Last week the Marlboro School Board held a lengthy discussion on a motion to name the elementary gym for the third through fifth grades in honor of Benjamin Trapani, who taught physical education in the district for 35 years.

Superintendent Michael Rydell said the request followed the district’s policy and facilities committees who made the recommendation to the school board.

Board member JoAnn Reed said everyone on the policy committee was in favor of naming the gym in Trapani’s honor. She said he taught at the elementary school and was encouraging to all of the students, “always with a smile on his face and being kind to everyone.”

Reed recalled that when the special education students were brought back to the district, “Ben was one of the first who said yes and he learned how to adapt a PE class for them with regular children, so I guess it was our first inclusion class and it was wonderful.” She added that Trapani coached basketball, served on the town’s planning board, supported the school’s backpack program, “and is very devoted to our community and still is.” She said this matter was first considered about 9 years ago but was put on hold and she was hoping that, “everyone on this board would say yes,” to honor Trapani in this way.

School board President Michael Connors said that naming a building or structure for a teacher or employee, “is an awesome honor. It’s immortalizing that individual with a piece of [school] property, however, in this case I don’t want to speak to the individual, I want to speak to the process, when you’re going to dedicate an asset, particularly a multi-million dollar asset to an individual. I think the case for that presentation must be absolutely compelling. I don’t believe the committee has brought forth the necessary resources to make that argument.” Connors stressed that he did not want to offend the individual involved, “but my feeling is that the homework hasn’t been done here...we’re dedicating it to an individual that the presentation and the circumstances must be so overwhelming as to deserve that honor and I don’t know that that threshold has been met here.”

Reed disagreed, reiterating her support for Trapani.
“I think he is deserving of this,”she said.

Board member John Cantone said he was expecting some kind of presentation on this matter, “a summary on how you got there [and] how you determine what is compelling or not is probably subject to opinion maybe, but I’m curious to hear just how and what you came up with.” He said he does not know Ben Trapani but understands that recently the board approved a policy on these kinds of proposed dedications.
Superintendent Rydell said the policy was followed, ‘to a T’ and the facilities committee reviewed a letter requesting the naming of the gym in Trapani’s honor.

“It was approved for this to move forward to the board of education for approval,” he said.

Rydell said one particular line in the policy resonated with him: “Such recognition should identify a person of persons who have attained substantial national or local prominence or who have provided significant benefit to the district either in the course of his or her employment or volunteer efforts on behalf of the district.” He pointed out that these words were very carefully chosen by the policy committee last year.
Rydell said this decision, “is one of the most sensitive of topics because we are talking about an incredibly valued, actual individual and employee, so I don’t want any of this to be lost in interpretation and I think that easily could be happening.”

Board member James Mullen said the motion should move forward, “because we created a policy, the policy was followed and we can now make a vote based on the policy; if the vote goes yes it goes yes and if it does not, it goes no.” He said the motion to name the gym makes sense, “because the policy was created and the policy was followed. I will move that we take the recommendation of the naming committee and name the gym after Ben Trapani as was brought forward by JoAnn Reed through facilities and through the renaming committees that’s being recommended to the board of education tonight; that’s my motion.”

Cantone said the ‘missing piece’ for him is a lack of a written formal recommendation with, “any real substance behind it.” He said knowing how the committee reached their conclusions would help since he does not know Ben Trapani. He suggested tabling the motion until the next school board meeting, “with the request that the committee representation of your choice comes to us with a more specific and larger explanation as to why you came to the conclusion that you want to make this recommendation. I am not suggesting that we change the policy.”

The motion to table failed by a vote of 4 to 2, with no votes cast by Faith Nannini, James Mullen, JoAnn Reed and Patricia Benninger and the yes votes by John Cantone and Michael Connors. Board member Frank Milazzo was absent.

The vote to name the gym in honor of Benjamin Trapani followed, with yes votes cast by Faith Nannini, James Mullen, John Cantone, JoAnn Reed and Patricia Benninger, with Michael Connors abstaining.