Lawrence Township residents will vote for candidates in the school board race when they go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Six candidates are seeking election for three open three-year seats on the school board. Terms expire in January 2017 for Patricia Evans, Michael Horan and Laura Waters, though Horan and Waters chose not to seek reelection, leaving Evans as the lone incumbent. She will face challengers Glenn Collins, Jonathan Dauber, Colette M. Dickinson, Michelle King and Michael J. Wilson.
Collins is a claims investigator with two children in the district who served on the board up until this year, while Dauber is a principal who worked in the district from 2006 to 2015. Dickinson is a business owner. Evans has served on the school board for three years, and King is a professor at The College of New Jersey. Wilson is a professor of education who previously served two terms on the board.
Current board member Michele Bowes will also run for a one-year unexpired term. She is running unopposed. Bowes is a social worker at St. Lawrence Rehabilitation Center, and she was chosen to fill the spot Collins vacated in May.
The Lawrence Gazette asked each candidate to submit biographical information and answer a questionnaire regarding the state of the school district and their plans as board members.
Michele Bowes, 48, is a social worker at St. Lawrence Rehabilitation Center. She also owns an executive and life coaching practice. She has lived in Lawrence since 2007, and she graduated from New York University with a degree in psychology. She also attended Columbia University, where she earned a masters in social work. Bowes has served on the school board since June 2016. She has two children in the school district.
Glenn Collins, 57, has lived in Lawrence for 28 years. He earned a degree from Kean College in occupational therapy, and he currently works as a claims investigator for an insurance company. He previously ran for town council and served on the school board. His two children, Kelli, 14, and Liam, 12, go to school in the district.
Jonathan Dauber, 44, has lived in Lawrence for four and a half years. He attended graduated from the University of Connecticut, where he studied sociology and psychology. He also has two master’s degrees from Rider University: curriculum and instruction, and education administration. Dauber earned a doctorate in educational leadership, policy and theory from Rutgers University. He is currently the principal at West Windsor High School North and previously served as Lawrence Intermediate School principal (2006-11) and Lawrence High School principal (2011-15). Dauber has one son in first grade at Lawrenceville Elementary School and another who will enter Kindergarten next year.
Colette Dickinson, 56, has lived in Lawrence for 30 years and graduated from Princeton University with a degree in psychology. She is in the process of starting two internet-based business: a book club membership and a restaurant review site. She has never run for elected office before. Both of her children went through the Lawrence school district.
Patricia “Pepper” Evans, 60, has lived in Lawrence for 25 years, and she graduated from Notre Dame High School in 1974. She works part-time for Silver Century Foundation, a Lawrence non-profit with a focus on informed aging. She also does independent living consulting. Evans has served on the school board for three years and has been a member of the Lawrence Township Education Foundation. Her daughter, Nelle, is a senior at Lawrence High School, and her daughter, Mariefred, graduated in 2015.
Michelle King, 52, has lived in Lawrence for 18 years with her husband and five daughters. She attended LaSalle University, where she graduated with a degree in special education. She earned a masters in educational psychology from Temple University and a doctorate in educational leadership with a focus on curriculum and instruction from the University of Pennsylvania. King is currently an adjunct professor in the School of Special Education at The College of New Jersey. She supervises student teachers in districts throughout Central and South Jersey, including Lawrence Township.
Michael Wilson, 71, has lived in Lawrence for 20 years and grew up in California. He studied educational psychology at the University of California and the University of Southern California and is currently a professor of education. Wilson previously served in the school board 14 years ago for two terms. His daughter graduated from Lawrence High School, and his granddaughter will enter elementary school in two years.
Why are you running for election to the Lawrence Board of Education?
Michele Bowes: I am running for election to the Lawrence Board of Education because I care about the schools that my children attend and want to be active in helping achieve a quality education for all the children in Lawrence. I have always been involved at my children schools through the PTO and feel this is a great opportunity to do more for Lawrence.
