A contested general election race for two seats to represent Hopewell Township on the Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education has Jacqueline Genovesi and Board President Deborah Linthorst ahead of Kimberly Stolow.
According to unofficial results online from the Mercer County Clerk’s Office, as of press time on Nov. 9, Genovesi had received 3,452 votes, Linthorst had 3,125 votes, and Stolow had 2,905 votes.
The Mercer County Clerks Office had still been receiving vote-by-mail ballots and were processing them on Nov. 9. The Nov. 2 General Election was held with vote-by-mail ballots, with early in-person voting in late October, and with in-person voting on Nov. 2.
There was also a third seat open on the school board during the Nov. 2 election that had been for the sole seat representing Pennington. Newcomer Alexander Reznik has earned that seat following the election as the race was uncontested.
Reznik received 719 votes, according to the unofficial results online from the Mercer County Clerk’s Office.
The results for the three open seats, each carrying a three-year term, are unofficial until they are certified by Mercer County.
“First, I want to thank everyone who supported me and helped me earn this seat on the board. I am very excited to serve our community through the school board,” Genovesi said. “I look forward to working with my fellow board members, [Superintendent] Dr. [Rosetta] Treece, the entire school community and our community at large. I am honored and proud to have been selected and promise to listen, learn and look for win-win solutions for everyone, especially our students.”
She added that her top three priorities are diversity and inclusion, social-emotional health and STEM.
“My main passion is around diversity, equity, access and inclusion. I want to be sure we are supporting all of our students by meeting them where they are and supporting diverse learners,” Genovesi said. “Additionally, the social and emotional well-being of our students is a top priority. I hope to work together to strengthen these initiatives in our district and ensure we are supporting our amazing staff and administration in the implementation and evaluation of them.”
Finally, as a scientist, she said she understands the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) in everything, she added.
Linthorst, the incumbent and current board president, is set to win re-election for a second term on the school board. She has served the previous two years as board president.
“It means a great deal to me that my fellow citizens in Hopewell Township have put their trust in me to serve for a second term. I take this responsibility very seriously and am grateful for the opportunity to return to this important work.
“I vow to work diligently to represent my constituents while supporting the success and achievement of all students in this district. I look forward to working with my fellow board members and with the administrative team and the district’s highly qualified staff to provide vision and to uphold the mission and goals of this fine district,” she said.
She said she looks forward to providing continuity as the board and administration work to safely and effectively see the district through the current coronavirus pandemic, and to promote means of addressing any learning loss that may have occurred during the remote and hybrid learning period.
“In the months to come, I anticipate that the board will be able to concentrate our efforts on more visionary endeavors and upon district equity and social and emotional learning (SEL) efforts,” Linthorst said.
“To this end, I look to continue with efforts to lay the groundwork for the board’s new SEL standing committee. As we head into our annual budget process, I will work with my colleagues on the board to ensure that the district remains fiscally responsible and that our taxpayer-owned district facilities are adequately maintained.”
She will also continue to promote efforts to enhance district communications and transparency, she added.
Reznik, who will represent Pennington on the school board once sworn in, is excited at the prospect of actually starting to do the work.
“I’ve had a lot of folks in Pennington express their trust in me and I hope to not disappoint them,” he said. “As far as the work itself, as I’ve stated before my focus is on continuous improvement. We have a great district and I look forward to helping make it even better.”
The key specific focus areas for Reznik are the budget and an ongoing regular curriculum review.
“And last, but not least, the process by which we emerge from the pandemic mode and move back towards some kind of a version of the ‘old normal,’ ” he said. “With the strides being made in the fight against COVID-19 I am hopeful about our prospects, but we need to make sure that anything we do is done safely.”