LAWRENCE: School board selects new member

Kevin Vanhise replaces Brackett

By Lea Kahn
   Kevin Vanhise, who grew up in Lawrence Township, was chosen from among five candidates to fill out an unexpired term on the Board of Education at the board’s meeting on Monday.
   The school board interviewed four of the five candidates — one did not attend the meeting — and then went into closed session to deliberate. After about 15 minutes, the members emerged and prepared to choose a successor to fill out the remainder of former board member Robert Brackett’s three-year term that expires in April 2012.
   ”This was very hard,” school board president Laura Waters said. “There was a plethora of candidates. I would like to urge the (candidates) who don’t win to please, please get involved in the schools. You can run for school board next year.”
   When Ms. Waters asked for nominations for a replacement for Mr. Brackett, Mr. Vanhise was the only candidate to be nominated. The board voted unanimously for Mr. Vanhise, who will be sworn into office at the board’s May 9 reorganization meeting.
   Mr. Vanhise, 39, is an attorney with the Princeton law firm of Mason Griffin & Pierson. The Federal City Road resident has two young children, ages 4 and 7. His 7-year-old son attends the Ben Franklin Elementary School.
   In addition to Mr. Vanhise, the candidates included Christopher Clark, of Myrtle Avenue; Sarah Crowley, of Laurelwood Drive; Suzanne Linke, of Pine Knoll Drive, who did not attend the meeting; and Sue Varga, of Graf Avenue. The four candidates present were interviewed by the school board in public.
   Introducing himself to the school board during the interview portion, Mr. Vanhise said that as an attorney who specializes in municipal matters, there are parallels between municipal government and the school board — they are just different branches of government. He said he would like the opportunity to serve on the board — not just for his child, but for all children.
   Asked why he did not file to run for one of the three vacant seats, Mr. Vanhise said he had considered it but “the time was not right.” The deadline to file for election had passed, and then he learned of the vacancy created by Mr. Brackett’s resignation, so he chose to apply. One can choose to sit on the sidelines or to become involved, he said.
   When he was queried about the issues facing the school district, Mr. Vanhise replied that it is finances because “that’s what drives” everything else. Proposed legislation that would require school districts to “share in the pain” of successful tax appeals will make the financial issues more difficult, he said. School districts and county government are exempt from having to refund taxpayer money in the event of successful property tax appeals.
   Mr. Vanhise mentioned that his sister teaches in a Pennsylvania school district, where the students are required to raise money if they want to participate in athletics. He said he was on the crew team while he was a student at Rutgers University, and that fundraising was expected of team members. He had a part-time job, which made it easier to contribute financially, but others had to go door-to-door to raise money when they should have been home studying, he said.
   When he was asked whether he thought students should pay to participate in sports, Mr. Vanhise said there is no easy answer. It would depend on how much money they were expected to raise. It’s an issue that needs to be looked at, but it likely would preclude some students from participating, he said.
   Similar questions were asked of the other three candidates.
   Mr. Clark said he did not sign up to run for election because it is new process for him. He said he hoped that serving on the school board would be a learning experience, and that he was not seeking to serve by getting on the board through a “back door.”
   Asked about the issues facing the school district, Mr. Clark — who has lived in Lawrence for three years — said he was proud of the solar initiative. Personnel issues must be examined, he said, adding that he hoped that initiatives such as the solar energy panels would continue.
   Ms. Crowley, a lifelong Lawrence resident, said she attended a few school board meetings, but she was waiting for the “right moment” to run. She was raised in a family that valued public service, she said, pointing to her mother, Martha Crowley, who served on the Lawrence school board for more than 20 years.
   The problems facing the district are “money, money, money,” Ms. Crowley said. The district has done a good job with the solar initiative, but “obviously, I don’t have answers” to the financial crisis. The board has done a good job, because it is not in the crisis that other districts are in, she added.
   Ms. Varga, the final candidate, told the board she has lived in Lawrence for 17 years. She said she had considered running for the school board, but she felt it might be a bit too much to take on. However, when she learned last week that there was a vacancy on the board, she decided to apply.
   Ms. Varga acknowledged that she does not know much about the school budget or taxes, but she is fair and a good decision-maker. She said she works well with others and she is interested in working with other people in the community.