By Nick Norlen, Greg Forester, Katie Wagner, Staff Writers
Monday was the deadline for candidates for board of education to file their petitions for the April 15 elections. Here’s a rundown of what voters can expect when they go to the polls:
Princeton
At least two new faces will join the Princeton Regional Board of Education after the coming election, guaranteed by the fact that two incumbents — including the board president — have chosen not to run for re-election.
Three candidates will vie for the two available township seats, and the borough race will be uncontested, the district reported this week.
Because board President Michael Mostoller has chosen not to defend his borough slot, newcomer Timothy Quinn, of 50 Wilton St., will run unopposed.
In the township race, incumbent Walter Bliss of 202 Moore St., will face Dan Haughton of 56 Finley Road and Naomi Perlman of 174 Meadowbrook Drive, who ran unsuccessfully in last year’s election.
Incumbent Jeffrey Spear will not seek re-election.
”Just nine years has been enough,” Mr. Spear said Wednesday of his decision not to run.
He said he feels the district improved during his nine-year tenure on the board.
”Over these last nine years, cooperatively we’ve much improved things and are making a conscientious effort to assist students who are not living up to their potential, regardless of their background,” he said.
Mr. Mostoller said he plans to spend more time at his architecture firm as well as teaching at the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture, where he is a full-time professor.
”Two full-time jobs and being the president of the school board was enough,” he said.
Still, he said his two terms on the board were “a fabulous experience.”
He added, “I think the board will continue to be an absolutely first-class operation,” noting his belief that there is a “good crop of people running.”
— Nick Norlen
Montgomery
MONTGOMERY — Three incumbents are running for uncontested, three-year seats in this year’s school board elections.
Adelle Kirk, president of the Orchard Hill Elementary School PTA, and John Warms, a former township committeeman, are competing for a one-year term — the only contested seat on the ballot.
Board President R. David Pettit, Vice President Charles Jacey Jr. and member Arun Rimal are the incumbent candidates. All three were elected to three-year terms in April 2005.
Mr. Pettit has served as board president for the past two school years. He owns a management consulting company that specializes in organizational change and leadership development, called the Center for Context. Mr. Pettit resides in the Belle Mead section of the township with his wife Lisa and three children.
Mr. Jacey is a retired senior partner and vice chairman of the consulting firm Coopers & Lybrand and a father of five. He serves on the board of trustees for his alma mater, Pace University.
Mr. Rimal is a structural engineer who has been operating an engineering consulting firm out of his home for the past 13 years. Mr. Rimal’s firm, OSD, Arun Rimal P.E., specializes in designing structures for mid- to high-rise buildings. He also teaches structural engineering to architects at Columbia University. This year Mr. Rimal started a nonprofit called Project TEACH (To Educate All Children in the Himalayas), which seeks to provide funding for the education of children in Nepal. Mr. Rimal lives in the Belle Mead section of the township with his wife Sanjana. He is a parent of two recent Montgomery High School graduates.
Ms. Kirk specializes in strategic planning and spent 15 years doing this for major Fortune 500 companies. Most recently she served as vice president of strategic planning for Liz Claiborne and has worked in all the company’s divisions at the executive level. For the last two years she has been working part time as a strategic planning consultant from her home through her company Kirk Strategic Services LLC. Ms. Kirk is a member of the township’s Economic Development Commission and the Skillman Village Redevelopment Committee. She resides on Black Horse Run with husband Thomas and two children.
Mr. Warms served as mayor of the township in 1992. He also served three, three-year terms on the Township Committee. His most recent term ended in 2007. He is a retired mediator and negotiator for the New Jersey Education Association and a retired vice president of Teachscape, a company dedicated specifically to improving professional development for teachers. Prior to his 32-year career with the NJEA, Mr. Warms taught math, history and physical education to middle and high school students in the school district. He has also coached several district middle school and high school athletic teams and served as president of the high school’s booster club.
— Katie Wagner
WW-Plainsboro
Four local residents filed the necessary documents to run for seats on the Board of Education in the upcoming April 15 election, in which two West Windsor seats and a single Plainsboro seat will be up for grabs.
Residents from the two townships will also be able to vote on the new school budget that day.
Incumbents Richard Kaye and Randall Tucker both filed to run for re-election to their West Windsor seats, along with newcomer Mindy Fox-Heifler of Rutland Court.
Current Plainsboro seat-holder, Dr. Patricia Bocarsly, declined to run for re-election, and Alapakkam Manikandan, of Asford Drive, filed with the school district to run in April.
Both Mr. Kaye and Mr. Tucker were elected to the school board in 2005.
Mr. Kaye — a retiree living in the Village Grande — has experience as both a teacher and a principal, serving as principal of South Brunswick High School for 20 years.
Mr. Tucker works as the director of engineering at Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, a division of Johnson & Johnson.
Dr. Bocarsly, of Plainsboro, has served on the school board for six years. She cited increased work responsibilities as the reason she chose not to run again.
”I really enjoy being on the Board of Education, and I felt there was a lot to keep working on,” said Dr. Bocarsly. “So it was a really tough decision.”
Dr. Bocarsly works as a professor in the Department of Pathology University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, performing HIV research and teaching medical students. A new directorship role at the school required significant travel, she said.
Monday is the last day for a candidate to withdraw from the election, and a drawing for ballot positions will be held by the district on Wednesday.
— Greg Forester
