HILLSBOROUGH: School board faces shakeup after election

Board president, vice president decline to file for third terms

By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
   Hillsborough’s school board will have a new look and feel next month now that its two top leaders have declined to run for third terms.
   In addition to the public electing two fresh faces in April, there’ll be a succession void when the board reorganizes in late April.
   Board President Steve Paget and Vice President Marc Rosenberg both completed six years on the nine-member board. In letters that appear on Page 6A, they cited other interests tugging at their time.
   Five people who did file petitions include incumbent Dana Boguszewski and Aldo Martinez, who ran for Township Committee last fall.
   Others who filed are Deena Centofanti, of Runyon Street, Lorraine E. Soisson, of Van Fleet Court, and Allen Zdroik, of Atkinson Circle.
   Ms. Boguszewski lives on Beverly Drive and Mr. Martinez on Covert Court.
   The drawing for position on the ballot will be Friday, March 2, at 10 a.m. in the Board of Education office. The election will be held from 2 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 17.
   Ms. Centofanti is a 22-year oncology nurse and a member of the township Board of Health.
   She said she’s had “wonderful experiences” working with “the phenomenal teachers and staffs” of her two boys’ schools, “and I just wanted to be part of it.”
   Mr. Martinez said, “Education to me has been the basis of my professional and personal success. Education has been my passion for over 25 years since I’ve been able to dedicate so much time to it. I think I can do some really good things.”
   He teaches corporate finance, investment analysis and derivative markets in St. Peter’s College’s post-graduate level MBA program. He’s also been on the board of regents of the college since 2008, he said.
   Ms. Soisson is president of the Auten Road Home School Association and was in the same post when her two girls were in Triangle School. In those roles, she’s worked with school board members and said she thought now was the time “to lend my expertise to make the school better with limited resources available.”
   Holder of a doctorate in biochemistry, she works from home for a company that contracts with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s malaria vaccine program.
   She and Mr. Zdroik are likely to coordinate campaigns. Ms. Soisson said they are “data driven” when looking at issues, she as a scientist and he as a financial analyst.
   Mr. Zdroik is a retired stay-at-home dad, he said, who spends a lot of time coaching youth football, baseball and basketball. An accountant by training, he spent 20 years in finance and accounting in the insurance business, he said.
   Ms. Boguszewski, a registered nurse at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital specializing in pediatric emergencies, said she was urged by all the other school board members to seek her own three-year term. She was selected to fill a vacancy last May.
   Dr. Paget said in an email that he was looking forward to pursuing other interests, including volunteering with the Boy Scouts and dedicating more time to his job and family.
   ”My main goal has been to provide a better education for the students of the district,” he said. “What I have also seen is a district that operates much more efficiently than the state in general. Outside of Hillsborough, people can complain about too much administration, out-of-control spending and intractable unions, but that is not what we have here in Hillsborough.”
   Also in an email, Dr. Rosenberg cited three reasons. He said he believed in term limits for elected officials and “so, for me, six years seems about right.”
   He said he was edging toward retirement and “could not say for certain” he could commit to another three-year term.
   ”Finally, I am considering volunteering for the president’s re-election campaign, which might not be appropriate if I remained an elected official,” he wrote.
   Both men looked with pride at the school system.
   ”Over and over, by the state’s analysis, by looking at the data, we are high achieving and low spending,” Dr. Paget said. “I am proud of both aspects of the district, but especially proud of what our students achieve every day.”