By Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
Three incumbents and one newcomer are running for a chance to serve on the Hillsborough Township Public School District’s Board of Education this November.
Thomas Kinst, Debashis Dutta and Gregory W. Gillette are each seeking to retain their spot on the board for another three-year term, while resident Jean Trujillo aims to take one of the three available seats on Nov. 8.
In order to provide candidates with an equitable platform to discuss their plans for the school district, all four were given the same questions and the same amount of space for their responses.
Board President Thomas Kinst, 47, has been a Hillsborough resident since 2001. He has four children, aged 9-17, currently enrolled in the school district. Over the course of his two previous terms, he has served on every board committee and has been involved in contract negotiations pertinent to the district.
“It has been a privilege to represent the residents of Hillsborough and Millstone for over the past six years, and I am encouraged by their support,” he said. “I am proud of the performance of the district—its teachers, support staff and administrators—over this period of time as demonstrated by the students’ successes and recognition received by independent state and national organizations.”
Mr. Kinst said his background in biomedical engineering, business and global marketing has given him the ability to “understand what skills and knowledge students will need to enable them to be successful in careers or college in this global and rapidly changing world.”
Stating that the district’s strength is “the quality of our teachers, support staff and administrators and how they implement the curriculum and instruction to the students,” the board president cited funding as the most pressing issue facing the district today.
“The level of funding is a challenge,” he said. “It has come to the point of recognition by the state legislature and the Governor that finally a number of plans are being proposed to do something about it at the state level. I look forward to monitor progress on that front.”
Mr. Kinst also pointed to a number of “unfunded mandates” for schools at the state and federal level.
To combat that issue, he said the district should work to manage budgets “by setting the right goals, prioritizing, and making advancements while minimizing the impact to the local taxpayer.”
“We have been able to do this through improving efficiencies, such as in transportation, implementing budget-neutral financing of our facilities through an Energy Savings Investment Plan, and pursuing capital improvements with state funding,” he said. “I intend to continue with this approach. The school district must be expected to live within its means as every family in the district is expected to do so. “
Over the next five years, Mr. Kinst said he hopes to “substantially improve the facilities when significant debt will be retired, again with minimal impact to the taxpayers,” thanks to the district’s strategic plan.
Incumbent board member Greg Gillette is a 52 year-old Hillsborough resident who has lived in the town for 24 years. He has two children enrolled at Hillsborough High School and has served on the board since 2007. Along with his experience on the board, he has served publicly on other township boards and commissions, including: the Historic Preservation Commission, The Cultural Arts Commission, The Hillsborough-Millstone Municipal Alliance and the Board of Ethics.
He is also a past chairman of Central New Jersey Walk Now for Autism Speaks and a Girl Scout volunteer.
Mr. Gillette said he decided to seek reelection because he felt that his “knowledge, experience and accomplishments over the past decade” make him uniquely qualified to continue to serve.
“It has been my privilege to represent the residents of Hillsborough as a member of the school board,” he said. “I understand what the people of Hillsborough desire in their schools – which is excellence on all levels. I also know that they demand fiscal prudence and accountability…The reputation for academic excellence of our high school, and the district as a whole, has grown steadily over the past ten years.”
Like his colleague, Mr. Kinst, Mr. Gillette pointed to the district’s teachers and staff as its main strength and cited its finances as a major issue moving forward.
“Everything that we do depends on predictable sources of revenue,” he said. “The balance between local taxpayer funding and state aid – which wasn’t great in 2009-2010 when we were already underfunded – is now severely out of whack.”
One way he pledges to tackle that issue if elected is to continue to “look to implement efficiencies that have allowed the district to maintain staffing levels and classroom sizes even while costs – especially of employee healthcare – continue to rise.”
Some instances of those efficiencies, he said, were the reconfiguring of the district’s bus routes, which saved a reported $1 million in the first year, as well as the Energy Savings Improvement Program.
Mr. Gillette said he continues to oppose the district’s random drug testing program, which he finds to be “unconstitutional,” despite state and federal rulings that say otherwise, and advocates for the hiring of a third student assistance counselor to “identify and work with troubled students.”
