By Ruth Luse, The Beacon
Lambertville, West Amwell Township and Stockton citizens who want to be school board candidates for the April 21 annual school election have until 4 p.m. March 2 to file nominating petitions.
That’s less than a month away and all four school districts are involved:
Fourteen open seats exist, as follows:
• Lambertville Public School — three three-year terms (now held by Derek Roseman, Karen Conlon and Grant Miller) and one one-year unexpired term (held by Craig Voorhees).
• West Amwell Township Elementary School — three three-year terms (held by Cynthia Magill, Peter Gasparro and Christopher Castellano) and one one-year unexpired term (held previously by Patty Barrett).
• Stockton Public School, two three-year terms (held by James Gallagher and David Shearer).
• Four seats on the South Hunterdon Regional High School Board of Education. Two three-year terms are open for Lambertville representatives (now Robert Campbell and Laurie Weinstein). One three-year term each is open for West Amwell Township and Stockton Borough. The West Amwell seat is held by Boyd Hartpence. The Stockton seat is held by Tom Hendricks.
This is not an easy time to serve on any school board. Funding is scarce and taxpayers are worried about their own pocketbooks, their livelihoods and their homes. Although the 2009-2010 budgets that will go before voters on April 21 will have been struck by then, those who are elected will face the same challenges that have plagued the current boards. All members will have to wrestle with economic realities we don’t think will improve much for some time to come.
Those who join these four boards in April also may face the issue of regionalization (or consolidation) — a topic that was discussed in The Beacon at great length during the early part of this decade. A July 2001 Beacon editorial said: “Regionalization would mean one board of education, one budget and one superintendent. It does not have to mean giving up the individual school buildings.” Has the time come for citizens to consider this idea again?
Come late April, both new and old members will be facing many rough issues, depending on the most pressing needs of their individual district. Among their tasks surely will be to find ways to provide a quality education in a difficult economic environment. Because many members of these communities watch their school boards and school districts like hawks, the best efforts of all will be required.
The following should give would-be candidates an idea of what they must do before March 2 and what their duties would be if elected April 21:
Citizens who would like to run must:
• Obtain a nominating petition from his/her local school board office.
• Get the signatures of at least 10 qualified voters living within the community he/she wants to serve. One of the signatures may be the would-be candidate’s own.
• Be able to read and write.
• Hold citizenship and one year of residency in the school district.
• Have no interest in any contract with, or claim against, the board.
• Not hold office as mayor or member of the municipal governing body.
• Be registered to vote in the town he/she wishes to represent.
Those who would like to be school board members also should know what the job entails. According to the New Jersey School Boards Association, a member’s job is:
• Not to administer the schools, but to work with the board to see that the schools are well run.
• To listen to opposing views and be able to defend the board’s philosophy and goals.
• To be willing to invest the many hours necessary to meet the responsibilities.
• To serve out of a sincere desire to benefit the community, rather than for personal glory or to carry out personal objectives.
• To bear in mind that, as a state official, a board member has a responsibility to all the children in the state, not only to those in the local district.
Unlike those elected to political office, school board members do not represent the townspeople who elect them. Board members have just one constituency — the children of New Jersey.
We hope those who sincerely believe they can make an honest commitment to the work of these school boards will come forward as candidates.

