Lawrence Township residents will have the opportunity to vote in two local races on the Tuesday, Nov. 7 ballot, but only one race is contested.
Three candidates are running for three four-year terms on the Lawrence Township Council— incumbent John Ryan and newcomers Olympia I’liou-Perry and Patricia Hendricks Farmer. All three are Democrats and will join the other two Democrats on the council at the beginning of their terms in January 2024.
Meanwhile, four candidates are running for three, three-year seats on the Lawrence Township School Board.
Incumbents Michele Bowes, Arundale “Arundel” Clarke and Diana Pasculli are running together on the “Students First” slate. They are being challenged by Thomas Figueira, which is running under the slogan, “Quality Education Safely.”
The Lawrence Gazette asked each of the school board candidates to provide biographical information about themselves and a statement of up to 1,000 words regarding why they are running for the board. Their answers are presented in alphabetical order below. (The statements by the three uncontested township council candidates will be posted online this month and printed in the November issue of the newspaper.
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Michele Bowes has been a member of the Lawrence Township Board of Education since 2015. She is a licensed social worker and has her bachelor’s degree in psychology from New York University and a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University. Over the years, she has been involved with school PTOs, served on school parent committees, and volunteered for Lawrence Hamnett Soccer.
Candidate statement: I am proud to be running for re-election for the board of education and build on the progress we have made in Lawrence Township Public schools. I am a social worker, a mother to a LHS senior and recent LHS graduate and an active community member.
I believe our schools play a critical role in our children’s future and I am invested in their success. My focus is on academic achievement and student health and wellness. I see the big picture, listen with an open mind, make decisions objectively, and above all I will stay focused on serving all students.
I have proudly served on the board since 2015, and currently I am the chairperson of the Mental Health and Guidance Committee, a member of Curriculum and Instruction Committee, member of Personnel Committee, member of Equity Committee and was the Chairperson for the superintendent search.
I bring experience, dedication and passion and wish to be a part of the successful transition to the new Superintendent. I believe this is an opportunity to bring innovation with a continued sense of continuity to LTPS. I am honored to be running with Arundale Clarke and Diana Pasculli who are both committed to Lawrence students, staff and our community.
Now more than ever, I am convinced that we need to come together to serve Lawrence and support our students through the complex challenges they face. Together, we will work hard for LTPS, to serve all students and families in Lawrence.
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Arundel Clarke and his wife, Jessica, have lived in Lawrence Township since 2008. He and his wife have two children, one of whom is currently attending in the district.
Clarke was appointed by the board out of a field of nine candidates to fill the unexpired term of former school board member Gregory Johnson.
Clarke has a computer programming diploma and a bachelor’s in business and telecommunications management. He currently works as a software engineer. Previous jobs include administrative assistant, summer camp EMT, Pre-K to 6th grade computer and physical education instructor, and after school coordinator.
He is a Special Olympics coach for various sports, Girl Scout troop treasurer and cookie dad, and is on the board for the Lawrence Swimming Association. He is also engaged in other various community organizations through his religious denomination.
Candidate statement: I am running for re-election because of my strong belief that we (as a board) can contribute to making positive change in the best interest of all students in an ever changing and challenging landscape.
I am a software engineer, father of 2 with a child in Lawrence Intermediate School, and an active community member. My main focus is on academic achievement, EDI (equity, diversion, and inclusion), and wellness.
Appointed in October of 2022, I serve as the chairperson on the Equity Committee, liaison to the Lawrence Township Education Fund, liaison for Special Education Services, and was a member for the superintendent search.
Built through community and experience, I bring different ideas and reflections to the table. I would continue to be a great asset along with Michele Bowes and Diana Pasculli, whom I have the honor to be running with, on the board.
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Thomas Figueira is a 37-year resident of Lawrence Township for. He is running on a slate called Quality Education Safely.
