SAYREVILLE – Danielle Pieloch has joined the Sayreville School District Board of Education to serve the remainder of 2020.
Board members appointed Pieloch on April 7 after interviewing Zoe Katsilis, Michael Macagnone, Nikasha Neat, Bryan Pena, Hitesh Shah, Julie Veloz and Jessica Wojtaszek for the position. Each candidate was given five minutes to discuss why they were qualified to serve on the Board of Education, which was broadcast during a livestream of the meeting.
Pieloch works at RWJBarnabas as a corporate director, overseeing patient access for the health system, and teaches at Rutgers University in the health administration program. She graduated from Sayreville War Memorial High School in 1998 and studied public health at Rutgers before earning a master’s degree specializing in health systems. Two of her three children currently attend the district, one at the Sayreville Middle School and one at the Samsel Upper Elementary School, according to information she stated during the meeting.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to serve my town in the capacity of a board member,” Pieloch said. “This town has provided many opportunities for myself and my family and I’d be honored to pay back with my service. I truly feel that the success that I have had in my career and my personal life really stems from the experience that I had in Sayreville, not just in the classroom, but also all of the extracurricular activities throughout the course of my career as a student in town.
“I do feel that many of my skills that I use on a daily basis through the course of my job make me a great candidate for our Board of Education,” she continued. “First, I’m a collaborative leader who works well in a team setting. I understand that each of us on the board would bring a unique perspective and as a team member, it would be my job to hear other points of view and to work to build consensus. Our overall output as it relates to policy should be a reflection of the input of every member and I will work with the community, school, staff and other stakeholders, and rather than imposing rules from above, I would work to demonstrate that we value the input of all. That being said, I recognize that this role will require making hard decisions where not all stakeholders would necessarily get their way.
“I have the ability to do administrative tasks such as understanding and developing complex budgets. Through the course of my job, I manage scarce resources. I would work to systematically ensure that we are monitoring the progress on different performance indicators that would show our investments of funds were having the intended results. And lastly, I have the ability to use data to drive decisions. Even in circumstances where I’m not necessarily an expert on a particular topic, I’m very proficient in gathering the right information, as well as the data that will help to drive the decision, and I can pull all that information together and successfully articulate why I make the decisions that I make.
“While delivering health care is not the same as delivering education, I do feel that the skills that I have will translate well into this role. Education, like health care, is a service whose success is described by facts and figures, as well as the qualitative aspects of the experience. I look forward to giving my time, experience and expertise to serve the borough by advocating and representing for our community,” Pieloch said during her interview.
After all eight candidates were interviewed, the board went into executive (closed) session to discuss which candidate would be appointed to the open seat. When the board members returned before the public, Pieloch was nominated for the position and her nomination was approved by all members present.
Pieloch’s term will run through the end of the year, Dec. 31, and appear on the Nov. 3 ballot as a one-year, unexpired term.
Following the board’s vote, board President Anthony Esposito welcomed Pieloch to her new position and thanked her and the other candidates for applying.
“Danielle, thank you so much for putting your name forth and I want to thank all the other nominees,” Esposito said. “It’s not an easy thing to do, but welcome aboard. You’ll meet people who will do their best to make sure you feel welcome and we’ll educate you as quickly as possible on the goings-on in the district. [Superintendent of Schools Richard] Labbe and his team are amazing. Welcome to our family.”
