From board member to write-in candidate

BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

Red Bank RED BANK - A last-minute campaign for write-in votes gave borough voters three candidates for three seats on the Red Bank Public School District Board of Education.

Mary-Ellen Mess, a member of the board for 12 years who announced in February that she would not run for a fifth term, started a write-in campaign just days before Tuesday's election in an effort to regain her seat, which was up for election.

Officially, there were only two candidates for the board this year, Juanita Lewis, seeking a second term, and Ann Roseman, a first-time board candidate.

Mess, along with one-term board member David Tarver, both announced that they would not run for re-election this year.

But Mess changed her mind because of the ongoing search for a new superintendent for the district.

"We're in the middle of a superintendent search," Mess said Monday, "and there will be three new people on the board. I do feel it's time to do other things, but this decision [a new superintendent] will influence the direction of the district over the next five years. I've participated in a number of interviews and at this point, it doesn't seem the right time to leave."

In addition to the three seats up for election, board member Barbara Horl also recently resigned from the board, leaving an additional seat open for appointment by the board. The seat would not be filled from the election because Horl's three-year term is not expired.

Mess said that although she does still want to take more time for her family and career, she didn't think it would hurt to regain her seat on the board.

"I've got nothing to lose," she said. "Either I get a seat or I get my time back."

Mess said that what mainly influenced her decision was the timing of the superintendent search and that the board had been told originally that the search could have been finished this month.

The superintendent search began last year after former Superintendent Dr. John Krewer resigned his position with the district after serving three years of a five-year contract to take a position at a district in Middlesex County.

"Bringing a lot of new people into this really complicates things," Mess said. "I've been to three or four nights of sitting through 10 interviews."

Mess said that her personal time with her family is still paramount, but she feels she has more to offer to the district.

"It's meant a lot to me," she said, "and it's very hard to walk away. But you come to a point where you have to turn it over and have faith that other people will come in and do right by the kids."

Board President Janet Jones said that the board has narrowed the superintendent search to three candidates, although she declined to name any of the candidates.

The next step, according to Jones, will be to review the criteria that the board has decided on for a new administrator.

"I think we have some good candidates," Jones said Monday. "As a board we have to make sure we are going with a set of criteria that we all want."

The criteria for superintendent candidates was created with input from the board, teachers in the district, as well as parents of students.

"We found out we were all really looking for the same things," Jones said. "There were no surprises when the results came back."