Vacant seat filled on NBC school board

North Hanover resident and member of elementary school board fills vacant seat

By: William Wichert
   When asked why he would want to serve on one school board while he’s already serving on another, Michael Crawford had a simple answer: "Why not?"
   A member of the elementary school board in North Hanover, Mr. Crawford was appointed last week to fill a vacant seat on the Northern Burlington County Regional Board of Education.
   With two children currently enrolled in the regional school district, Mr. Crawford said the dual responsibilities of the two school boards will not be too much for him to handle.
   "I am a parent of a special education (student)," said Mr. Crawford, a resident of Myron Boulevard in North Hanover. "I’m accustomed to extra work."
   The regional board seat became available following the resignation of Spencer LaDue, who left his position in August as one of the four members representing North Hanover. The board then interviewed four applicants, including Mr. Crawford, for the opening.
   "I was really pleased with the whole process," said Northern Burlington Superintendent James Sarruda. "They all sat down and said how proud they were of the school system and how they wanted to be a part of it."
   Dr. Sarruda said there is no provision that prevents Mr. Crawford from serving on the two boards. Mr. Crawford will serve on the regional board until April, when someone who will fill the remaining year of Mr. LaDue’s term will be chosen by voters.
   Mr. Crawford said running in the April 2006 election is a sure thing, and would mark the third consecutive year that he has tried for a school board seat.
   Mr. Crawford was elected to a one-year unexpired term on the North Hanover board in 2004, and then re-elected to a full term earlier this year. After retiring from U.S. Air Force last year after 23 years of service, he is now a civilian employee in curriculum development at the Air Mobility Warfare Center on McGuire Air Force Base.
   While there is plenty of work facing the elementary school board, Mr. Crawford said he expects the regional school board’s issues to be more complicated, given the college-oriented nature of the student body, the demands made by each of the four sending municipalities, and the poor track record of a school budget that repeatedly fails at the polls.
   Still, Mr. Crawford is interested in helping the regional board develop sound policies to tackle this agenda. "As long as people will let me do it," he said, "I’ll continue to do it."