This week, the Reporter offers the second installment of its two-part series on Board of Education candidates running in the upcoming April 21 election. Seven candidates are running for three seats on the nine-member school board. The winners will each serve three-year terms. Every voter can select any three candidates to support.
The upcoming election could be among the most interesting in years.
________
This election is also taking place amidst difficult financial times when more demands are being placed on taxpayers and the school district.
The Secaucus school system has a student enrollment of 2,221 and more than 167 teachers and other professionals. The system also includes eight administrators, five part-time supervisors, and 21 administrative staffers.
The budget for the 2008-2009 school year is $34.2 million, while the projected budget for the 2009-2010 school year is up 2.4 per cent to just over $35 million, 95 per cent of which will be raised from local property taxes, since the district receives very little state or federal aid.
In two weeks, voters will be able to approve or reject the school tax levy in addition to voting for new board members. Polls will be open from 1 to 9 p.m.
In alphabetical order, the Reporter profiles three candidates this week: Tom Roarty, Joseph Tringali, and Tom Troyer. Last week, the newspaper profiled Charles Krajewski, Darryl Lewis, Robin Renner Mottola, and Gary Riebesell. You can locate those profiles online at www.hudsonreporter.com.
The Reporter asked all seven candidates the same questions:
1. What motivated you to run for school board?
2. If elected, what skills or qualifications would you bring to the school board?
3. What do you think are the main issues facing the school district at this time?
Tom Roarty
A Secaucus native, Roarty has been a regular at school board meetings for the last two years, where he has often questioned administrative spending. A married father of two children, Roarty works in operations and maintenance at Cushman & Wakefield in Newark. His son Mark graduated from Secaucus High School and is now a junior at St. Peter’s College. His daughter Tara is currently a junior at the high school. His wife Valerie Suppa is a hairdresser in town. Roarty has been active in youth baseball for the last 15 years.
1. What motivated you to run?
“I think we need to improve our standardized test scores and be smarter about how we spend our tax dollars. When my son was a freshman [in high school] I started looking at the data that’s released by the New Jersey Department of Education each year. I looked at our SAT scores and I compared them to other districts. Then I compared them to other schools our size. Our SAT scores were below the state average from 2003 all the way up to now. I’ve also looked at our administrative salaries. Secaucus had the seventh highest paid administrative salaries in the state. We rank 47th in the state in what we pay teachers. I’ve also taken a look at what we’re paying our contracted employees and the perks we’re giving some of these people is outrageous. I think we have excessive administrative spending in this district. There are a lot of districts that are spending less that have better SAT scores. More of our resources need to be directed to the classroom.”
2. What skills would you bring?
“I work in building and property maintenance and I feel I would be an asset to the board’s building and grounds committee. Where I work, we reduced our energy consumption by 25 percent, and that, in turn, reduces the carbon footprint. If we could do that in our school building, we’d be able to create a more ecologically sound environment for our children to learn in. I’m familiar with labor contracts. I’ve been a proud union member for 25 years and I’ve sat in on a lot of contract negotiations.”
3. What are the main issues?
“Aside from the spending issues, and the administrative perks we’re paying, increased school enrollment is another big issue. With the development that’s going on in Secaucus we need to be prepared for the future.”
Joseph Tringali
A native of Brooklyn, Tringali has been a resident of Secaucus for more than 30 years. His wife, Orietta, is a first grade teacher at the Huber Street School. Their eldest daughter attends the Middle School, while their younger daughter attends Clarendon.
A graduate of Brooklyn College, where he majored in accounting, Tringali is head of corporate security for ConEdison, New York City’s power utility company.
1. What motivated you to run?
“Two years ago, when my daughter was still at Clarendon, she was selected by the town to participate in the Hudson County Science Fair. And she medaled. My wife and I attended and a light went off in my head because only two students from Secaucus were there. They were giving out awards, and I thought, ‘Where is the representation from Secaucus?’ I think the school district in Secaucus is great. My daughters have achieved in the local schools. But I began to think about the long-term future of the district, and whether we were heading where we need to go. If we don’t move ahead, we’ll be left behind. So, I thought this was a good time to throw my hat in the ring.”
2. What skills would you bring?
“I’ve got 34 years of broad business experience. I’m a high-level manager for a Fortune 200 company. And right now I’m department manager for corporate security. In that role, I am responsible for protecting the critical infrastructure of bulk power coming into New York City. And we protect that infrastructure with technology. I see parallels between what I do in my job and challenges facing the school district. The Secaucus school district is using technology to move forward, and so is my department at ConEd. In my position, I also understand what it means to have to work within government mandated requirements, just as the school system has state mandated programs that it must comply with.”
3. What are the main issues?
“We have to prepare our students for the world they will be entering as adults. The superintendent is trying to move the school district forward. And there are educational standards being placed on schools from the state. Some of the state mandated programs are good, but they take time and they take money. But we don’t necessarily have the resources in terms of tax revenues and grants that other districts have. And yet, other school districts are moving forward and we have to move forward if we want to keep up.”
Tom Troyer
A longtime activist and former Board of Education member, Troyer lost a bid for the board last year. He admits he took the defeat hard and initially vowed never to run for public office again. That was then. Now he has decided to “run again anyway.” Probably best known for taking the Town Council to task for various decisions, Troyer served on the Board of Education from 1973 to 1976, again from 1979 to 1982, and most recently from 2001 until 2007.Troyer also taught high school social studies for 45 years. He taught at Emerson in Union City, where he fought against the appointed school board system and became an advocate for elected boards.
Troyer also taught in Secaucus from 1965 to 1970 and was instrumental in getting Secaucus High School opened. A widower who now works as a substitute teacher at Emerson, Troyer has two adult sons.
1. What motivated you to run?
“I’m an independent person who isn’t easily intimidated. The School Board doesn’t seem as political as it [once] was. But there can be a lot of pressure when you’re on the school board. A lot of people will try to get you to do things that aren’t in the best interest of the students. You have to be able to stand up to that kind of pressure. I can – and I already have a track record on the school board proving that I can.”
2. What skills would you bring?
“I’ve been an educator and I’ve been in education for more than four decades. I’ve been a teacher. I work in the classroom now. I have more than 12 years on the school board. So, I have the experience. Of all the candidates running this year, I have the most experience. I know how to handle the budget and look at line items. I know where to cut a budget.”
3. What are the main issues?
“The thrust right now is on new technology and integrating new technology into the curriculum. And I support that. But I’ve heard there are some administrators and teachers who are resisting this [direction], who are giving the superintendent [Cynthia Randina] a hard time. So, we got to make sure that everyone is on the same page and moving in the same direction. Also, the superintendent has to be accountable to someone. All superintendents need to be. Randina has a lot of good ideas, but the board has to make sure these ideas are implemented and done the right way.”
Reach E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.