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Board honors special‑services staff and student Trailblazer awardees; PASS chair Gina Velasquez retires
Summary
At its June 17 meeting the West Orange Board recognized retiring PASS chair Gina Velasquez, presented Mountaineer Trailblazer awards to Nicholas Vasquez and Gabriel Evans, and thanked staff across the district for special‑services work.
The West Orange Board of Education used part of its June 17 public meeting to honor long‑serving special‑services staff and present student awards.
President Rock and Superintendent Mr Moore called staff and CPAC leadership to the podium to recognize Gina Velasquez, the retiring PASS chair. Velasquez recounted more than two decades of service and said the PASS scholarship program had provided over 900 scholarships across 23 years before the district decided to discontinue the scholarship. In urging family involvement she said, “education is power” and added that parents should “never compromise your child's legal rights.”
Board members and administrators presented awards to staff who supported PASS work across West Orange schools. Later, parents of Dylan Panel described the Mountaineer Trailblazer award (created in 2018) and presented the 2024 Trailblazer awards to Nicholas Vasquez and Gabriel Evans for sustained contributions to school life and the district’s 18–21 transition program.
The board thanked student liaisons Lea Abona and Kai James for their service this year and congratulated the district’s graduates. The recognitions were delivered during the superintendent and president reports and were not subject to separate motions or votes.
The meeting continued with routine consent business and closed after unanimous votes on the agenda.
