Three candidates are running for three three-year seats on seats on the Ewing Township Board of Education.
On the ballot are incumbent Deborah Delutis along with Eve Bolden and Sandra Hereford-Crawley. The Ewing Observer asked each of the candidates to provide biographical information about themselves and a statement regarding why they are running for board.
Answers submitted by Delutis and Hereford-Crawley are presented below. Bolden did not respond to repeated messages sent to her at the e-mail address for her campaign filed with the Mercer County Clerk.
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Deborah Delutis is a lifelong resident of Ewing Township. She attended Antheil Elementary, Fisher Middle, and graduated with the Ewing High School class of 1995. Delutis has a bachelor’s degree from Thomas Edison State University.
Delutis works for the Lawrence Township Board of Education as an educational assistant at Eldridge Park Elementary School. She is entering her 27th year at Pennington Quality Market, and she is also employed by Capital Area YMCA as a summer camp counselor and after school program supervisor at Eldridge Park.
Delutis and her spouse, Peter, have two children, sons Kyle and Jacob, who are graduates of Ewing High School.
Candidate statement: I am running for re-election on the Ewing Township School board because I believe in Ewing and our school district. I am a Ewing schools alumni, and I had a great school experience.
I want all of the children in our district to receive not only the education they deserve but the full school experience with arts, music and extracurriculars. I had the pleasure of sending my children through the Ewing Public Schools and it was just as much a pleasure for them as it was for me.
I have always been an involved parent, and over the years I developed relationships within the school community with teachers, staff, parents, nd community members. Ewing is such a warm, friendly community and the school culture is welcoming and inviting.
I started volunteering as head classroom parent when my boys started school, then team parent each year for Ewing Little League baseball teams. I was PTA president of the Parkway School for three years and vice president for one, the president of the Fisher Parent Association for four years.
I have sat on the Anti-bullying and Title 1 committees at both Parkway and Fisher. I was the parent liaison to the BOE during Referendum 2018. During the pandemic my friends and I started Ewing Helping Hands to combat food insecurity for Ewing students and their families.
Once elected to the BOE, I was liaison to the Ewing Public Education Foundation, on the Facilities committee, the Negotiations committee, participated in the interview process for Superintendent Gentile, Vice President of the board, and I have proudly served as board president for the last two years.
I have fulfilled all of my enrichment obligations for NJSB and have logged many additional training hours at the annual school board conference. I take my role on the board very seriously. I try to attend as many school events as possible and represent the BOE at public events.
I attend plays, concerts, sporting events, art shows and more, because I love seeing the great things our students do and to support our wonderful staff guiding these children. It is important to me to continue the great work we have been developing over the past few years.
I would like us to continue to strengthen our Special Education program (Our Unified Program is AMAZING). Mental health is a hot topic everywhere, especially after the pandemic, but with the rapid growth of social media and peer pressure, we too need to continue to conquer mental health issues for students and staff.
I also believe we need to continue to work on test scores, as that is how people judge our district. However, I must say that our current test scores do not represent how bright and promising our students are. Great things happen in the Ewing Schools. Follow the Observer’s Good News section, look on X (formerly Twitter) at the numerous Ewing school related accounts, catch a school play or band concert.
What you will see are great achievements by well-rounded students, achievements our community should be proud of. If I have the pleasure of being re-elected I will continue to devote my time and energy to ensure growth and continued success of the district, while continuing to be conscious of the taxpayers’ dollars.
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Sandra Hereford-Crawley, a resident of Ewing Township since 1996, attended The College of New Jersey as a criminal justice major. He daughter, Jordan, attended Ewing Public Schools.
She is retired after working for 34 years with the State of New jersey at Anne Klein Forensic and 23 years with Ewing High School. She belongs to AFSCME Local 2222 (Retiree).
Candidate statement: My decision to run for the school board is deeply influenced by my experiences as a security monitor at Ewing High School. This role provided me with invaluable firsthand experience interacting with both students and the community.
By fostering a safe and positive environment, I encouraged students to take pride in their school and lead by example. Over my 23 years attending games, graduations, plays and other school events, I saw the positive impact of being present when a student invited me to their event.
As a board member, I aim to sustain and enhance our programs, support our teachers, and ensure they have the resources needed to deliver exceptional education. I will focus on understanding our current policies, identifying what works well and what needs improvement, and upholding these policies with equity, dedication, and pride.
