SAYREVILLE – Seven candidates are seeking three available three-year terms on the Sayreville Board of Education in the Nov. 6 election.
The terms of board members Thomas Biesiada, Kevin Ciak and Anthony Esposito will end in December.
The candidates seeking the terms are Biesiada, Ciak, Esposito, Ryan Charzewski, Ryan De La Uz, Carrie Kenny and Bhumi Patel.
Biesiada worked for DuPont in both F&F and photo products before his retirement. A lifelong resident of Sayreville for more than 69 years, he graduated from Sayreville War Memorial High School (SWMHS) in 1967 and attended Monmouth College. Biesiada first served on the school board from 2007-12 and returned in 2016. During his time on the board, he has been a member of the finance, buildings and grounds, disciplinary and high school reconstruction committees.
“I am seeking re-election to move the district forward,” Biesiada said. “Student achievement is a top priority. Also, we must educate our students so that they can be prepared for the future.
“I am familiar with finance, construction and budgeting,” he said. “While on finance and head of buildings and grounds, the district added new roofs, windows, bathroom upgrades, heating system upgrades and technology and all were done through the budget under cap without a referendum.”
If re-elected, Biesiada said areas of focus for him will be curriculum, school safety and the elimination of all harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB).
Charzewksi is certified public accountant who has worked as the senior manager of accounting and commercial finance for BioReference Laboratories, Inc. for the past two years and previously worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers for 12 years. He has lived in Sayreville for more than 30 years after moving to the borough when he was five.
“I am seeking a seat on the Board of Education because I value an education,” Charzewski said. “I received an excellent education in my time at Sayreville that prepared me for success in college and in my professional career. I now want to make sure that every child in Sayreville has the opportunity to receive a wonderful education in a safe environment from top notch teachers so that they can be prepared to be successful and well-rounded individuals.
“I am a certified public accountant and have over 14 years of finance assistance,” he said. “That is 14 years of experience working with budgets and assisting higher education, healthcare and not-for-profit companies in identifying areas of needed improvement, areas of deficiency and how to execute plans to turn themselves around financially.
“I will use this skill set to examine our budget and ensure we are being fiscally responsible by spending the funds where it matters the most, which is on improving the overall educational experience of the children through well maintained and secure schools, enhanced technology, competitively compensated teachers and staff, and well-funded programs such as sports, music and theater.”
If elected, Charzewski said three areas of focus for him will be school and student safety, the overcrowding of schools due to overdevelopment, and teacher and staff retention.
Ciak, who is serving as board president for 2018, is a finance leader with General Electric. A lifelong resident of Sayreville and graduate of SWMHS, he joined the school board in 1994 and has also served as president of the New Jersey School Boards Association and the National School Boards Association. As a school board member, he said he launched the Vision 2030 initiative – the year current first graders will graduate high school and current fifth graders will graduate college – which works to focus the district on providing the skills students need for the future.
“Last year, we involved members of the school community in a strategic planning initiative to chart a course toward 2030 and many of the initiatives are already becoming a reality,” Ciak said. “I am seeking re-election to continue that important work and use the experiences I have gained as president of the National School Boards Association last year to enhance the educational program we provide in Sayreville.
As a finance leader for General Electric, Ciak said he is responsible for annual budgets approximately the size of the Sayreville School District’s budget and his experience of serving as president of the National School Boards Association has connected him to a wide network of resources, program offerings and new ideas which could be beneficial to Sayreville. He has met with U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and shared with her examples of the important work occurring in Sayreville, along with addressing the need for additional federal funding, in particular for students with disabilities.
“This knowledge and experience is an asset that is unique to Sayreville and one which no other school board in the state and only a handful in the nation have available,” he said.
If re-elected, Ciak said areas of focus for him will be examining the district’s business, career and technical offering to meet a wider array of student needs, school security, continuing to strength educational programs centered around HIB with particular attention to social networking, and ensuring the successful execution of facilities improvement projects.
De La Uz is an engineer for the U.S. Army. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Rutgers University and a master’s degree in systems engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. A lifelong resident of Sayreville and a graduate of SWMHS, he is making his third consecutive bid for Board of Education.
“My main reason for running for the Board of Education is that I have three beautiful girls that will be going through the Sayreville School District,” De La Uz said. “I want them to have the best possible education they can have. I have additional family members and friends that are currently in Sayreville schools from elementary ages up to high school. As a parent, I think it is very important that board decisions are only made after receiving significant input from teachers and parents.
“How do really low income school districts afford to pay their teachers $60,000 a year after only three years in the district, while higher median household districts with higher taxes are only paying their teachers $40,000 after five years? Over 50 percent of our Sayreville property taxes goes to the Board of Education, yet there doesn’t seem to be a lot of educational improvement in comparison to neighboring districts.”
