Our schools are a major reason families choose to live here, including my own. Strong schools make Washington Township a place where people want to live, raise their families, and invest in a home. When we invest in our schools, we’re investing in the strength of our entire community.

But that investment comes with a responsibility to every taxpayer in town. To me, fiscal responsibility is so much more than “spend less”; it means asking questions about where our money is going, looking for efficiencies and other sources of funding, planning ahead for predictable costs, and making thoughtful decisions about where taxpayer dollars will have the greatest impact.

And just as importantly, taxpayers deserve to understand why their taxes are changing and what is being done to manage those costs. I started the Washington Township Transparency Project because I believe informed residents make for stronger local government. I would bring that same commitment to the Board by helping make budget decisions, tax impacts, and major votes easier for every resident to understand.

This is a place where I believe my professional experience can bring a valuable perspective. I manage multimillion-dollar budgets and negotiate complex contracts for a living. I’m responsible for understanding where every dollar goes, weighing tradeoffs, negotiating for value, and making sure investments deliver results. If elected, I would bring that same discipline and attention to detail to the School Board.

Schools across New Jersey are still addressing reading and math learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic, including Washington Township. That said, despite the significant decline we saw in standardized test scores, our students are recovering. ELA went from 79.1% meeting or exceeding expectations before the pandemic to 68.2% in 2021–22, and has since climbed back to 74.9%. Math went from 65.1% to 55.3%, and has recovered to 63.9%.

Over the next three years, I would want the district to build on that progress and get both ELA and math back to at least their pre-pandemic levels, with annual benchmarks along the way. I’d also want the data broken down by school, grade, and student group so we can identify where gaps exist and address them.

To me, accountability means being proactive, not reactive. Formative assessments throughout the year should serve as an early warning system: Where are students struggling, and what do we need to change now? I’d want the superintendent reporting regularly to the Board on whether we're on track; and if we're not, I want to know why, what we're changing, and how we'll measure whether it works.

The district has made significant investments in curriculum and instructional practices. My role as a Board member would be to make sure we're measuring whether those investments are actually producing the results we expect. If something is working, we should keep supporting it. If it isn't, we need to ask why and adjust.

In accordance with New Jersey law, our district has a comprehensive framework for dealing with bullying. The district’s Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) policy outlines how staff need to investigate allegations, the disciplinary and remedial measures that can be taken, and the prevention and intervention programs we have in place.

But I don't think the goal should simply be to have a policy on paper. If elected, I’d want to study the data available to the School Board around HIB reports, disciplinary data, and broader behavior trends at a macro level to better understand: What are we seeing by school and grade? Are there patterns or repeat incidents? Are certain types of interventions reducing repeat behavior? How quickly are concerns being addressed? And do students and parents feel comfortable coming forward when there is a problem?

Looking at that information at a macro level can reveal patterns that individual incidents can't. It can help us identify where we're seeing gaps, determine whether our current policies and practices are working as intended, and guide decisions about where we should invest our resources, whether that's additional staff support, training, counseling, prevention programs, or other interventions.

Ultimately, my goal would be to cultivate a school environment where kids know bullying isn't tolerated, parents know their concerns will be heard, and staff have the tools and support they need to identify problems early and respond effectively.

I believe parents should have a voice when it comes to what their children have access to at school. As a parent myself, I understand what it feels like to have strong opinions about what your children are exposed to when you’re not there. But I also recognize that my personal opinions are just that: my opinions. What I believe is right for my family may not be what another parent believes is right for theirs.

As a Board member, I would not want personal politics or ideology to drive those decisions. My responsibility would be to follow the First Amendment, New Jersey law, and our district’s existing policies, to make sure we have a fair and transparent process for parents to raise concerns.

Parents and guardians can formally challenge specific library materials through the process as outlined in Policy 2535, where the material is reviewed in its entirety by a committee that includes administrators, library staff, a teacher, a Board representative, and a parent or guardian before the Board makes the final determination.

I think we can respect parents’ voices without turning our schools into a political battleground. My job as a Board member would be to listen to our community, follow the law, respect the process, and make decisions based on the standards that apply to the entire district, not my personal beliefs.