Glenn Collins: I am running for the Lawrence Board of Education in order to continue my fight to provide the highest quality Education for the best cost. The Lawrence Township School District ranked 74th in New Jersey in the 2016 niche.com survey, while Princeton Ranked 1st and West Winder ranked 3rd and Robbinsville ranked 31st. We can and should do better. I have fought the Administration for Special Services and for recognition for students in national programs. I will continue to fight for our students, parents, and taxpayers.
Jonathan Dauber: I believe given my background and experience in Lawrence and beyond, I have a lot to offer. I have experience with educational topics and issues at both elementary and secondary levels as well as the district and state level. I have a moral responsibility to use my knowledge and skills to help support public education in Lawrence. I appreciate a wide variety of backgrounds on our Board of Education, and with that, believe our Board needs a stronger presence of educators themselves to help make decisions that are in the best interest of students, the district and community.
Colette Dickinson: As an optimist, I am hoping to find ways to reduce expenses, and yet improve our results. Lawrence gives its students an excellent education and has increased the courses it has offered in the past few years. With some fine tuning and attention to detail, it should be possible for our high school and our students to be rated even better, and surpass some of our neighboring districts. We are currently No. 87 in the state, according to NJ Monthly Magazine, while Robbinsville is 66, Hopewell Valley is 31, West Windsor is 9, and Princeton is 15. These ratings will affect your property values when you sell your home.
Patricia Evans: With almost three years of board service, I can now say I am feeling the impact of the many hours of service I’ve invested in our schools. I see that the work is ongoing and the longer I stay, the more informed and effective I become. I am a firm believer in the parent/student/school partnership. My children have received a remarkable education here. I want every child in Lawrence to have that experience. There is much to learn and I have taken advantage of learning opportunities offered to me as a school board member.
Michelle King: As a resident of Lawrence Township, I want to share my education and experience to help assess the current strengths across our district and contribute to addressing weaknesses. We need to ensure that all teachers have the materials, staff resources, and are using best practices to attend to all student needs. I know the issues confronting our public schools and how others have responded, with and without success. I have first-hand knowledge of, and access to, resources to address immediate and long-term issues. My focus, specifically, is on teacher development, inclusion practices, student assessment, and school management.
Michael Wilson: I am running because I want to focus the school system on such recent research as the importance of developing parental support for learning, the involvement of children in aspects of self-determination, the detrimental uses of testing, cognitive and effective self-regulation and need to increase students’ independence through learning.
Do you feel that there are any areas in the school budget that need to be looked at in order to reduce expenses?
MB: In my experience with the board, we are continuously monitoring the budget and looking for opportunities to reduce expenses while maintaining a positive and safe learning environment for our children and teachers alike.
GC: One area in the school budget that can be looked at in order to reduce expenses is cracking down on educating non-residents. Recent stories of the Hamilton school system cracking down on non-residents in the school system have parents concerned that we have students in our school system that don’t reside in Lawrence. I will work to direct resources toward ensuring the taxpayers and school system don’t take on that burden. Another area that I will address is looking at the ever-increasing ratio of administrators to teachers and the ability for administrators to rack up vacation time.
JD: With the 2 percent cap that exists on school budgets, it’s more about developing fiscally responsible short and long range plans. These plans should allocate money appropriately to a variety of areas within the school budget. We also need to find creative ways to offset expenditures by bringing money into the district. We need to continually keep the focus on student learning, ensuring that budgets are developed with this in mind. It is important to understand the systemic impact of spending and cuts to spending on student learning.
CD: Yes. There are currently two law firms on retainer. Why isn’t one enough?
PE: As a member of the Finance Committee, I don’t see expenses being reduced, but I do think we need to spend our resources wisely with an eye toward the future that includes a fiscal responsibility to taxpayers as well as students. Lawrence is fortunate to have a brilliant school business administrator who understands and stays focused on identifying ways to meet student and staff needs in fiscally responsible ways.
MK: The Lawrence Township School Budget rests solidly within the 50th percentile for Mercer County school districts as well as for 100 comparable districts across the state. This is true for per pupil spending as well as the majority of significant line items in the budget. Reductions in expenditures would be marginal, but not significant. The question for Lawrence Township is, “Are we ensuring that the budget dollars spent represent effective and high quality resources and programs?” We must guarantee that instructional time is maximized, assessments are constructively used in a diagnostic-prescriptive manner, and that educational materials purchased are engaging students.
