SCOTCH PLAINS/FANWOOD — Candidates for the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of Education answered questions about how they would handle issues surrounding finance, student success, and sensitive topics like culture and race on Tuesday night during a public forum.
The forum was moderated by Laura Ann of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey and hosted by the Scotch Plains Fanwood Parent Teacher Association Council. Scotch Plains incumbents Nancy Baur and Stephanie Suriani were joined by Jason Benedict of Fanwood, who was appointed to fill a vacancy earlier this year, along with newcomers Jorge Villar of Fanwood, Nicole Zuber of Fanwood, John Greenblatt of Scotch Plains, Eric Fellen of Scotch Plains, and Brad Herman of Scotch Plains.
When asked to explain their individual knowledge of district funding, Mr. Fellen told the audience that he advocates for sharing municipal PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) funding with the school district. Mr. Fellen, who works in corporate finance, said that “other [school districts] are going against the towns, asking for money from the council, and ours is not.” Mr. Greenblatt said that he also supports sending PILOT funds to the schools, adding that he views the state school funding formula as unfair. “There’s the push for equity, which I understand that other districts need more, but it’s gone a little bit too askew,” he stated.
Clear and proactive communication surrounding district finances and the referendum was an important issue for multiple candidates. When asked to name a decision the current board has made which they would change, Mr. Villar said that he would “communicate proactively rather than waiting until someone insists or asks for clarification.” While Mr. Fellen said he understands the needs behind the referendum, he would have advocated for holding the vote during a regular election to save money and boost community awareness. When discussing the board’s process, Ms. Bauer explained, “While it may look like we are in lockstep together…we have to look at the overall community, what the data says and what the money says.”
Multiple candidates also expressed support for entering into a shared services agreement to manage the district’s fields, some of which have fallen into a state of disrepair. Dr. Zuber emphasized “the importance of township involvement,” and shared a story about helping her twin daughters’ Girl Scout troop volunteer with the janitors of Terrell Middle School to clean up the field. Mr. Benedict said he supports utilizing volunteer services like student groups and community benefactors to cut costs for the district when possible. Mr. Greenblatt suggested renting out the fields to competitive leagues as a revenue source.
Ms. Suriani said that as a current member of the board who supported the referendum projects, she views the matching state funding as a positive outcome. Ms. Baurer explained that she is “proud of the district for seeking grants,” and Dr. Herman told attendees that he supports expanding professional development and grant writing opportunities for teachers.
When it comes to student achievement following the Covid-era learning loss, Mr. Villar said that he plans to utilize his background as a science teacher to advocate for advanced opportunities for all students, stating, “success is for everyone and that includes our neurotypical and neurodivergent students.” Dr. Zuber shared that as an adolescent and adult psychiatrist, she believes in “personalizing care and services to each kid to maximize learning potential.” Mr. Benedict said one of his main priorities, if elected, is to utilize his expertise in Artificial Intelligence and cyber security to help develop practices which shift the district’s efforts from controlling AI to utilizing it “as empowerment.”
With a Ph.D. in biomedical science, Dr. Herman also shared his support for courses like AP Calculus and integrating math and science learning. Ms. Suriani also commented on the importance of tutoring, praising the success of the state-funded high impact tutoring program run over the past two years at SPF High School.
Candidates also answered questions about how they would handle sensitive topics connected to religion and race. When asked if they would consider excluding any holidays, or starting school earlier in the summer, multiple candidates stated they would not exclude any holidays currently observed. While Dr. Herman signaled his openness to the idea of ‘floating holidays,’ Mr. Fellen said the concept would not support teachers’ ability to observe their respective holidays. Dr. Zuber told the audience she supports year-round schooling, stating “ten weeks off leads to boredom and learning loss.” Each ultimately said they would consider changing the start of school, and would base the decision on feasibility and community feedback.
The candidates were asked how the district ensures that racism faced by black families is addressed in the schools. For Mr. Villar, “DEI is non-negotiable, not just a trend that education has adopted.” Mr. Fellen told the audience that he relies on team building to develop trust and understanding in his corporate finance role, adding “you can’t stop people from hating by telling them to stop hating.” Ms. Bauer praised the district for what she sees as its ongoing efforts to “help our students understand what racism and bias is.
Ms. Suriani highlighted the district’s early adoption of the AP African American history course and emphasized the importance of “using curriculum to show students the black experience.” She also shared her support for staff professional development and training in implicit bias. Dr. Zuber said that one important way the district can address racism is to continue to build diversity within the staff itself, including gender and race. When responding to incidents of racism or hate, Mr. Greenblatt said he supports providing parents with talking points to help guide conversations with families, and if elected he would ensure the district was “teaching accurate history, good and bad.”
Voting will take place in-person on Tuesday, November 4, with select in-person early voting starting October 25. Residents of Scotch Plains can vote for two candidates, while residents of Fanwood can vote for one.
