Hazlet board race has familiar look
Two former board
members, an incumbent and newcomer vying
HAZLET — The Board of Education race is on with four candidates vying for three seats.
The ballot will include only one incumbent together with one newcomer and two former board members.
The incumbent is Tom Sansevero, 51, of 70 Hazlet Ave., a nine-year board veteran. The newcomer vying for a seat is Joseph Belasco, 46, of 45 Croman Court. The two former board members back in the race are Joseph Lamb, 49, of 18 Pineknot Ave., and Richard Barney, 65, of 25 Annapolis Drive.
Joseph Belasco, a Jersey City crisis intervention teacher, said he’s seen a lot and is ready to share his perspective and ideas with the residents of the township in which he’s lived for 11 years. With a master’s degree in special education from New Jersey City University in Jersey City, Belasco said he "fit(s) the puzzle for the position (on the board)."
"I’m a parent, a taxpayer, a teacher and an aspiring administrator," he noted. "I have a good sense of what’s going on because of my background and think I can make a difference."
Belasco also has a supervisor’s certification from New Jersey City University and technology certification from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Jersey City branch. Currently he is attending the principals’ and supervisors’ academy in Jersey City, which is an in-service program run by the city.
Prior to his 14 years as a crisis intervention teacher in Jersey City, Belasco spent 10 years as a special education teacher in Bayonne’s high school and elementary schools, and did a one-year stint as a special education teacher in Little Falls in-between the two positions.
Budget woes are high on Belasco’s priority list. Feeling that the will is there to get grant money but the ways have been limited because of a flawed state formula, he said he believes "we have to find ways to initiate programs while attaining grant money. There has to be a way to access the money we need and deserve through funding, and once we get it, putting it to the best use is my goal. Getting the best programs in place for our young ones is critical. Educating our professionals on how to get grants is key."
Richard Barney shares that sentiment, although he is not new to the race or a seat on the board. A 25-year Hazlet resident and retired Port Authority police officer, Barney spent six years on the board, from 1993 to 1996. After running again last year and losing, he said he’s ready for a win and has plenty of time to devote to the position.
"We’re in a bad position with this unfair state aid formula," he said. "The middle-income districts are getting shorted and we have to figure out what to do to get the money we deserve and stabilize the tax rate. I’d like to be a part of those efforts transpiring.
"We have to petition the state government to make necessary changes in these funding formulas. If we don’t get more state aid and taxes keep going up, we’re going to be in serious trouble."
Barney went on to say that the district has seen much improvement in the past 10 years and that he doesn’t want to see it take a fall because of necessary budget cuts due to lack of aid. He said forfeiting programs that the board has worked hard to get in place would just be tantamount to disaster, and there has to be a way to "keep programs without raising taxes to outrageous [heights]." He said he is up to figuring that way out.
Barney said his being on the board is best for the district because he’s been there before and he has plenty of time to spare toward being there again.
Joseph Lamb would also like to be there again. Lamb did a stint on the board from 1998 to 2000 and lost a bid for a seat last year, but he’s not ready to call it quits.
A longtime resident and assistant supervisor of the township’s Public Works Department, Lamb said he has no agenda other than to "do what’s best for Hazlet." Agreeing with his competition, that the state aid formula is flawed and something must be done to keep programs while maintaining a stable tax rate, Lamb said he would like to see more done for special education kids.
"I’d like to see them more mainstreamed and involved in more activities," he said. "I’m pleased with the administration and think the teachers here are excellent. In all, this is a good town to live in, and the schools are a big part of the reason," he said. He added that aspiring for more improvements is always key in maintaining standards of excellence.
"More activities for the kids is always a good idea. I’d still like to see field hockey and wrestling in the middle school, and would like to help find a way to bring them and keep them," Lamb said.
As a longtime resident and former board member, Lamb also feels he has a stronger handle on the needs and wants of the district and how to instill them. He said he loves Hazlet and its schools and he intends to be there to "keep Hazlet going strong. Being on the board is one good way to do that."
Thomas Sansevero, a 20-year Hazlet resident and vice principal with the Monmouth County Vocational School District’s Career Center in Freehold, wants to give three more years to the board because he said he’s not quite done yet and he "want(s) to enjoy seeing the progress that’s been made take hold" [in the area of test scores.]
"I think I have another term left in me," he said.
He said that problems with poor test scores have been remedied but there are higher scores to be had, and he’d like to be there to see those score goals attained.
Sansevero said it’s key to set and realize curriculum aspirations at an aggressive, idealistic pace. He said that part of the academic success process transpires as a result of "getting the infrastructure for better curriculum in place (such as more computers, and facilities)," a goal he thinks Hazlet has come a long way in attaining with its new gym and computer labs.
Sansevero has a doctorate in supervision and educational administration from Rutgers University, New Brunswick. In addition to his most recent tenure with the county vocational school district, Sansevero spent many years as a child study team director/grade level supervisor for the Passaic Valley Regional School District in Little Falls.
On the home front, he’s been a coach and referee for the Hazlet Youth Athletic League for many years. All that experience combined, Sansevero said, can only benefit the district.
"I’m in a unique position in that my educational training and experience help me to better understand what’s happening in this district. I also have a vested, personal interest in the position because I have children in the schools, and I live here and love the township and would like to continue to do something for it," he said.