Shea Reflects on 21 Years

In the 21 years Harry Shea served on the Cinnaminson Township Board of Education, he only missed one meeting.

“I was serious about the job,” said Shea.

After more than two decades on the board, 15 of them as president, Shea decided it was finally time to not run again, something he’d been saying for the last three terms.

“I kept saying it would be my last,” Shea said. “I truly thought I would grow tired of it and there would be other anxious people to get on. But, I was still interested.”

Shea first came onto the board in 1990, when his now 30-year-old daughter was in first grade. He grew up in Cinnaminson but had moved to Palmyra for 10 years. He and his wife wanted their daughter in the Cinnaminson school district, so they bought a house here.

Back then, Shea had heard rumors the Cinnaminson, Riverton and Palmyra school districts were merging.

“I started going to board meetings to find out more about it. It never did come for board discussion,” he said. “It was a rumor that was unfounded.”

But, he said, he got excited attending those meetings. So, he ran himself and won.

“I always felt it was the most important committee you can serve on at the local level,” Shea said.

Shea served as vice president for a few years, and then took over as board president in 1995. With only one year off as president since then, his last board meeting was in April.

But, some of the biggest challenges Shea faced were early on in his school board career, he said. Five budgets in a row in the 1990s were defeated and drastic slashes seemed inevitable.

“I think we were able to do it,” Shea said. “We were able to maintain most of the programs. I was proud of being able to do that—not really impacting education negativity in the fact of a lot of cuts.”

Shea also calls the hiring of Superintendent Sal Illuzzi in 2000 as one of his greatest accomplishments.

“It was realizing he was going to really come in and transform this district,” he said. “The board was unanimous and realized we had a great find with him.”

Shea said he’s also been extremely happy with the administrative positions he’s helped to hire.

“They, in turn, have hired a very good staff,” Shea said.

He attributes it to the extensive interview process for teaching positions.

“When you go through that process, you get good people,” he said.

Recently, the personal tragedies in the school district have been challenging, he said. Just this school year alone, the district was forced to deal with the untimely deaths of two teachers and a student.

“To respond to it properly took a lot of effort and planning to get the right people to be able to help the staff and students get through tragic circumstances,” he said. “That challenge was uncharted territory throughout the board. It takes a lot out of you.”

Two of the came in the middle of budget time, and Shea said the budget took a backseat. The budget was by voters on April 27 by 22 votes, but Shea said he wouldn’t trade it.

“If the budget was a victim of that, so be it,” he said.

Now, Shea can focus on his business and his family, and said he hopes to be involved somehow; but he’s not going to become the 10th member of the board.

“I will be around and maybe I can do some volunteering in another capacity,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful part of my life to serve on the board. I enjoyed my time there, the people I dealt with and I hope I can be viewed as somebody who worked hard to make a difference.”

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Check back with Patch at 10 a.m. for a story on Tuesday's school board reorganization and find out who was named president and vice president of the board.