By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Lawrence Township voters will have nine candidates from whom to choose when they go to the polls to fill five open seats on the Lawrence Township Board of Education next month.
The five incumbent school board members, plus four challengers, filed to seek the vacant seats before the 4 p.m. deadline Monday. The annual school board election is April 17.
Incumbent school board members Murali Aiyar, Michael Brindle, Jo Ann Groeger, Thomas Patrick and Kevin Van Hise are seeking re-election. The challengers are Martin Hopkins, Michael Horan, Dolores Reid and Joshua Wilson.
School board terms are for three years, but three school board members resigned and replacements were appointed to fill the vacancies earlier this year. The three appointees serve until the April 17 school board election, regardless of the length of the unexpired terms.
There are five candidates for the three full terms, which expire in 2015 Mr. Brindle, Mr. Hopkins, Ms. Groeger, Mr. Patrick and Mr. Van Hise. Mr. Brindle, Ms. Groeger, Mr. Patrick and Mr. Van Hise are incumbents, and Mr. Hopkins is a newcomer.
Mr. Brindle, who lives on Puritan Avenue, is seeking his eighth term on the school board. He has one grown child. He is a retired music teacher who taught in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District.
A Temple Terrace resident, Ms. Groeger has three grown children. She is a retired physical education teacher who taught in the Lawrence school district. She is seeking her first full term on the school board. She was appointed to fill an unexpired term that ends in 2013.
Mr. Hopkins lives on Gilpin Court. He has one child enrolled at the Ben Franklin Elementary School and one enrolled at the Lawrence Intermediate School.
Mr. Patrick is a Van Kirk Road resident who has three grown children. He teaches finance at The College of New Jersey. He is seeking his third, full term on the school board.
Mr. Van Hise, who is an attorney, is seeking his first full term on the school board. He was appointed to fill an unexpired term that ends this year. The Federal City Road resident has two children one is enrolled at the Ben Franklin Elementary School, and a pre-school-aged child.
There are three candidates for the two-year term that will expire in 2014 Mr. Aiyar, who is seeking re-election, and Ms. Reid and Mr. Wilson.
Mr. Aiyar, who lives on Port Mercer Road, has three children enrolled in the schools one each at Ben Franklin Elementary School, Lawrence Intermediate School and Lawrence Middle School. He is the global head of data management for the Ephicacy Consulting Group. He was appointed to fill the unexpired term that ends in 2014.
Mr. Wilson lives on Shirley Lane. He is an emergency services specialist with the Hopewell Township Fire District No. 1. He does not have children.
Ms. Reid, who lives on Huron Way, could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Horan, who is running unopposed for the one-year term that will expire in 2013, lives on Rydal Drive. He is the director of communication for the state Motor Vehicle Commission, and has two children one who is enrolled at the Eldridge Park School and a younger child who will begin school in the fall.

