Three incumbents to seek another term and no challengers step forward.
By: Jeff Milgram
For the second year in a row, there are no contested seats on the Princeton Regional Board of Education.
Only the three incumbents whose terms are expiring returned nominating petitions Monday.
School board President Charlotte Bialek, a Princeton Township resident, is seeking her third term on the board. Township resident JoAnne Cunningham and borough resident Alan Hegedus are both seeking re-election for a second term.
The election will be held April 20.
Ms. Bialek said she wants to see the district through its $81.3 million renovation and expansion project, especially the construction at Princeton High School.
"I’d like to spend more time on the programs curriculum and instruction," Ms. Bialek said. "That is a big one for me personally."
Ms. Bialek said she is proud of what the board has accomplished, "compared to six years ago."
Mr. Hegedus decided to run three years ago because he felt his experience in industry would help the district get through the construction. "We’re struggling, but successfully so," he said Monday.
He is chairman of the board’s Finance Committee and he wants to play a role in getting money for the district and using it wisely, he said.
He also believes his experience will be helpful during labor negotiations with the district’s three unions.
"This would not be the time to bail out," he said.
Ms. Cunningham, an associate professor in the Department of African, African American and Caribbean Studies at William Patterson University, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Last year, there was no opposition when incumbent Joshua Leinsdorf and newcomer Glen Schiltz were elected to seats from the borough and Ms. Cunningham won a one-year seat. She had been appointed to the board in 2002 to fill the unexpired term of Howard Wainer, who moved.