De La Uz said his knowledge as an engineer for the Army and with the methodology Lean Six Sigma will be implemented to make the schools better for students. He stated he has to make sure weapons and ammunition are safe and will function as intended without accidental unplanned initiation and holds a Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma, which relies on a collaborative team effort to improve performance by systematically removing waste resulting from overproduction or defects.
If elected, De La Uz said areas of focus for him will be having the district pay for essential teaching aides while Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)-raised funds go to extracurricular activities and special events, increased scrutiny and potential removal of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, and allowing students to take equivalent standardized tests to Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) to graduate high school instead of requiring the PARCC to be mandatory for graduation.
Esposito is the national credit manager for Standard Motor Products, a publicly traded auto parts manufacturer. He has resided in Sayreville for 17 years and joined the school board in 2016. In addition to the Board of Education, he serves on the Zoning Board of Adjustment and Recreation Advisory Board. On the Board of Education, Esposito chairs the Security Committee and the Finance Committee.
“I am seeking re-election to build upon our recent improvements in school safety, special needs education and other services our students need and deserve,” Esposito said. “Over the past three years, we have made great strides in several critical areas. After I was asked to chair the Security Committee, we went from a district with no concrete security policies to a district that, in my opinion, will soon be the standard for security around the state.
“By partnering with our police department we have updated and implemented security drills for students and staff. We entered into a shared services agreement with our Borough Council, which has allowed us to afford to have full time armed police officers in every school throughout the school year. This year, we will begin building vestibules for three schools and the balance of our schools will be furnished with vestibules next year. These vestibules will keep all visitors from entering the building until they are vetted by our security personnel.”
Esposito stated that the Finance Committee has been able to make capital improvements to district buildings, furnish every pupil in pre-K through fifth grade with a Google Chromebook computer, and increase technology investments to help boost test scores throughout the district without an additional tax burdens by increasing the amount of grant money received.
“For the past 25 years my responsibilities as a credit manager have exposed me to budgets, contract negotiations, the hiring and development of talent, etc.,” he said. “By sharing the best practices I’ve learned in the private sector with members of our administrative team, we as a district spend today $5 million less per year on administrators than the average Middlesex County school district.”
If re-elected, Esposito said areas of focus for him will be continuing to put an emphasis on the safety of staff and students, pushing for grant money for improving infrastructure and new programs without tax increases, continuing to expand the necessary education and attention provided to special needs students, and having a day to honor the top ten academic performers.
Kenny is an academic support teacher who currently teaches in the South Amboy School District. She previously taught at Perth Amboy Catholic School for five years and holds a degree in sociology and elementary education, certified nursery through grade eight, with a concentration in early childhood learning development from William Patterson University. Born in Sayreville, she graduated from SWMHS in 1989 and moved to South Amboy in 1994 before returning to Sayreville in 2011.
“I am seeking a seat on the Board of Education because I am a strong believer in community service,” Kenny said. “At this time, as my children are growing up, I feel that I can be more active in my community and in ways that affect their lives, as well. I am very happy with the education my children are receiving and, I feel that, as a teacher, I can be an asset to the board.
“As an Academic Learning Support teacher, I have the knowledge to help our district meet the needs of all learners,” she said. “I believe in public education and providing opportunities for all children regardless of their academic, social and physical abilities. I believe in educating the whole child, and that every child in our school system deserves to be in a healthy, safe, engaged, supportive and challenging environment.”
If elected, Kenny said areas of focus for her will be providing transparency in decision making by ensuring all parties involved in an issue have a voice, focusing school climate and safety by ensuring all students’ needs are being met, mental health needs being acknowledged and addiction education provided, and ensuring that the curriculum is up to date, engaging, fits the needs of the district and will allow teachers and students to be successful.
Patel is a financial crimes associate at Macquarie Group, an Australian investment bank. She has lived in Sayreville for 21 years and has attended schools in the borough.
“I am very passionate about education and believe it opens doors to an incredible amount of possibilities, especially for those who come from low income or immigrant families,” Patel said. “I also feel that one of our district’s biggest strengths is its diverse student body. I would like for the Board of Education to better represent that.
“I have two bachelor’s degrees, one in accounting and one in finance,” she said. “This background will help me better facilitate budgetary decisions and ensure that the district is getting the most for its money.”
If elected, Patel said areas of focus for her will be using funds properly to allow students to compete with other academically with other schools in Middlesex County, enhancing guidance for students looking to go to college with special focus on how to pay for school, and focusing on teachers receiving adequate resources to help provide a better education to students.