By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Lawrence Township voters will choose from among eight candidates to fill five open seats on the Lawrence Township Board of Education when they go to the polls Tuesday.
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Voters will be asked to choose three candidates for the three-year seats, one candidate for the two-year seat and one candidate for the one-year seat. The sample ballot sent out to registered voters mistakenly said to vote for two candidates for the two-year seat.
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 and Dolores Reid.
A ninth candidate, Joshua Wilson, withdrew from the contest, citing an unforeseen personal obligation.
School board terms are for three years, but three school board members resigned. Mr. Aiyar, Ms. Groeger and Mr. Van Hise were appointed to fill the vacancies earlier this year. The three appointees are serving until next week’s 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 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.
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 out an unexpired term that ends in 2013.
Mr. Hopkins has one child enrolled at the Ben Franklin Elementary School and one enrolled at the Lawrence Intermediate School.
Mr. Patrick 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 out an unexpired term that ends this year. He has two children one is enrolled at the Ben Franklin Elementary School, and a pre-school-aged child.
There are two candidates for the two-year term that will expire in 2014 Mr. Aiyar, who is an incumbent and who is seeking his first full term, and Ms. Reid. Voters will choose one candidate.
Mr. Aiyar has three children enrolled in the schools. 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.
Ms. Reid is a retired social worker and administrator who ran child welfare agencies at the state and local level in four states. She has three grandchildren who are enrolled in the Lawrence school district.
Mr. Horan, who is running unopposed for the one-year term that will expire in 2013, 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.
