Suffern Central School District board elects Marlo Dickman president, approves reorganization slate

The Suffern Central School District Board of Education elected Marlo Dickman as board president and approved a slate of appointments and consent-agenda items during its annual organization meeting on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. The board then adjourned to executive session to review the superintendent’s annual evaluation and set a public resumption time of about 7:30 p.m.

The board appointed Heather Campbell as district clerk. After the voice vote concluded, the chair said, “Congratulations, Miss Campbell, on your appointment.” The board administered oaths of office to returning members Paul Shapiro and Thomas Stonley; Shapiro recited, “I, Paul Shapiro, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of a member of the board of education of the Suffern Central School District to the best of my ability.” Thomas Stonley repeated the oath in substantially the same terms.

Marlo Dickman was nominated and approved as board president by voice vote with no opposition recorded. On counsel’s advice, the board proceeded with the vice president election in absentia and elected Jennifer Hajj; the chair said Hajj’s oath will be administered on a later date when she is available. The district also approved Allison Lort and Tanish Sariah as ex officio student board members for the 2026–27 school year.

By consent, the board approved items 1.09–1.16, which included committee and liaison appointments: the board chair will serve as legislative liaison to the New York State School Boards Association; the chair, Roxanne Bryan and Tom Donnelly will serve on the audit committee; Paul Shapiro was appointed delegate to the Rockland County School Boards Association; and the policy committee and strategic planning committee memberships were established as presented. The board identified a representative to the School Health Advisory Council (SHAC), named members of a security committee and designated IEP reviewers as part of routine governance assignments.

Because this was the organization meeting, members approved a broad consent agenda covering action items numbered 2.01 through 2.46 for the coming year, with no individual items pulled for separate consideration. The chair called for a motion to adjourn the organization meeting and immediately opened the regular meeting; later the board voted to adjourn to executive session to discuss the superintendent’s annual evaluation.

The board did not record any roll-call tallies in the public record during these votes; each action was taken by voice vote with the chair asking for those in favor to signify by saying “I,” and no opposition or abstentions were announced on the record. The public portion of the meeting was scheduled to resume at approximately 7:30 p.m.

What happens next: the board will administer the vice president’s oath at a later date and will reconvene following the executive session; no substantive policy changes or budget votes were taken during the public portion of the July 1 meeting.