By Peter Elacqua
Staff Writer
COLTS NECK – John Camera and Michelle Tan are seeking to fill a vacant seat on the Colts Neck K-8 School District Board of Education.
Both candidates were interviewed in public during the board’s March 2 meeting. The board is expected to fill the seat at its March 16 meeting. The seat opened when Kimberly Eydelman resigned from the panel on Jan. 20.
Camera said he has been a resident of Colts Neck for three years and has four children in the school district. He said he served as a councilman and administrator in Seaside Heights for 22 years and was regularly involved with budget discussions for the local schools.
Tan served on the Colts Neck school board from 2010-13. She chaired the policy committee and was a member of the finance/negotiations committee. She is a member of the Colts Neck PTO and volunteers in the schools.
The candidates were asked what issues they view as being of the greatest importance to the district during the next year.
Tan said the biggest issue is for the board to reach a new contract agreement with the teachers union.
Camera said the greatest challenges are always creating the best education and atmosphere for the children of the district. He also mentioned reaching an agreement with the teachers union as a key issue facing the board.
Asked what he believes the most important duty of a board member is, Camera said it is to provide the best education possible for Colts Neck’s students. Responding to the same question, Tan said a board member’s most important duty is to think of each child as a complete person, not just as a student, and to give all of the district’s children a well-rounded experience.
The candidates were asked what they believe the school district’s strengths are and where the district needs improvement.
Tan said one of the district’s strengths is small class sizes that allow teachers to give pupils individual attention and forge strong in-class communities. She said there is a good line of communication between parents and staff members.
As far as improvements, Tan suggested building on the curriculum for gifted and talented students and holding focus groups to examine the gifted and talented program, and reaching out to parents who opt to send their children to private schools instead of to Cols Neck’s K-8 schools.
Camera commended the district’s staff and the way the buildings are maintained.
“My children are excited to go to school every day,” Camera said. “The board hires the right people and keeps around the right people.”
He said he has not had enough experience with the district to say where improvements are needed or to suggest how those improvements should be made.
In summation, Tan said she believes her previous experience on the board makes her a good candidate to fill the open seat. Camera cited his work experience and the ability to bring fresh ideas and topics of discussion to the board.
The term of the person who is appointed on March 16 will end in January. There will be three seats on the school board on the November ballot. Colts Neck residents have until July to file a nominating position to run for a seat on the board.