LAWRENCE: Filing deadline for school board candidates Feb. 27

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   The deadline for filing to seek one of five open seats on the Lawrence Township Board of Education has been set for Feb. 27 at 4 p.m., according to school district officials.
   Normally, three school seats would be available but because of a series of resignations, there are five seats that must be filled in the April 17 annual school board election. A full term on the school board runs for three years.
   Up for grabs are the seats held by Michael Brindle, Thomas Patrick and Kevin Van Hise, whose full three-year terms are expiring. Two additional seats will be available because of resignations — the seats currently held by Jo Ann Groeger and Murali Aiyar, who were appointed in June 2011 to fill the vacancies until the next board election.
   Three of the five seats are for three-year terms. One of the two remaining seats has two years left on the unexpired term, ending in 2014, and the other seat has one year left on the unexpired term that ends in 2013.
   Prospective school board candidates must specify which seat they are seeking — a three-year term, a two-year term or a one-year term — when they submit their nominating petitions to the school district’s Business Administrator’s Office.
   And prospective school board candidates can obtain a “School Board Candidates Kit” online at the New Jersey School Boards Association website at www.njsba.org.
   The kit includes a nominating petition, information about the legal qualifications for school board candidacy and the role of school board members. Information about the New Jersey School Ethics Act and important dates in the school election process are included.
   To qualify to run for one of the five available seats, a candidate must file a nominating petition signed by at least 10 registered voters who live in Lawrence Township. The petitions must be filed with the business administrator’s office at 2565 Princeton Pike by 4 p.m. on Feb. 27.
   Candidates for school board must be able to read and write English, and be at least 18 years old. A candidate must be an American citizen and have been a township resident for at least one year. A candidate also must be registered to vote.