Budget concerns, class sizes, and labor contracts are just some of the issues candidates running in the April 20 Secaucus Board of Education election identified as the most pressing.
There are six candidates competing to fill three slots on the nine-member Secaucus Board of Education. John “Jack” McStowe, the current board president, is running for re-election. The remaining five candidates have never served on the board: Patricia Belenski, Joseph Lewis, Salvatore Manente, Francis O’Keefe, and Mary Ann Weiner.
The three candidates who receive the most votes will each serve three-year terms on the board, beginning May 1.
Voters will also be able to either approve or reject the budget for the 2010-2011 school year. The $32.18 million budget, most of which is supported by local taxpayer dollars, calls for a 2.5 percent tax increase.
This spending plan, which was approved by the Board of Education two weeks ago, had to offset a $1.6 million loss in state aid.
New classrooms will be necessary to accommodate growth in the student body.
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Candidates: It’s good budget
Because the budget calls for a tax increase, several officials are concerned voters will not approve it at the polls. The candidates, however, called it a good budget that should not be rejected.
“I do think it’s a good budget,” said Belenski, who has in the past raised concerns about spending in the school system. “It preserves excellent programs that other districts have had to cut. So, I think voters should pass it.”
Fellow candidate O’Keefe agreed, stating, “It’s a very good budget. With the cuts in state funding, what [the school board] was able to accomplish is admirable. We have an excellent school system here in Secaucus. But if the budget isn’t approved, it’s possible that some of the [non-mandated] programs that make our schools so good will be cut.”
Weiner, who said she also hopes the budget gets passed, added that, “people move in and out of communities because of the quality of the local school system. The value of all our homes is in part based on the quality of the local school system. I hope older voters and people who don’t have children in the schools understand that and don’t reject the budget just because it has a tax increase.”
Belenski, however, pointed out that the proposed 2.5 percent tax increase was offset by an $800,000 reserve (surplus), which the school board will use exhaust next year.
“In the 2011-2012 school year, we won’t have that reserve,” Belenski said. “We’re going to have to look for other ways in bring in funding and revenue.”
She has suggested that the district launch a “Partners in Education” initiative through which the local business community can support specific school programs.
Lewis agreed that such initiatives are needed.
“Secaucus is less dependent on state aid than other districts, and that’s good,” he said. “We’re going to have to find ways to support our school system locally.”
Still, Manente said, “Id like to see the board become a little more frugal with its spending. It looks like they’ve done a little belt-tightening in this new budget. But it seems like there’s a tendency to go outside [the district] for consultants. We have a lot of our own staff people already in the district that could do things the consultants are doing, but maybe for less money.”
Beyond the budget: more students
While district finances have received much of the attention this year, other issues will also need to be addressed in the near future, the candidates said.
“The school district is growing,” said McStowe, “and we’re already trying to figure out how to accommodate more students. We’re looking at possibly adding an additional wing to the Middle School and expanding the grades on the Middle School to sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.”
This, he said, could help alleviate growth in Clarendon School and Huber Street School.
“It’s all going to come down to cost and what we can do,” he added.
Weiner and Belenski acknowledged that such an expansion will soon be necessary to accommodate growth.
“I think we added 55 new students to the schools this year,” Belenski said. “Most of [that growth] is coming from Xchange.”
Xchange at Secaucus Junction is a large scale housing development near the Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station that, when completed, will have about 2,000 units of housing. In addition to residential growth from Xchange, Mayor Michael Gonnelli has said there are many young children living in the Baker housing development as well. While many of these children are not yet school-age, they soon will be and will add even more bodies to the growing student population in the district.
“In the best of all possible worlds, we would build another elementary school, but with the economy, we can’t do that,” said Weiner. “But right now everybody is panicking, and that won’t solve the problem.”
In addition to the growing student body, incoming Board of Education members will also be among the trustees who will vote on the next teachers’ contract. The teachers’ current contract, McStowe noted, will expire next year.
Throughout the recession, labor contract negotiations across the country have been highly contentious, as management has tried to reign in spending on wage increases and skyrocketing health benefits. Locally, the Secaucus Board of Education and Schools Superintendent Cynthia Randina have sometimes been at odds over spending priorities within the district. Should teachers be asked for concessions in their salaries, raises, or benefits package, the local teachers’ union could press administrators for givebacks in their own compensation.
“We should be spending money in the classroom,” said Belemski. “If teachers are asked for a freeze in raises, I think administrators should do the same.”
O’Keefe, however, said negotiations will have to be handled carefully. “As a candidate, you aren’t privy to a lot of information that you have when you’re on the board. I can’t say now what issues might get raised next year in the contract. It’s important to wait and see what happens, what issues get brought up, then go from there.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.
Who are the candidates?
Patricia Belenski: A single mother to a Secaucus High School student, Belenski is currently pursuing a master’s degree in psychology. Long active in the school system, Belenski currently serves on the School Board’s Environment Committee and the town’s Interlocal Committee, which includes members of the Town Council, School Board, and community. This is her first run for public office.
Joseph Lewis: A technology teacher in Union City, this is Lewis’s first campaign for elected office. He has also served as a wrestling coach in the Union City School District for the past 14 years. He is not married and does not have any children.
Salvatore “Sal” Manente: A teacher for more than 35 years, Manente has taught at the elementary, high school, and college levels. He’s currently a health teacher in the athletic department in Hoboken High School. He and his wife have two adult children. His daughter is a graduate of Secaucus High School. His son attended a Catholic high school. In the 1990s he served one term on the Secaucus Town Council, representing the 3rd Ward.
John “Jack” McStowe: McStowe, the current Board of Education president, is completing his first term as a trustee and is running for his second term. McStowe, who is married, runs a tax preparation business in Secaucus. He and his wife have two children, a daughter in college who graduated from Secaucus High School, and a son who is currently in tenth grade in the high school. McStore also directs the Secaucus Soccer Program.
Francis O’Keefe: Like most of this year’s candidates, O’Keefe is making his first bid for elected office. He works as an aide to State Assemblywoman Joan Quigley and is unmarried. Although he has no children, he said he believes the Board of Education can benefit from the addition of fresh faces and new ideas, which is why he’s running.
Mary Ann Weiner: A former educator in the Secaucus school system, Weiner left her teaching position many years ago after her children were born. She is now a caretaker for her parents. Weiner is married to Secaucus Public Defender Peter Weiner. The couple has two adult children. Their son graduated from a parochial high school; their daughter is a graduate of Secaucus High School.