by Davy James, Staff Writer
Candidates running for the school board said providing a quality education under financial constraints is among the most important issues facing education in the township.
Three, three-year seats are up for election as the terms of board members Barry Nathanson, Robert Long and Stephen Parker have expired.
Edward Birch, Elizabeth Chang, Victor Heutz, Arif Patel and Deven Patel will challenge incumbents Barry Nathanson and Stephen F. Parker on the ballot this year. Board member Robert F. Long has decided not to seek re-election.
School elections are scheduled to be held April 21.
Last week the South Brunswick Post interviewed Ms. Chang, Mr. Heutz, Mr. Parker and Arif Patel.
Mr. Nathanson has lived in the township since 1996 and is seeking his third term on the Board of Education. He has previously served on the Zoning Board of Adjustments as a member and as the chairman and has coached baseball and served as board member for the South Brunswick Police Athletic League.
Mr. Nathanson said that running for the school board was the next logical step for him.
”A Board of Education seat opened in 2002 and I first ran and continue to run with the belief that public education is the most important investment we make as a society,” he said.
Mr. Nathanson said this is a crucial time for the Board of Education. He said continued challenges such as No Child Left Behind makes it important for South Brunswick to provide a comprehensive education for every student without the additional funding to do so.
”Experienced board members are going to be needed immediately with all eight unions up for bargaining,” he said. “A working knowledge of the system will be invaluable during this process. We will need to preserve and improve the quality of education while continuing to act fiscally responsible, despite the continued obstacles Trenton puts in our path.”
Mr. Birch has lived in the township for 23 years and is running for the Board of Education for the sixth time.
Mr. Birch said the district must be prepared to handle spikes in enrollment from possible new developments and that maintaining the school is among the most important issues, in addition to dealing with budget constraints.
”We need to keep things within a reachable range because we were in a situation where there was a tax rate increase every year,” he said. “I don’t think you can hit people with that much longer. Somewhere along the line somebody has to learn to do more with less.”
Mr. Birch said the proposed school budget makes sense because it carries no tax rate increase. He said he’d like to improve communication to residents about the programs in the district.
”There are a lot of programs going on at all the schools and not just the high school,” Mr. Birch said. “We have the Spotlight on Schools newsletter but that’s just one article for each school. There’s a lot going on in our schools that the public doesn’t know about. If we want the public to support the budget then we need to make them aware of the programs going on.”
