WEST WINDSOR/PLAINSBORO: Five seeking three seats on school board

By Allison Musante, Staff Writer
   Voters will cast their ballots on April 27 for five candidates vying for three open seats on the West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education.
   From Plainsboro, Rachelle Feldman Hurwitz is challenging the incumbent, Mani Alapakkam Manikandan, for the open seat. Campaigning to fill two open West Windsor seats are Dana Krug, Scott Powell and the incumbent, Richard Kaye. The term is for three years.
   Ms. Feldman Hurwitz of Dogwood Drive earned a bachelor of arts from Rutgers University. There, she was the president of University College, a community of adult and non-traditional students, and graduated with honors in history and communication. She has been a mediator for the National Center for Dispute Settlement and served as vice president of the Walker Gordon Farm Home Association board of directors. A mother of three grown children, she has a professional background in fund-raising, with a specialty in corporate sponsorships, and said she plans to use her skills for managing the district’s educational objectives.
   ”I’m committed to our children’s future while we struggle with state and local budgets,” she said. “And I feel we should pause and remember education is a two-sided coin — fiscal responsibility and children as our priority.”
   Mr. Manikandan of Ashford Drive is running for his second term on the board. He is an information technology professional and has worked as a project manager for several companies, including Bank of America. With a high school student and fifth grader in the district, he said his areas of focus next term would be curriculum, closing the achievement gap and improving efficiency in the budget.
   ”(I want to) make continuous improvements to prepare our students for the 21st century global market,” he said. He serves on the curriculum committee and as a liaison to the Plainsboro Recreation and Cultural Affairs Committee.
   Ms. Krug of Ellsworth Drive is the co-president of the Community Middle School PTSA and serves as vice president of the Friends of the West Windsor Library. A Duke University graduate, her professional background is in marketing, advertising and project management, and she also holds a master’s in nonprofit management. She said that as a taxpayer and parent she is in touch with what happens regularly at the schools.
   ”Over the past several years, I have felt that the school board should have a parent with direct and current experience in multiple district schools (and) a parent who has several children at varying ages in the schools,” she said.
   Mr. Powell of Cambridge Way holds a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, a master’s in business administration from the University of Southern California and works as a product manager in pension risk transfer for Prudential Financial. Mr. Powell, who has a son in second grade and one entering kindergarten next fall, said he is running for the board to bring an elementary school parent’s perspective to the table as well as his skills in problem solving, money management and communication.
   ”As a product manager, my daily responsibilities require me to deliver value to our customers, while maximizing shareholder returns,” he said. “We need to apply this type of thinking to our school district.”Mr. Kaye of Coneflower Lane is seeking election to a third term. With degrees from Queens College, New York University and City University of New York, he said his 40 years in education — as a teacher, principal and board member — informs his understanding of “the immediate realities of providing for the individual learning needs of a diverse population.” He is the current chair of the curriculum committee and said he wishes to continue achieving outstanding student achievement results at a low cost to the taxpayers. As a parent of one child in the district, he added that that every time he votes on the board, it’s with “full understanding of the impact each vote may have on the life of a child.”