Agreeing to disagree

Candidates for school board take on tough questions

The 10 candidates running on Nov. 8 for the Jersey City Board of Education had their chance to answer some tough questions at a forum held by the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association on Oct. 6 at Public School 37 on Erie Street in the Hamilton Park section.
The school board is made up of nine seats, three of which are contested this year. Three slates of three candidates and two independent candidates are vying to fill the seats. Each term of office is three years.
Former school board trustee Angel Valentin is running on the Education Matters ticket with Gina Verdibello and Sudhan Thomas. Asmaa Abdalla, Luis Fernandez, and Matthew Schapiro are running as the Jersey City United slate. Kimberly Goycochea and Mussab Ali, both 19 and former students of the district, are running on the Fix It Now ticket. And Natalia Loffe and Mark Rowan are running as independents.

Who they are

Gina Verdibello has children attending local public schools. This is her fourth attempt to run for the board. She is a resident of Lincoln Park. An activist for many years, she says she brings a parent’s perspective to the board, as well as support for teachers and students. She has frequently advocated for schools at both local and state board of education meetings.
Kimberly Goycochea is a product of local schools who hopes to bring a new perspective from outside the classroom. She said while graduation rates are up, they have only improved slightly, and she believes she can help bring the focus back to the classroom.
Angel Valentin previously served on the school board for 12 years. He says he’s running again because he’s seen a change in government on a state level and wants the district to continue to recover local control over schools, partially restored last year after nearly 30 years under state control. He said his experience as a social worker in the superior court helping young adults gives him a needed perspective.
Mussab Ali, who is running with Goycochea, has attended several local schools and says he finished in the top 10 percent of his high school class. He said he wants to bring a new perspective to the board. He said while students are impacted by policies made by the board, they often lack a voice.
“We want to empower the next generation. These kids spend eight hours a day, five days a week in the classroom. But no one seems to listen to their voices.”
Kids can’t attend meetings often. “We want to speak to those students and bring their voices to the board,” he said. “We have been part of the system. We know what’s broken. We know how to fix it. We know what these kids go through. We know how each individual policy affects each classroom.”
Mark Rowan retired from the Jersey City school district after 44 years as a teacher and coordinator of alternative education. He oversaw drug and alcohol abuse prevention programs and other programs related to suicide prevention.
“I started running for the board the day I retired,” he said, claiming he has the necessary education, sense of humor, mediation skills, as well as concern for the city.
Sudhan Thomas is a single dad with a background in financial management and some experience in teaching. He said he would like to see alternative choices for students besides college preparation and a better management of classroom space. He said his flexible work situation allows him to dedicate time to duties on the board.
Natalia Loffe is a Jersey City mom with kids in the schools. Her background is mortgage banking, international finance. Over the last three years she has served as president and vice president of the Parent Teachers Association at Public School 16, where she also does volunteer work.
“I’m running for this board because I believe every child deserves an opportunity to best education possible,” she said. “We have the ability to give them this opportunity.”
Asmaa Abdalla is currently a student at Kean University and is a product of the local school system. She said she believes that she and her running mates will make good board members because they are connected to the community and bring a special vision and commitment to the position. She said when she graduated the graduation rate was 50 percent, which she said was unacceptable.
“We definitely have to work on graduation and suspension rates,” she said.
Matt Schapiro is a management and communications consultant who lives in Hamilton Park. He has three kids, and says he wants all the students of Jersey City to get the same excellent level education his kids are getting. He said his occupation allows him to go into companies and helps information flow better, something he believes the school board needs. He has experience as the head of several community-based civic organizations.
Luis Fernandez is a pastor of a local church. He has two kids. He said his background is in promoting youth as an asset, not a problem, and he sees his role on the board as helping to provide kids with safe places through after-school and other programs.
“I want to make sure our teachers are celebrated and schools are connected to the communities that they serve,” he said.

What is good about the district and what would each work with the superintendent to change?

Verdibello said over the last few years she has been advocating for improved facilities and better food. She believes that this has helped the district to make necessary changes. She said would continue that advocacy at the state level as well. She said she would encourage parents to tell the board what is going on in the school district.
Goycochea, a 2015 graduate of Snyder High School, said there needs to be more of a focus on grades, which have gone up, but not enough. “They went up only slightly and I’d like to see them go up even higher,” she said, and hopes to help to encourage students to motivate themselves.
Valentin said as a past member of the board, he would like to return to a committee structure, where board members meet in small groups on particular subjects, then report back to the full board. He also would like to see board meetings held at different locations throughout the city.
Ali said when some people get elected to the board there is a lot of politics that comes with them.
“The Board of Education is a non-partisan election,” he said. “Not Democratic or Republican or Libertarian. But this has become very politically charged, with one group of people who vote one way every time and another group of people who vote another way. I want to work to take politics out of board, take it out of the classroom.” He said the politicized climate affects what happens in the classroom.

