting he focused discussions on the key points of the areas being debated. She cited him as the driving force behind the district's energy program, which recently received the most awards from the federal government of any school district in New Jersey.

A visibly moved Walker touched on Solomon's work on the budget, noting he kept education quality in mind during the discussions, along with the impact on property values. She said that he focused on all of the details during his tenure.

She noted that he was a champion of eighth grade athletics during his time on the board.

"Part of that is Mr. Solomon's unwavering belief that every child should be able to participate," Walker said.

While Solomon's wife, Amy Seid, and sons, Josh and David, looked on, Walker brought Solomon's day job into the board room. Solomon works for CBS, performing among other roles, heading the Ed Sullivan Theater, the home of the Late Show with David Letterman. She compiled a top 10 list for Solomon's tenure.

A visibly moved Solomon thanked his colleagues for everything over the past nine years. He noted that he has served with 17 other board members during his service, along with two schools superintendents. During his tenure he served on committees which appointed Schools Superintendent Margaret Dolan and Westfield High School Principal Peter Renwick.

Noting he will not miss the meetings lasting till midnight, he said there are many things he will miss from his service on the Board of Education.

"I will miss most the camaraderie and intellectual challenge," Solomon said. "We never missed sight of our ultimate goal, the education of our children."

Solomon noted that his tenure on the board coincided with changes in his own family which overlapped with the school system, giving him an insight into various aspects of the system during his tenure.

"These nine years have in fact gone by fast," he said. "When I joined the board, our son, David was in kindergarten and now he's a freshman in high school. Our son, Josh, who will graduate in a few weeks, was in third grade. During my tenure on the board, I've had a child in every grade."

Noting that she first met Solomon when she was Franklin School principal and Solomon's son, Josh, entered the school, Dolan thanked Solomon for his work and made a prediction.

"I have this feeling that while you are no longer sitting here, you are still a friend of public education," she said.

Editor's Note: Richard Solomon's son, Josh, is a contributor for Westfield Patch. He was not part of the writing of this article and did not contribute to coverage of the Board of Education during his father's tenure on the board.