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CRANBURY – Board candidates discuss top district issues

By David Kilby, Staff Writer
   CRANBURY — Three incumbents and one new candidate will be running for the Cranbury Board of Education’s three open seats in this year’s election April 27.
   The candidates include incumbents Jennifer Cooke, Kevin Fox and Evelyn Spann. Challenger Promod Chivate is running for the board for the first time.
   Mr. Chivate said new state mandates, such as the 2 percent tax levy increase cap, placed on the budget will be a challenge for the board in the next few years.
   The total proposed budget for the 2011-12 school year is $15,482,513, or 2.6 percent less than last year, with a tax levy of $14,941,270.
   The tax rate in the proposed budget is 98.09 cents per $100 dollars of assessed valuation, a .387-cent increase from last year. The owner of a house assessed at the average of $608,331 would pay $5,966.99 per year, $235.66 more than last year, if the budget is passed April 27.
   ”With limited tax increase and costs going up it’s going to be an ongoing challenge,” Mr. Chivate said.
   At his job as an Accenture management consultant, he manages large projects, he said.
   ”I can definitely help the school district manage costs and find sources of revenue,” he said.
   He explained how his background can provide a broad perspective of where the future is headed, which he said can help the board make good decisions regarding future projects and financial management.
   He also said within the next three years, the consolidation of New Jersey school districts may come up as an issue again.
   ”It’s something that has died for now, but it may come back as an issue,” he said. “The state looked at consolidating districts in 2006 and 2007, and there are other states implementing similar plans.”
   He said education requires a balance of science and art.
   ”We need to compete in tomorrow’s world in many ways,” he said. “We’re competing against a global work force, not just in science and technology but also in the creativity aspect. We need to help our children develop in both areas.”
   Mr. Chivate has a daughter in Cranbury School’s fifth grade and a son in the school’s kindergarten, he said.
   He said he has a strong desire to give back to the community in these challenging times, and that’s why he’s running for the board.
   Ms. Spann said the biggest challenge facing the school district is the amount of state aid Cranbury receives.
   In 2009-10 the Cranbury school district received $891,650 in state aid. Last year it received none and this year it anticipates receiving $176,258.
   ”Our board is a board that looks to the future 10 to 15 years out,” she said. When state mandates and pension laws change, and when benefits continue to rise, it limits what the school can do, she said.
   She added when state aid was cut last year the board had to hold a meeting “at the 11th hour” to pull $760,000 out of the school budget.
   She said when the board has to make tough budget decisions it takes away from other good work and good decisions that could be made.
   But she added that Cranbury has a very balanced board with good decision makers at this time.
   ”We all have our backgrounds and that’s how we’re able to come up with good answers,” she said. “Because of our different backgrounds and experience we can provide for the whole child.”
   She said she’s a big believer in children being children, early childhood development, and the “development of the whole child, social, emotional and academic.”
   In this respect, she said teaching is a joint relation between the parents and the teachers of the student.
   ”I really believe every child has the ability to reach their own potential, and I want to give that opportunity to every child,” she said. “Every child has the ability to do their own thing. I want our school to provide a variety of enrichments to help children feel empowered.”
   She added that she wants students to know that they have the right to ask questions.
   She and her family moved to Cranbury because they believe in the town’s philosophy, she explained.
   ”The same values you have at home you want held up at school,” she said.
   Mr. Fox said in the next three years the board will have to work together while getting the new chief school administrator up to speed on school district issues.
   Cranbury will have a new superintendent in September. Carol Malouf stepped in as interim in the position after former Superintendent John Haney resigned in November.
   Mr. Fox also said the administrator’s job may change if teacher tenure reform is passed.
   He said that if teacher tenure reform requires more teacher evaluations it could tie up administrators so much that school districts may need more administrators, not fewer.
   ”The money then wouldn’t go to students but to evaluations,” he said.
   He said he has two daughters in Cranbury School and cares that they are safe and getting a good education.
   ”I moved to Cranbury because I believe in small schools, and how they foster community, make kids feel safe, and make them feel like they belong since they know everyone around them.”
   ”I’m a writer by profession so I care about literacy,” he said. “I’ve been around educators my whole life and I see the importance of education.”
   ”For many kids a good education is the only way out,” he added.
   But he also believes certain areas like testing need to be looked at in today’s education.
   ”The testing culture we have is hurting the kids as far as what they learn,” he said, adding that tests these days just require students to memorize things.
   ”If I wanted something that could recite things back to me I’d use a computer,” he said. “We need to teach students to think and if they can think they’ll know how to find facts.”
   He said he’s running for the board again because he believes there is unfinished business regarding negotiation of teacher’s contracts, bringing in a new superintendent, implementing a revised curriculum, and dealing with new budget issues.
   ”I feel I’ve learned a lot and I want to follow through on things we’ve begun and not yet finished,” he said.
   Ms. Cooke also said she’d like to help continue the good work the current board members have been doing, especially in the search for a new superintendent since she is chair of the personnel committee.
   ”Going in to a second term you have a better idea of how a school board runs, what your responsibilities are as a board member and what the important issues are,” she said.
   She said the board members are looking closely at the news coming out of Trenton, especially those regarding health care and state aid.
   ”1.5 percent of salary has to go to healthcare benefits, so that’s a big piece of our budget.”
   ”I think we’ve always been a fiscally responsible district,” she said. “But if the state changes the laws and takes away state aid again that’ll impact our budget.”
   She emphasized the importance of good decision making as a board member.
   ”I listen a lot,” she said. “I try to take in all the facts before I make a decision. I do a lot of reading. I try to stay current with what’s going on in Trenton. The decisions I make are informed decisions that I think are best for the kids.”
   She said she has a child in fifth, third and first grade in Cranbury School, and all have been going there since kindergarten.
   ”Every decision should be made with the child in mind and for individual learners,” she said. “When you make changes you have to keep in mind it’s all about the students.”