SAYREVILLE – Two longtime nurses in the Sayreville School District are retiring from their positions.
At a recent meeting, the Board of Education honored the retirements of Edith Braun, a school nurse at Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary School, and Betty Ann Verner, a school nurse at Sayreville Middle School.
“We have two beloved nurses who asked you [the board] to accept their retirements,” Superintendent of Schools Richard Labbe said during the meeting.
Braun will retire effective July 1. Verner’s retirement was a disability retirement and became effective on April 1.
According to Labbe, Braun worked in the district as a substitute nurse for six years before she was hired as a nurse at the Eisenhower Elementary School in 1994. Also known as Edie, her tenure in the district has spanned three decades.
“Edie has served under a total of five different principals during her tenure at the Eisenhower Elementary School,” Labbe said. “Mrs. Braun has compassionately and professionally taken care of hundreds of students over the past 14 years and has earned the utmost respect from the parents each year who sent their children to school knowing they were in excellent hands should illness or injury occur during school hours.
“When not tending the students and staff during her busy day, Edie also managed to find time to coordinate and raise funds for the American Heart Association and local and county food banks. In fact, she organized and ran Jump Rope for Heart with the students and collected for Go Red for Women as well,” he continued. “During the holidays, it was Edie who organized and collected gifts and gift cards for families less fortunate than others. It is no wonder that Edie was the first nurse in the district to receive the Teacher of the Year award.
“Edie Braun has spent the last 24 years caring for and establishing a safe haven for students and staff at the Eisenhower Elementary School who are under the weather, needed medication for every situation that falls under the health category and for those just in need of some tender love and care. Mrs. Braun’s departure leaves a huge space in the Eisenhower family, but it gives us joy knowing that she can now enjoy her retirement years with her friends and her family.
“We will forever be grateful for her dedication and compassion and on behalf of the administration and the Board of Education, we can’t thank Mrs. Braun enough for the incredible service she’s provided both our students and staff and we wish her nothing but the very best in her retirement,” Labbe said.
Verner, according to Labbe, has worked in the district as a registered nurse at Sayreville Middle School for 17 years.
“Mrs. Verner’s looking forward to spending more time with her family, especially her husband and two daughters,” the superintendent said. “She has been a very dedicated and committed nurse for many years and has taken very good care of our students and our staff at the Sayreville Middle School. “On behalf of the administration and the Board of Education, we wish her nothing but the very best in her retirement and we thank her very much for her service to our district and our students.”
Board President Kevin Ciak also voiced praise for Braun and Verner.
“On behalf of the board, I’d also like to congratulate Mrs. Braun and Mrs. Verner on their retirement,” Ciak said. “Being a school nurse certainly is not an easy job. Not only are you coughed on every single day and sneezed at every single day, but you also hold a lot of liability and a lot of concern for the students’ welfare in your hands. So I want to congratulate and thank both of those individuals for caring for our sick students.”
