Robertson Quits Dennis BOE, Expected to Return

DENNISVILLE — Dennis Township Board of Education President John Robertson resigned from his post, but may ultimately return to the board at a special meeting scheduled for July 9 at the district’s primary school on Hagan Road at 6 p.m.
In a short letter dated June 12 to Board Secretary Frank Rizzo, Robertson wrote:
“Please accept this letter as notification that I am resigning my position as a member of the Dennis Township School Board. I have notified Mr. Blane Steinman, vice president of the above also.”
The board accepted his resignation at its June 26 meeting.
Robertson did not comment to the Herald regarding his reasons for leaving the board or on speculation that he may return.
According to Superintendent George Papp, it is anticipated that Robertson will be reinstated to the board at the July 9 meeting.
Robertson had been board president since April 2004 and last won reelection to the board in April 2006. His current three-year term is up in 2009.
Robertson’s resignation, although apparently short-lived, was the second from the Dennis school board this year. Mark Rinkus also resigned Feb. 27 from the board citing a residency issue as a reason for his departure.
Local attorney Mary D’Arcy Bittner was appointed to replace Rinkus on May 29.
Under Robertson’s leadership, the school board has been successful in recent years. Voters in the district have passed the school budget in each of the last two elections after having defeated it the previous five years.
The board and district were also recently given the highest marks possible in the state monitoring and evaluation system for public schools, the Quality Single Accountability Continuum (QSAC) program.
Commissioner of Education Lucille Davy wrote to Papp on April 24 notifying him that the district was designated a “High Performing School District.”
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com