Letters
Polling place added at Seabrook Village

I would like to thank the Monmouth County Board of Elections for creating an additional polling place in Tinton Falls Seabrook Village.

Seabrook Village is one of the largest out of the 11 districts in Tinton Falls. There are over 1,200 registered voters in the community. Many residents have difficulty getting around, and another polling location will reduce the time spent waiting on line and will make it easier for senior citizens to exercise their right to vote.

Gary Baldwin, a resident of Seabrook Village, brought the need for a second polling location to my attention, and it is great to see the Monmouth County Board of Elections and the borough of Tinton Falls work together to get this done. I am hoping the second voting location can be in place for the upcoming school board election.

Michael Skudera

Tinton Falls councilman

NJSBA urges residents to run for local boards

When New Year’s Day arrived this year, did you resolve to get involved? Did you say that this is the year you’re going to make a difference in your community?

If so, your opportunity may have arrived. I ask you to consider becoming a candidate for your local school board.

The deadline for candidates to submit their nominating petitions — the document that gets their name on the ballot — is Feb. 27. The annual school election is April 18.

As the president of the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) and a longtime local school board member, I can tell you that serving on a school board can be challenging, sometimes difficult. but ultimately rewarding. What could be more meaningful than helping to shape the education of every child in your community’s public schools?

School boards don’t run the schools. That’s the job of the superintendent and principals. Rather, the school board works with the superintendent to set the goals and the agenda for the district.

The board annually evaluates the superintendent, and it also writes the policies under which the district operates. It oversees the budget, approves curriculum, and represents the public during contract negotiations.

Not surprisingly, the job demands a commitment of time, certainly more than simply attending a few meetings a month. The job also demands that board members possess other skills. They must make and publicly defend sometimes difficult decisions. They must work as a team, because a school board member acting alone has no authority to make decisions for the district.

And, although the position is nonpartisan, it does require a certain level of political savvy and diplomacy. But above all, the board member must be committed to ensuring a quality education for the public school children in the community.

You can learn more about the issues affecting your schools by attending meetings, going online, and discussing candidacy with local education leaders. Although school board members are unpaid lay representatives, they don’t step into the job unprepared.

Newly elected board members are required by law to attend an NJSBA orientation program, which provides the “basic training” for the board room. After that, board members may attend numerous training programs that NJSBA sponsors.

Think it’s time to make good on that New Year’s resolution? To learn more about running for the school board, NJSBA has published a Candidate Kit, which can be obtained online at www.njsba.org or through your local school district’s business office. Consider candidacy. Because this just may be the year that you make a difference in your community!

Patti J. Pawling

president, New Jersey

School Boards Association