Figueira was educated at public schools in Washington Heights, New York, and Poughkeepsie, New York. His PhD was from the University of Pennsylvania in 1977, and he has also attended Fordham University, the University of Chicago, Oxford University, the American School of Classical Studies in Athens (the U.S. Archaeological Institute in Greece).
He currently is a Distinguished Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Rutgers University, where he has worked since 1979. He has also taught at UPenn, Stanford, Dickinson College, and Princeton and has won numerous academic honors, with many accomplishments in various academic categories.
He and his wife, Sarah George Figueira, retired from academic publishing, have three children who were educated in LTPS schools—Elizabeth, who graduated LHS in 1998, Julie, who graduated LHS in 2001, and Charles, who was placed by Lawrence at Midland School and finished in 2007.
Figueira has mainly been involved in groups and organizations serving the New Jersey higher educational community including: many leadership positions in the Association of American University Professors, including Executive Council for six multi-year terms; the New Jersey Education Association, including Chairman, Rutgers NJEA 2000-5; the American Federation of Teachers, including president, Rutgers-New Brunswick, AAUP/AFT, 2014-16; the Committee for Academic Freedom at Rutgers University, including co-chair (1998-2005). He has also served multiple terms both as university senator (representing the School of Arts and Sciences) and as New Brunswick faculty counselor (advising the chancellor-provost).
Candidate statement: In my period as a member of our community, the standing of the Lawrence Township schools has declined calamitously in every evaluation, dropping from ca. 40th in the state to 308th, a level barely median (School Digger).
US News & World Report rates our high school 147 in the state. This is shocking in a community that has not been socio-economically transformed nor struck with natural or environmental disaster.
The situation can only be reversed by adopting a singular focus that brings to bear both remedial measures and careful tailoring of planning for students in a try-everything approach.
At one end of the spectrum struggling students need multi-vectored intervention, which might include enhanced study halls, supervised study, and tutoring: at the other pole of expectation more and more intense Advanced Placement options and better counseling for future educational prospects.
Responsible leadership means no more wasting resources on ideological pretention and signaling of politically correct adherence. It means focusing on educational issues based on best practices, and ditching divisive initiatives largely derived from partisan media and amateur blogging, where extreme formulations tend to sound most loud.
It means board members once again committed to the traditional curricula that have sustained American democratic society for generations. These curricula should always be in a process of modernization and expansion to foster a greater spirit of inclusivity, but they must never be gutted in an effort to destroy faith in essential American institutions. I was a child of lower socioeconomic status, whose generation was mightily advantaged by the scare that the Soviets dealt America with the launching of Sputnik. Rather than bigger scares, we need larger hearts.
I have absolutely nothing personal to gain from my campaign. My achievements lie in completely different venues, where I cooperate and compete with other scholars around the world (see classics.rutgers.edu/images/TOMCVclweb.pdf). My sole goal is to afford every single student in the Lawrence School District the same opportunities for success my children were afforded.
Let’s also return to age-appropriate sex education, firmly rooted in a health science curriculum that is sensitive to the maturational clock operating for children and let us not fall for last-century’s science fiction dolled up as “woke” thought. No kiddie porn masquerading as instructional material, and zero toleration for grooming/proselytizing.
In short, science from mainstream medicine instead of self-therapy from poseurs. Our state officials do not have the authority to violate our constitutional rights in service of bizarre social theories.
Let’s remember that parents are the ultimate authorities for their children’s emotional, psychological, and spiritual well-being and their progress. Parents must be enabled to make healthcare decisions (advised by professionals of their selection) in a context of full information, without anyone withholding or denying data.
School boards, including our BOE, have not been given authority (and in fact cannot legitimately be given such authority) to make medical decisions regarding students in our schools. Our schools are not clinics and certainly not psychiatric facilities.
Let’s avoid wasting time on extraneous matters that have been introduced for mere political advantage. What was the rationale for our school board to conduct ill-informed inquiries into political issues? How would any finding in such matters have an appropriate bearing on educational decisions affecting Lawrence Township students? At best, such issues are matters for state legislative consideration. We need to focus on concrete measures for differing community constituencies.
