Maureen Henriques Hase, West Windsor
I am writing in support of Michele Kaish who is running for re-election to the WW-P School District Board of Education.
I have known Michele since our sons were in kindergarten, now college graduates. When I first met Michele many years ago I was attracted to her open-mindedness and her natural instincts toward fairness and soundness of judgment. In addition, I found her to be a warm and sensitive person as well as a clear-thinking individual.
Many years later I continue to see these same characteristics in Michele. These were once again in strong evidence at the High School North baseball field-naming school board vote in December 2014. I attended that meeting because I had long been a supporter of naming the field after David Bachner who had played baseball with my son at High School North.
I also attended the meeting to see what others had to say. Members of the board, as well as community members, articulated their thoughtful and heartfelt opinions. But to my mind, it was Michele’s comments that stood out. She took the position that, indeed, David’s commitment, passion, and accomplishments were substantial and continued to inspire baseball players at North and elsewhere. These were the criteria set forth in Policy 7250 and she felt that they had been more than sufficiently met to meet the request to name the field in David Bachner’s honor.
I listened to all of the board members that night and I felt that Michele’s position was the most fair representation and most thoughtful response of all. It was very clear to me that what was most important to Michele was that there had been a fair, respectful and accessible process completed by the Ad Hoc Committee on Naming, that anyone who wished to voice an opinion on the topic had been heard.
It was also apparent that Michele had given considerable thought to the mountains of information that had been put forth on the topic. That information and the premise of Policy 7250, that the naming of a facility be on a case-by-case basis, guided Michele to vote ’yes’ to the naming.
I strongly believe that, as a school board member in her second term, Michele will continue to provide the fair-minded and thorough thinking in making balanced and informed decisions in the best interest of the students and the community, just as she did to the baseball field-naming. The WW-P School District is fortunate to have such a dedicated individual on its Board of Education, one who thoughtfully and intelligently works through the issues confronting our school district.
Maureen Henriques Hase
West Windsor