Over the next five years, Mr. Gillette said he hopes the district will “see an increase in college-level co-enrollment courses at the high school,” a “re-design of extracurricular programs at the 5th through 8th grade level” and “improvements to programs for special needs students.”
Incumbent board member Debashis Dutta has been a Hillsborough resident since 2000. He and his wife Nandini do not have any children in the school district. Prior to his time on the school board, he has served on the Hillsborough Education Foundation’s board.
“I am passionate about education and I volunteer my time to support education, particularly for the under privileged kids,” he said.
For Mr. Dutta, the decision to get involved with the Board of Education came from a sense of duty he and his wife felt, as well as his familial connection to teachers.
“Coming from a family of teachers, I was excited to have the privilege of representing the community at the board in 2014,” he said. “Like any new board member, most of my first term has been spent on learning. Now I am looking forward to bring that learning into action in my second term as the board member.”
Though he echoed the sentiments of his fellow board members, Mr. Dutta said the district also finds strength elsewhere.
“We have created an environment of learning and we continue to challenge ourselves to make that even better,” he said. “It comes from the quality of our teachers and the dedication of every support staff involved in the system. And of course it also requires the bright minds eager to learn, and an engaged community that cares for the best education for our kids.”
Finances were also fingered as the main issue facing the district.
“We are consistently challenged with many statutory and regulatory requirements with none or very nominal/ insufficient funding, with increasing healthcare costs, with a fluctuating revenue base and many other economic uncertainties,” he said. “State help remains far from being predictable or adequate. Our community continues to makes up for much of the differences but we are very close to the point where such dependency may not be a viable option for many of the taxpayers.”
If elected, Mr. Dutta said he will work to push the board to be “fiscally responsible and prudent.”
“I have set my priorities – provide the best education for our kids by maintaining staffing levels, class sizes and drive a win-win deal to retain the best of our talented and devoted staff and keep their motivation and dedication,” he said. “I throw my support for every move that can generate savings without impacting this priority.”
Over the next five years, Mr. Dutta said he hopes to “focus on the low hanging fruits” of improving the district’s special needs program, expanding college level courses for high schoolers and implementing a full-day kindergarten program.
As the newcomer to the process, Jean Trujillo is looking to bring a new voice to the board of education. As a 45 year-old mother of three children who currently attend school within the district, she said she wants to make things better for the community and its children.
“I care about our kids and our community. I want to improve communication, have more transparency in decision-making and engage the public in the conversation of what’s important to our community,” she said.
Like her opponents, Ms. Trujillo touted the district’s teachers, but she also pointed to other individuals who help contribute to its strengths.
“Our district’s greatest strength is its people, by which I mean families working together with teachers to provide our children with a strong education and support system,” she said. “It includes the business community who support sports teams and fundraisers, and the families whose children are grown who want all Hillsborough children to achieve their potential.”
Unlike her counterparts, Ms. Trujillo said the most pressing issue facing the district was its “visions and priorities for the future.”
“Our district is highly ranked within the state and nationally ranked on Newsweek’s Top 500 Public High Schools list, so the district is doing an excellent academic job. It is our responsibility to continue this effort and use the budget efficiently,” she said.
If elected, she said she would focus on that issue by helping to draft another five-year strategic plan.
Ms. Trujillo also said she intents to improve communication between the district and residents if she gets a seat on the board.
“There are many ways the district is doing a good job with communicating with parents and the community…However, there are additional ways communication can be improved and help parents become more connected to their children’s education,” she said.
One example, she said, was posting each school’s morning announcements on the website so parents can be informed about upcoming events and activities.
“Currently, only the middle school posts theirs online with an option for email notification,” she said. “Additionally, implementing live streaming and online questions would allow parents with young children to participate from home and stay involved with Board of Education meetings.”
In the next five years, Ms. Trujillo plans to address “later school start times, especially at the high school,” as well as a “balanced school year schedule” and other items.
“Research shows that aligning school schedules to teenager sleep cycles would improve mental, physical and academic health,” she said. “A balanced calendar reduces the long summer break and would divide the 180 days of school into more frequent breaks. This would reduce the summer learning gap, limit long periods of in-session days and also benefit families to vacation at off-peak times.”
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 8.