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“The last two years there has been dysfunctional with a number of personality clashes.” – Mark Rowan
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Rowan said he has experience participating at board meetings, and that he would like to work with the superintendent to regain full control of the school district.
“I’ve seen improvement, but I’ve also seen road blocks. The last two years there have been dysfunctional with a number of personality clashes,” he said, saying this has to stop.
Thomas said he also noticed that there are two divisive groups on the board, and a lack of communication between them.
“If they can start talking, then we can move ahead,” he said.
Loffe said she would like to promote positive reinforcements, using the meetings to highlight parent and teacher achievements and the things done well at school.
She said meetings need to be more informative, more concise and shorter.
To Abdalla also, the board seems dysfunctional. “Things were said that should not have been said, attacking Superintendent Lyles is not productive, she has made improvements, graduation rates have risen, suspension rates are down.”
Schapiro also voiced support for Lyles: “The superintendent is quarterback, and the board is the team, we don’t have to agree all the time, but we must run the same plays,” he said. “As board members we must decide to work together. That has not happened. There aren’t two factions; there are some board members who take their job seriously, and some are just trying to stop the superintendent and what she is doing. I agree with her sometimes, I disagree with her sometimes, but she is the superintendent.”
Fernandez said the board has to come together, and while they are not all from the same background, members can respect each other and work together.

Other issues

Most of the candidates said they could handle the heavy workload they will have to deal with if elected, agreeing that being prepared will speed up meetings.
Valentin, however, said that while most of the documents are issued early, sometimes information is brought to meetings at the last minute, and members feel they do not have time to study the issue. He also said some members get information while others don’t, a practice that should cease.
One of the key issues facing the board over the last year was a proposed policy that would do away with nepotism. In the past, members would recommend a family member for a job, and then vote to award the job. Each candidate was asked if they had a family member working in the district and whether they would vote to restrict nepotism in the future.
The only candidate who has a relative working in the district is Verdibello and she said she would support the anti-nepotism policy.
Thomas, however, said the policy needs to be realistic, since some board members may have distant cousins they never met, and should not be restricted from voting because of such a distant relationship.
Some members of the previous board voted against the school ethics policy, so each candidate was asked if they would vote for it in the future. All the candidates said they would.
“The ethics code has power of law anyway, it’s against the law to not vote for it,” Schapiro said. The previous board argued over the naming of schools, with some board members seeking to name a school after an existing board member. All the candidates said it would be inappropriate to do so.

Union and other endorsements

The three candidates for the Education Matters slate have been endorsed by the teachers, police, and fire unions as well as Mayor Steven Fulop. Three years ago, the board was asked by the mayor to rent pre-school facilities from developers who had received tax abatements from the city. The board balked. So, do the board members believe that endorsements should influence actions on the board?
Thomas, who has been endorsed, said any proposal offered should be brought back to the entire board for discussion
“We should work together as a unit, and whatever decision made must be collective,” he said. “This should be done regardless of whoever endorses us. This must be to the advantage of the community, not one person.”
Loffe, who had no endorsements agreed. “An endorsement should not mean ownership,” she said. “Whatever the board does should be about the children.”
Schapiro said he and the candidates on his slate have not been endorsed by anyone. While he said board members should sit down with public officials and hear their concerns, there should be no strings attached.
Verdibello said she has run before without endorsements. She said she has earned the endorsements her team got this year, but they won’t affect her decisions.
“My number one priority is the kids,” she said.

The charter school issue

Candidates were also asked about their position on charter schools, something that has been a contentious issue with the board in the past. Most agreed that parents should have a choice where to educate their kids, but some such as Goycochea felt charter schools have an impact on the overall budget and affect the quality of education in the regular public schools.
Valentin said he supports the public schools. Ali said charter school board meetings are generally not open to the public and so there is less oversight as to how they spend their money.
Some candidates disagreed over the use of part of Snyder High School to host Innovation High School.
“While I’m a big supporter of alternative education, I think it is mistake to have the two schools in the same building,” said Rowan.
Ali said this has led to confusion over changing of classes as well the impression that some students get better classes than others, since Innovation is considered one of the better schools in the district while Snyder often struggles.
All agreed that the Innovation and other more advanced schools need to exist in the district, but not when it creates envy among other students.
The candidates also agreed on the need to better utilize classroom space, which has some schools overcrowded, while others are underutilized.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.

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