EDITORIAL: Sincere and caring volunteers urged to run for School Board this April.
It’s time again for residents to consider seeking a seat on their local Board of Education.
Even though the election is nearly three months away on April 20 this year the time for filing the necessary nominating petitions is much closer at hand. Petitions are due in board offices in Cranbury, Jamesburg and Monroe by 4 p.m. March 1. Shortly thereafter, a drawing will be held for ballot positions.
Three seats in each township are up for grabs this year. Holding those seats in Cranbury are Walton Caldwell, Adam Hawes and William Persons; in Jamesburg, Thomas Bodall, Patrice Faraone and Michael Tehan; in Monroe, Carol Haring, Lew Kaufman and Amy Speizer.
Those who win the seats in April will serve three-year terms.
Many key issues face the school board every year and this one is no exception. Items of interest include finishing a land swap with Middlesex County to use a portion of Thompson Park in Monroe for a new high school; and how to come up with a school budget that takes into account the real needs of school children while keeping tax rate increases to a minimum, no small feat nowadays, with state school aid down to a trickle.
Not all residents see eye-to-eye on how these issues should be addressed, so we expect at least a few interested citizens might want to throw their hats in the ring this year.
By law, those who want to file nominating petitions must obtain the signatures of at least 10 qualified voters living in the municipality they want to serve. One of the names can be the would-be candidate’s own. These petitions are available at the Cranbury Board of Education office at 23 North main Street; the Jamesburg district offices at the Grace M. Breckwedel School on Augusta Avenue; and the Monroe board offices at 423 Buckelew Avenue.
In addition, would-be candidates must: be able to read and write; hold citizenship and one year’s residency in the municipality they seek to represent; have no interest in any contract with, or claim against, the board; not hold office as mayor or member of the municipal governing body; and be registered to vote in the municipality in which they reside.
School board service is not an easy job, because it requires the commitment of considerable time. It also demands an individual who wants to help the community as a whole, not advance the goals of special interest groups. It is not a job one should seek to achieve personal glory.
A school board member is a state official who has a responsibility to all children in the state, not just to those who attend school in the area.
And it is a job for sincere volunteers who happen to get elected. There is no pay, just the satisfaction of doing a job that must be done well.
That said, we urge those who sincerely want to serve to come forth as candidates this year.