MW: Reducing expenses is always an issue but never should be an underlying criterion at the expense of student learning and our children’s success in life. The fact is, however, if we paid more attention to the basics of learning, it would become much easier to be more targeted in our efforts to reduce costs. In fact, I am not aware of any cost effectiveness studies being done with any of the programs currently in use in LTPS—that is where the effort to reduce costs should begin.
There are reports of tension between the superintendent and the teachers’ union. Are you aware of the situation, and what do you think can be done to help alleviate it?
MB: I am aware of the reports of tension between the superintendent and the teachers union. However, in my experiences, I have seen many examples that demonstrate that the superintendent and teachers have a successful working relationship. I look forward to a productive future on the Board and plan to have a positive impact on the upcoming negotiations. I believe the Board, the Administration, and the teachers are all focused on outcomes that will benefit our children. Continued cooperation and open communication between all parties will demonstrate to the community our ability to work together to support our schools.
GC: There are more than just tensions when 87 percent, or almost 9 out of 10 staff have no confidence in the superintendent. The way I read the situation, the staff feels that the Superintendent doesn’t provide or encourage an environment in which students and staff can be successful and that certain programs that used to be provided have been cut back, including some prestigious academic programs. In addition there are concerns that the superintendent is interested primarily in fulfilling the terms of her contract, including the incentive bonus above the state maximum salary. I think better setting of expectations by the board that performance and rewards should be tied strictly to student performance, teacher performance, and district performance, as measured by reputable independent parties. This is a mission that the board, the administration, the staff, and the community ought to agree on and return to a positive image and environment.
JD: I can’t say that I know anything more than what was in the newspaper a while back. I do have experience working with unions as a principal and having been an association president myself. With that, the bottom line comes down to one thing….Working collectively without egos, personalities and any other subjective tendencies in order to support what is in the best interests of students who attend our schools.
CD: By speaking with friends and acquaintances who have served on school boards in other towns, I have learned that such tensions often arise when contracts are being negotiated. The LTEA teachers union contract expires this June, 2017. The previous contract, which ended in June, 2014 was not signed until Nov. 2015, meaning that teachers had to work without a contract and without pay raises for approximately 18 months. Of course, I would expect that both the union as well as the Board would not want to repeat that situation again. The Trentonian reported at that time that Lawrence teachers’ average salary was on the low end in Mercer County, ranking 9th out of 11 school districts. To help alleviate the situation, I would encourage members of the community to attend school board meetings and ask questions about this subject to show their support and exert their influence. The teachers need to be adequately compensated for their time and effort in support of our students, the children of our community. Additionally, The NJ School Board Association has labor relations experts who could be called upon to help with negotiations.
PE: There are often tensions between management and staff in all work environments; school systems are no different. In the public sector, this tension tends to get ratcheted up in the period preceding and during contract negotiations. As a member of the Negotiating Committee, I have a clear view of this tension and it concerns me because of the potentially negative impact on our children’s education. However, I believe that we can lower the stress through honest and open communication between those in the negotiating room and those outside, instead of relying on partial and ambiguous disclosures. I’m a big believer in transparency. I’m not a big believer in spin.
MK: The Lawrence Township Education Association and the School Board have experienced tension, not uncommon in public school districts. Lawrence teachers, concerned that salary increases wouldn’t offset increased pension and benefit contributions, negotiated for 17 months after their contract expired before signing a new agreement. In spring, the LTEA registered a vote of no confidence in the leadership of the Superintendent, Dr. Crystal Edwards, citing key concerns in a letter to the School Board. That vote became public early in September. There is unease for all parties involved but it does not appear to be beyond resolution. Without access to details of the negotiations among the parties, I can’t assess the nature of the problems. I would commit to demonstrating the utmost respect for the positions of the LTEA.
MW: Evaluation again is the answer. Share the data and data collection with the teachers and work together to make LTPS the most successful learning support system in New Jersey. Antagonism is seldom a good condition to work in.
Jonathan Dauber,
Michelle King,
