By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
MONROE — It was a good night for three out of the seven Board of Education candidates, the winners that is.
Stay home mom Jill DiMaio led in the voting with 4,084 votes, followed by Steven Riback with 3,185 and current board President Kathy Kolupanowich taking the final seat with 3,024 votes, according to the unofficial results reported by the Middlesex County Clerk’s Office.
Challengers Frank Russo, George Tatoris, Louis Masters and Richard Gibbons filled out the field with 2,660, 2,642, 2,187 and 2,105 votes respectively.
In an earlier interview, the candidates talked about what they hoped to do for the district if they were elected.
"With all the construction and new students coming in, we have to think how are we gong to deal with that effectively and efficiently and provide kids with cutting edge education," said Mr. Riback, 67, who worked for 37 years in the New York public school system.
Mr. Riback said all his experiences along the way, including his time as an assistant principal and principal, have given him a passion that he says he couldn’t just let go after he retired. His biggest challenges facing the district in the next three years include growth in town, quality education and taxes.
"I live in one of the adult communities and there is a misconception out there that all they care about is taxes, and we as seniors want to cut things and it could be nothing further from the truth," Mr. Riback said.
Ms. DeMaio, 48, currently has two children in the Monroe School District, said the number one challenge facing the district is finding a new superintendent. Right now, the district has an interim superintendent until the end of next school year.
Ms. DeMaio said she chose to run because she got heavily involved in the organization Save Our Schools, after Monroe’s state aid was slashed to only $200,00 in 2010. Through the Save our Schools organization, she has gotten involved in education policy at the state level.
"I needed to take some of that and get involved in my own town and get on the board," Ms. DeMaio said.
She also sees growth as a major challenge and managing the budget while providing a quality education.
Ms. Kalupanowich, 60, has served 15 years on the board and 10 of those years she has served as either vice president or president of the board.
"I feel I saw where we were at in 1996 when my oldest child started high school, and where we are today and we’ve made enormous strides," Ms. Kalupanowich said. "There’s a lot of talk in our district if certain groups get on the board there will be cuts to different programs, its very easy for me to turn around and say I don’t want to do this again, but I cant let the district take steps backwards."
Ms. Kalupanowich said the three biggest issues facing the school district in her term if elected, are finding a new superintendent and the growth in town.
"We need to look at the option of redistricting," she said. "We knew when we built that high school it would be at capacity 2-3 years past into the opening of that school, and it has, its at capacity."

