Danielsen Lauded At Last School Board Meeting

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Veteran Board of Education member Christine Danielsen was lauded by her colleagues at the December 19 meeting, her last as a board member.

Danielsen served two, three-year terms on the board, joining the panel in 2014 when it was essentially divided into two camps, which resulted in occasionally raucous meetings.

That hasn’t been the case in the last several years, a fact noted by some board members on Dec. 19.

Ed Potosnak, who returned to the board this year after a one-year hiatus, was board president for most of Danielsen’s tenure.

Potosnak credited Danielsen as being a “large part” of the reason board meetings are more “cordial” now than they have been in the past.

“You have always been someone I looked up to,” Potosnak told her.

“We’re going to miss all that experience you brought,” he said.

Board vice president Ardaman Singh told Danielsen that she fulfilled her duties with “grace and dedication.”

“I know you always carefully deliberated on your decisions,” she said.

“Board service is a tough volunteer role,” Singh said.

Board member Laurie Merris said that Danielsen was “one of the first people to welcome me” when Merris was elected to the board.

“I always continued to learn from you,” she said.

Board member Michael J. Smith said he liked Danielsen’s “pragmatic approach. I always enjoyed working with you.”

Board president Nancy LaCorte began her second round of board service when Danielsen was elected in 2013.

“I really don’t have any words,” LaCorte said. “You’ve become more than a colleague … such a wonderful friend and someone I look up to.”

Pointing out that Danielsen has been a board member, wife of a state Assemblyman and mother, LaCorte said, “You wear all of your hats so well, so beautifully and so gracefully.”

Danielsen said that he’s made some “fantastic friendships that I won’t let go.”

“I’m extremely proud of what the board has accomplished in the six years since I was elected,” she said. “I know that I’m leaving the board in a better place” than it was when she joined, she said.

“We have the most amazing kids, who are capable of great accomplishments, so the board’s hard work continues,” she said.

Danielsen also joked that she might be a “boomerang” member and return to teh board at a future date.

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