Eight people filed to run for three seats on the Hoboken Board of Education by the deadline this past Monday, July 25. The election will be held Nov. 8.
The three-year terms of Jennifer Evans, Leon Gold, and Irene Sobolov are expiring. Evans and Sobolov filed to run again, but Gold did not.
The Hoboken Board of Education oversees the $69.7 million school budget (partially paid for by property taxes) and can vote on personnel, curriculum, and programs.
The board made several controversial moves in the past few years including filing legal action against the state to stop one of the city’s three charter schools, HoLa, from expanding. The board majority argued that the charter schools take away too many resources from the other schools. So far, the legal action has been unsuccessful.
The candidates for the November race are Francis Benway, Sheillah Dallara, Cory Johnson, Jessica Nelson, Jennifer Rossini, Zachary Weiss, and incumbents Evans and Sobolov, according to the County Clerk’s office.
The nominees have until Sept. 9 to drop out of the race.
The elections used to be held each April, but often drew low turnout, sometimes under 15 percent. In 2012, the board voted 5-3 to change the elections to November to increase voter participation and save money on the elections.
The candidates
The two incumbents who will run again, Evans and Sobolov, sent statements by email.
Evans began volunteering in the district and attending Board of Education meetings when her older child entered kindergarten in 2012. She said she was honored to be elected in 2013.
Evans “I decided to take this service to the next level by running for the board in 2013,” she wrote. “I was honored to be elected and to have been part of the progress that has been happening in the district over the past three years.”
Evans chairs the Governance & Personnel Committee and is a member of the Facilities Committee for the board.
“My objective in seeking re-election is the same as it was three years ago; to support the continued improvement of the district.” – Jennifer Evans
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Evans was away on vacation and did not answer follow-up questions sent by email by press time.
Sobolov has served on the Hoboken Board of Education since she was appointed in 2009 and then subsequently elected in 2010.
Sobolov wrote in an email, “I am excited by all the many positive changes in the district during these years, and honored to have played a role in moving the schools forward.”
Sobolov has served on five committees while on the board including the Governance Committee, Finance Committee, Curriculum Committee, Athletic & Performing Arts Committee, and Communications Committee.
Sobolov added, “One issue particularly close to my heart is celebrating our students’ successes. The district is blessed with a wonderful, diverse student population for whom we offer a wide range of educational programs to fit their needs and interests. I enjoy all the student victories, whether in the classroom, on the field, in the theater, or in the lab.”
Sobolov added, “I will continue to support Superintendent Johnson, the staff, students and families and work hard to ensure the ongoing success of the Hoboken Public Schools.”
Sobolov did not answer follow-up questions sent by email by press time.
Stance against charter school expansion
But Sobolov and Evans are not as supportive of the money that has gone to the charter schools. They ran under the Kids First banner in past elections and voted in February, 2016 to continue the legal action against the HoLa charter school expansion, along with three of their allies on the board, Thomas Kluepfel, Sharyn Angley, Leon Gold, and Monica Stromwall.
In April 2015, the Hoboken school board had voted to appeal the state’s decision in appellate court but not to spend any additional taxpayer money, instead relying on private donations
In May of this year, school board trustee Leon Gold, who has supported the lawsuit against the charter school expansion in the past, underscored that $548,000 of the budget is going to HoLa due to their expansion.
“I just want people to be aware [that the expansion] is costing Hoboken taxpayers,” he said during the meeting.
The charter school controversy has split Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s voter base in the past. Zimmer had supported Kids First originally, but has gone on record against the lawsuit. Zimmer’s children have attended charter schools in town.
Former candidate
Dallara lost the election last November by a slim margin when running with current board President Thomas Kluepfel. She is a parent volunteer and mother of two children who attend the public schools.
According to the Hoboken Special Needs Parent Group website, which helps parents of children with autism, Dallara “is a mother of two children who attend Wallace Elementary School.Prior to being a stay-at-home mom, Sheillah worked in the auditing field for over five years. Now, Sheillah is actively engaged in many community organizations serving as the Events Coordinator for the Hoboken Family Alliance, a member of the Hoboken Early Childhood Advisory Committee (HECAC), and Vice-President of the Wallace PTO.”
Dallara did not return a message left for her at home.
