MONROE – Three newcomers will fill the three, three-year terms that were available on the Board of Education in the election on Nov. 3.
According to results certified by the Middlesex County Clerk’s Office on Nov. 20, Christine Skurbe received the most votes with 10,885, Kathleen Belko received 10,386 and Karen Bierman received 9,323 to win the three seats.
Sarah Aziz received 7,719 votes, Jacob Koppel Egierd received 6,384 votes, Kate Rattner received 6,316 votes, incumbent Kathy Kolupanowich received 6,269 votes and Michael Elgawly received 2,958 votes.
There were 150 write-in votes.
Incumbents Jill DeMaio and Steven Riback did not run for re-election.
During the election, Belko ran on the Change We Need slate, Bierman ran on the Transparency Participation Integrity slate and Skurbe ran on the Premier Affordable Education slate.
Skurbe said the election saw a record turnout of voters in Monroe Township and the community overwhelmingly voted for the change needed on the Board of Education (BOE).
“As a board member, I am hopeful that we can work together as a team to get the support from the township, the mayor and our legislators to truly fight for fair state funding and stop the overbuilding of our community that continues to cripple our schools,” she said. “We need to move forward and make decisions in the best interest of education and not let political agendas get in the way. I am truly thankful to the residents of Monroe for putting their trust in me to help improve our school district. The students of Monroe are the true winners in the election.”
Bierman said she is excited to have won a seat on the BOE.
“I’m looking forward to learning the role and participating with an eye toward supporting fiscally conservative decision making,” she said. “I’m planning to support transparent communication protocols to help educate and engage our entire community in our district business. I hope to represent all our children and help secure for them the best education and support our resources can provide. Our voters chose the Change We Need candidates with a very high vote of confidence and the three of us are committed to serving our community, kids and educators to the best of our abilities.”
During the election, Belko said her goal is for the communication of the board and administration to become “continual, upfront and honest.”
“Our concern should be the parents and [for the] community [to] understand where the board stands on the important issues,” she said. “I will advocate for the board committee meetings to be videoed for review by the community, I will also advocate for our public comments to be open at a committee meeting. This BOE needs to also direct administration to increase open communication with parents and community members. I want to also see that our board meetings be not only videoed but livestreamed on an official Monroe Township BOE social media page.”