Six residents will seek three three-year terms on the Marlboro K-8 School District Board of Education in the Nov. 3 election.
The seats held by BonnieSue Rosenwald, Jian Kao and Robyn Wolfe will be on the ballot on Election Day.
Rosenwald and Kao are not running to retain their seats on the board.
Business Administrator Cindy Barr- Rague said the candidates for the seats are Stephen Shifrinson, Marianne Longobardi, Michael Mirkin, Ellen Wei Xu, Sarah Harris Kreisler and Wolfe. The deadline to file a nominating petition was July 27.
Shifrinson recently retired as the principal of Marlboro’s Robertsville Elementary School. Longobardi is a former candidate for a seat on the Marlboro Township Council.
When Rosenwald was asked why she is not seeking re-election, she said, “During my two terms on the Marlboro board I have always kept our children and the taxpayers first and foremost in mind when making decisions that affect all the community.
“Unfortunately, in my opinion, this board has become factionalized based not on the issues, but based on external matters, and has lost its focus on the students and the taxpayers and operates in a fiscally irresponsible manner, without a solid plan for the future.
“I have done my best to keep spending and taxes as low as possible, but the board has entered into labor agreements that in my opinion is the wrong direction,” Rosenwald said. Kao could not immediately be reached for comment. In other business at a recent meeting, the board announced that Marc Edery has left the district for another position. In recent weeks the board changed Edery’s job from principal at the Asher Holmes Elementary School in 2014-15 to vice principal at the Robertsville Elementary School for the 2015-16 school year.
The board will now seek to fill the vice principal’s position at the Robertsville school. The position has been posted on the school district’s website.
Barr-Rague said candidates for the position will be evaluated and interviewed by at least one board member and district administrators.
And, on behalf of the Marlboro Memorial Middle School, the board accepted a $1,000 donation from the Charles Lafitte Foundation to be used to purchase books for the school’s library. The principal and the media specialist will determine the type of books that will be purchased.
The board approved lunch and milk prices for the 2015-16 school year. Lunch will be $2.40 at the elementary schools, $2.60 at the middle schools and $3.25 for a premium lunch. The reduced lunch price will be 40 cents at the elementary and middle schools. Milk will cost 20 cents in kindergarten and 45 cents in the elementary and middle schools.
Finally, administrators announced that the district’s enrollment stands at 5,274 students, which is 63 students less than at the same time in 2014. In October 2012, the district’s enrollment was about 5,460 pupils for the 2012-13 school year, according to a previous News Transcript article.
— Contact Peter Elacqua at [email protected]