Other candidates
Benway, a lifelong resident of Hoboken, teaches U.S. History I Honors to 10th grade students at Union City High School, although he originally wanted to teach at Hoboken High School, his alma mater. “I would’ve loved to remain a Red Wing, but at the time they weren’t hiring, and I had to leave to further my career,” said Benway in a phone interview last week.
Benway decided to run for the Board of Education because he has two young children in the public school system in Hoboken.
Benway said that he “is not anti-charter school, but I am concerned with the budgetary issues that go along with the program.” He added that he would have to give more thought to the legal action before deciding his stance.
“We are spending a lot of money in this campaign and I believe [charter school funding is] counterproductive from what we are trying to do from an educational standpoint by taking money out of the public schools,” Benway said. “But the lawsuit is also taking money.”
Weiss, a resident of Hoboken for the past five years who works in the financial industry, has no children. But he decided to run for the board because he believes that a quality education is a fundamental piece of a child’s foundation. Weiss wrote in an email, “I believe strongly that foundational education is a critical piece to the building blocks that allow us all to learn, grow, and ultimately realize our full potential.”
Weiss said that he has thought about several issues “extensively” including whether kids are having a positive experience in schools and what can be done to improve education.
When it comes to charter schools, Weiss said he is pro school choice but also believes that money spent on one child should not be taken away for another. “I think at this stage it is important to let the professionals of our district weigh in and decide if we should continue this fight,” he said. “I will support whatever decision Dr. [Christine] Johnson and her staff agree to.”
He plans to run with Cory Johnson. Johnson, a lifelong resident, works as a production support analyst for Credit Suisse and as a real-estate agent for Corporate Realty Inc.
Johnson, who is expecting his first child within the next week, decided to run because of his love of the town and unique perspective.
“I love Hoboken. This is the city I was born and raised in. This is the city where my friends and ever growing family are located,” he said. “I believe that I bring a unique perspective given I came through the school system and know firsthand what some of the strengths and weaknesses are. I believe that I can offer new ideas and solutions that will continue to raise the academic and athletic bar for our students.”
He added, “I am compelled to step up and volunteer my time to be a voice for all children in our district and that is exactly what I plan to do by supporting Superintendent Dr. Christine Johnson’s current initiatives, and continuously challenging the school board to improve.”
Johnson believes that the educational system requires more family involvement in order to excel.
“I would also like to see earlier college prep, higher scores on standardized tests, increased enrollment into four-year colleges, and a continuation of the increased scholarship opportunities for students,” he wrote.
He’s an alternate on the zoning board.
“I want to see increased integration and diversity in all our public schools,” stated Johnson. “I would like to support the efforts to build a strong foundation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).”
Johnson wrote that he believes charter schools and public school should work together that would allow all children to thrive.
“Every child is entitled to receive an excellent education and I support the efforts of parents to choose whichever school they feel is best for their child. I believe the public and charter schools can work together to find a happy medium where all children are able to thrive without one students thriving at the expense of another.”
Nelson, and Rossini did not return messages left for them by press time on Friday.
Budget increases
In May Hoboken’s school board voted 6-3 to approve a $69.7 million budget with a 3.6 percent increase in tax levy, after a public hearing. The budget was up slightly from two years ago, when the board approved a 2014-2015 budget of $64.9 million, and one year ago,when the school board approved a 2015-2016 budget of about $67.9 million
Before 2012, the public could vote on the school budget each April. However, as long as the increase stays within a state-mandated cap of 2 percent, officials do not need to hold a public vote. The state can make exceptions if the school population is growing, and in Hoboken, it is, allowing the increase to surpass the cap by 1.65 percent this year without requiring a public vote.
A school tax increase was necessary, school officials told the newspaper in May, because nine new teachers were hired, payments to charter schools were higher, new educational programs began, special education costs grew, and state aid was relatively flat.
Hoboken property owners pay a tax rate that funds three entities: the schools (determined by the school budget), the county, and the city.
For the average residential property in Hoboken, which currently has an assessed value of $519,000, the surge will reflect an additional $51 on their tax bills per year.
As for state aid, which has remained stagnant in recent years, the Hoboken district is receiving an additional $25,960 (or 0.24 percent increase), rising from last year’s $10.66 million to $10.68 million.