Mahwah board swears in three members; Dr. Morphy reelected president amid routine approvals

Mahwah Township Public School District trustees on Jan. 7 completed their reorganizational meeting, swearing in three newly elected members and electing officers for the 2026 year.

Stephen Houston, Christopher Hughes and Dr. Morphy were sworn into office during the reorganizational portion of the meeting. Following nominations and a roll-call vote, Dr. Morphy was elected board president. Richard De Silva was selected as first vice president and Ben Kismarski as second vice president.

The board approved routine appointments numbered 1–21 (item 10 was taken up separately) and adopted a 10-point board member code of ethics presented pursuant to NJSA 18A:12-24.1. The roll-call votes for officer elections and the ethics adoption were recorded on the public record with each member answering on individual roll-call prompts.

Steve Houston, who had just taken the oath, thanked colleagues and said he was "humbled and grateful" for the support and looks forward to serving another term. The board later approved consent agenda items 1–26 (excluding item 10 where it had been handled separately), and approved personnel items 24a–l during new business.

One abstention was recorded during new-business consent votes: Mr. Gallo abstained on item 23a citing check number 122365. The board recessed the reorganizational meeting and later opened the January 7 public action meeting, which proceeded with reports and the facilities/referendum presentation.