Let’s commit to treating every child, every student, in accordance with his/her individual skills, aptitudes, and inclinations as they have actually and fairly been demonstrated, without labelling, stigmatization, or attribution of group traits. This is, in fact, what our society has traditionally always understood as basic aspirational “civil rights.”
Meanwhile, we shall be emphasizing that such skills, aptitudes, and inclinations are not set in stone, but are subject to intervention and improvement. That policy is what our laws instruct; what decency requires.
On Last Year’s Election—1. It was tainted by the total breakdown of the supposedly “tested” voting machines.
2. I was dismayed by the rancor and lack of communal feeling exhibited in last year’s election, including, for example, verbal abuse (at the League of Women Voters forum) and childish tampering with signs.
3. Why was racially divisive material circulated among board members?
4. Last year my challenge to my opponents that they exhibit on screen (during the League of Women Voters forum) the sexual-educational material being circulated to primary school students went unanswered. Did they refuse because airing such material could be considered circulation of child pornography?
5. Why were members of the school board permitted by the voters to get away with sending their children to private schools for “moral reasons.”
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Diana Pasculli and her husband moved to Lawrence nine years ago, just before their youngest child was born. Their children attend Lawrence Elementary School (3rd grade), and Lawrence Intermediate School (6th grade).
She holds a Master of Science in Education from Fordham University, a Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School, and a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College, where she majored in psychology.
Pasculli has dedicated her entire career to education—first as a teacher in the Bronx, New York, and Newark. She then worked on statewide school laws and policies for the last 11 years at the New Jersey Department of Education.
She has engaged in Lawrence PTO events and joined the Equity Committee at its inception in 2018, just as her son was starting kindergarten. She currently volunteers as a mentor for Braven, which is a career-accelerating experience that prepares promising young people to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation.
Candidate statement: As a member of the school board, I intend to work collaboratively and stay focused on the needs of Lawrence’s over 3,600 students. I am a parent of two young children in the district and as someone who has worked on education issues at the national and state level. I have an understanding of what is occurring in our schools, but also a more global perspective of educational trends and realities.
Throughout my career, which has been focused on ensuring diverse learners have equitable access to high quality education, I have successfully built coalitions among groups of people with varied perspectives and adeptly communicated to a variety of audiences. I believe in collectively working toward our goals by building relationships and operating with transparency and authenticity. I will bring that work ethic and those values to my work with our school board.
I believe that as a community, we must remain focused on ensuring that all of our students have the educational opportunities they need to succeed. Our Lawrence public schools do offer students incredible educational experiences, but persistent performance gaps among different student groups show us we have more work to do. Additionally, as we see across the nation, some academic ground was lost during the COVID pandemic for all students and some gaps among student groups widened.
The tireless work of our educators across the district is leading to improvements in these areas. By engaging our community, the district has a strong strategic plan that sets forth a path forward and clear goals for our students’ wellbeing and academic success. If these important goals are met, we will provide more equitable educational opportunities for all our students.
I am running for Lawrence Township School Board because I admire the work occurring in our community and I would like to play a more active role in making sure our strategic plan is implemented successfully. If elected as one of the nine elected public servants, I would work to ensure we are focusing our resources on achieving our goals. I will approach my duties with curiosity and seek to understand the reasons for the district’s choices and plans and diligence to make sure the activities and resources are aligned to our students’ needs and our strategic goals.
Over the last few years, the district has created more structures for family and parent engagement. I believe such engagement and collective problem solving is critical to the success of our students, although it requires a great deal of hard work. If elected, I will be excited to hear more from parents, teachers, and especially students to understand what is needed to enhance student success. I intend to encourage, expand, highlight and foster opportunities for such honest dialogues and deep engagement, which then lead to meaningful actions.
I am honored to be joining two incumbent school board members (Michele Bowes and Arundel Clarke) in our “Students First” slate and believe our collaboration in the campaign process shows how we will work tirelessly when elected to put the needs of our students first.
