Three seats open for April 15 election
By:Sally Goldenberg
Four candidates will vie for three open seats on the township Board of Education on April 15.
Incumbents Chris Pulsifer and Lou Possemato and residents Sean Chen and Jeff Weinstein are each seeking one of the three, three-year seats.
Board member Loren Lemelle will not run for re-election at the end of her second term this year.
Having announced their candidacies Monday, the hopefuls have since said funding programs during tough economic times will be a priority.
Mr. Pulsifer, a Ditmars Circle resident with two children in the district, is running for a second term after filling in for the last year of Walt Fuller’s vacated position.
Keeping programs afloat in the face of two consecutive years of flat state aid is a challenge Mr. Pulsifer said he hopes to tackle by involving community groups in school projects.
"If the money’s not coming in at the level it isn’t from the state, it makes it a lot harder to deliver the same kind of programs we have in the past," said the computer consultant who presently chairs the board’s policy committee.
Over the past year, Mr. Pulsifer said the committee designed standards of conduct for students, faculty and board members "to kind of set a tone as to how people should treat each other." The board attorney is currently reviewing the policy and unprecedented disciplinary procedures.
Mr. Pulsifer, who also coaches Little League in the township, said he wants to improve negotiations with the district teachers union in 2005 the next year the board and union must settle a teachers contract.
"I was on the negotiations committee so I’d like to hope as we move forward we could make the negotiations go smoother than they did this last time," he said.
Mr. Possemato, a Starview Drive resident who currently serves as board president, also noted the yearlong negotiations. He said the board has endured a difficult year of a defeated budget, stalled negotiations and disputes over transportation.
Using the skills he honed in facing these problems, he wants to be on the board for a second term to maintain educational progress in the district and enhance the relationship between the board and the Township Committee, he said.
"Hillsborough has one of the best educational systems in the area. You want to maintain that," he said.
Mr. Possemato, who does not have children in the school district anymore, has served as president of the New Jersey Elks and is a current member of the Manville/Hillsborough Elks.
Stoll Drive resident Jeff Weinstein said he wants to see better long-range planning for the district.
"The board has to start to take a look at long-term strategic planning," said Mr. Weinstein, who ran unsuccessfully for the board last year.
Maintaining sufficient extracurricular activities during tight economic times is another priority, added Mr. Weinstein, who has one child in the district and moved to Hillsborough four years ago.
"I’m really concerned with the programs. What I don’t want to see is that we eliminate some of the extracurricular activities," he said. "My daughter fully participates in the various after-school clubs."
Mr. Weinstein said his position as executive director of Hunterdon Health Care Partners has given him skills in communication and negotiations, which will be useful if elected to the board, he said.
"I think the most difficult thing that the board had to deal with this year is the negotiations of teachers," he said. "I’m very good at negotiating."
In addition, serving on the Hillsborough Education Foundation which raises funds for the schools and as treasurer for Hunterdon Youth Services, a home in Flemington for displaced youths, has given Mr. Weinstein a solid background in community involvement, he said.
Attempts to reach Mr. Chen, a Campbell Road resident, were unsuccessful.
Nostrand Road resident Xinghai Jiang, who initially filed for the election, rescinded his candidacy days later, stating he could not make the proper time commitment to the board.

