On Election Day, April 21, voters in the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District, will elect three members to the Board of Education.
Voters in Manalapan will elect two representatives to three-year terms and voters in Englishtown will elect one representative to a three-year term.
There are four people running for two seats in Manalapan. The candidates are Diana Stafford-Napier Joseph De Pasquale, Brian Graime and Annamarie Galante.
Stafford-Napier and De Pasquale are incumbents.
The candidate running unopposed in Englishtown is incumbent Lori Semel.
De Pasquale, 45, has lived in Manalapan for 18 years. He is self-employed. He owns Joey D’s exterior cleaning and restoration service. He has one daughter in Manalapan High School. All three of his children went through the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District.
Galante, 45, has lived in Manalapan for 13 years. She is the manager of Ferrara Bakery and Café, New York City. She has three children — one child attends Manalapan High School, one child attends the Manalapan Englishtown Middle School and one child attends the Lafayette Mills School.
Graime, 35, has lived in Manalapan for seven years. He is employed by MetLife as a regional sales vice president. He has a child in the first grade at the Clark Mills School and a child in pre-school.
Semel, 51, has lived in Englishtown since 1996. She is married to Scott and their son is a seventh-grader at the Manalapan Englishtown Middle School. She works as a recruiter and a staffing specialist for a health care agency in Marlboro.
Stafford-Napier, 61, has lived in Manalapan since 1979. She is a teacher facilitator (assists the principal) and has three grown children who went through the Manalapan Englishtown Regional School District. She said, “Behind every showcased student is a showcased parent.”
The candidates were asked and responded to the following questions.
What do you believe makes you a qualified candidate for a seat on the board?
Joseph De Pasquale: As a present member of board I believe I have proven that I make the children of the district my first priority. I vote for what is right for the children’s educational needs, while keeping the budget in line for the residents of Manalapan. Everything else comes second.
Annamarie Galante: The reason I am running for the board is to give back to my community. I have been lucky enough to live in Manalapan for 13 years and have enjoyed the sense of community and suburban lifestyle Manalapan has to offer. More importantly, I am a mother of three children, and a teacher and have my certification in K-8. I believe I am in the unique position to be an advocate for the students, have the working knowledge of what it takes to run a classroom, understanding and meeting the needs of all the children, and the experience to effectively manage the expectations of the parents. Generally change is good, and I would like to bring a new fresh voice to the board. I would hope to affect positive change. I see myself as a representative of the parents and teachers combined with the interest of the child at heart. I look forward to hearing from residents, to listen to individual concerns, and to be a voice that could ideally serve all.
Brian Graime: Passion for education of our children. The world has changed and changed and changed. I want to make sure this generation of students and the ones that follow are well equipped for life as we know it today. I have been working for 21 years. Jobs ranging from delivering papers and making pizzas as a kid, to administration and balancing budget work in college, to today where I have been with the same company, moving up the ranks from a computer data input to a sales territory that brings in $100 million a year.
I am qualified because I have two young children. I speak to many parents. I understand what they are saying. I hear loud and clear from them what is working and what is not working. I plan to work with the board with an open mind. Ultimately we are not just dealing with students, but with faculty, support staff, bus drivers and of course the taxpayers of our town. If there is a hidden agenda, I want to know about it. I want strategy.
Lori Semel: I have been a board member for over seven years now and I feel that I have made important contributions as an integral member of the board. With the new neighborhood schools starting as of this September, I would like to see this important change come to fruition. I truly am honored to be a part of such a wonderful group of people who truly care about the education of our students. This school district has an excellent staff of hundreds of caring, hard-working individuals and I am happy to continue supporting our staff, students and parents of this wonderful district.
Diana Stafford-Napier: Being a resident and parent for 30 years, a teacher for over 20 years, in administration for two years and a board member for three years has given me an insight of how a district is to be run. I feel these positions have attributed to the fact that I am a qualified candidate for another term on the board.
As a teacher, I have been able to see issues that may be facing our students in this vast changing technology world and get an insight on how to best deal with them as well as address issues that our staff may be having. Being an administrator has helped me see what is really involved in the everyday operations of the district and as a board member a culmination of them all.
I have had three children to go through our wonderful district and have seen a continuous growth of the fine academic achievementsmade through our staff. As a taxpayer, I would like to continue to ensure that we maintain this high level of achievement through our educational system by making sure our tax dollars are not frivolously spent.
What do you consider to be the most pressing issues the school district faces at this time and what would you do as a board member to help resolve these issues?
Joseph De Pasquale: Funding from the state. With a 4 percent cap on state funding this limits our resources to expand the educational needs of our students. With the way technology changes so rapidly in today’s society, I find it very difficult to keep up with the best educational tools for our children.
Annamarie Galante: As of today, I feel the most pressing issue would be the school budget and how our taxes are used. I feel strongly that our current school board is keeping our schools running effectively. I would like to help in keeping the instruction in our schools first rate, and continue to help it grow.
Brian Graime: Making sure our school district is current in all matters. I want to look forward, not behind. This world is changing daily. The economy, our safety and how we raise our children is important. Budgets, how is our money being spent? Do our children have enough of the right teachers and support staff (including bus drivers) to give them the proper education? Do our teachers and support staff have enough resources to give our children what they need? And finally, are our taxpayers of those who do not have children in the district being educated and understand how their dollars are being spent?
Lori Semel: The most pressing issue is the difficult financial turn our state and country are going through and how we need to make the most of any assistance we are getting from the state. We are a very fiscally responsible board and we all work very hard to make sure that no programs such as music and arts will be eliminated. The education of our students is the reason that all of us on the board are members. We often have to make difficult decisions, but in the long run we believe it is all to the benefit of the students.
Diana Stafford-Napier: The most pressing issue we are facing will be how we plan to handle our budget within the next several years. With state budget cuts, downsizings, layoffs throughout, among others will be a challenge that a board member will be faced with. As a board member, I will work with my colleagues and try and work out a flexible plan that the community can work with that will not put a strain on us as some of us may already be experiencing.
Do you have any relatives who work for this school district?
Joseph De Pasquale: No relatives working in the school district.
Annamarie Galante: No relatives working in the school district.
Brian Graime: No relatives working in the school district.
Lori Semel: No relatives working in the school district.
Diana Stafford-Napier: No relatives working in the school district.

