There are four candidates running for three seats on the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional Board of Education this year. Incumbents Richard Kaye and Randall Tucker will face challenger Mindy Fox-Heifler for two West Windsor seats. Newcomer Alapakkam Manikandan is running unopposed for the open Plainsboro seat vacated by Patricia Bocarsly.##M:[more]##
The following are interviews with the four candidates, beginning with the Plainsboro candidate, followed by the three candidates, in alphabetical order, vying for seats in West Windsor. The election will be Tuesday, April 15.
Eight-year Plainsboro resident Alapakkam Manikandan says he has been involved with the high school for a few years now, as he has helped coach the Science Olympiad team on which his daughter participates. He said he thought running for the school board would be a great opportunity for him to “get in there, give some ideas, and contribute, and see what I can do.”
Manikandan lives on Ashford Drive with his wife of 19 years, Vasudha, a homemaker; his daughter, Sanjana, 14, a High School North student; and his son, Suraj, 8, a student at Wicoff. Manikandan, a computer software project manager, currently works for BASF. His father worked in India for the Indian Telephone Industries as the head of the chemical plating division, and his mother was a homemaker.
School security is an important issue for Manikandan, who pointed to the three bomb threats the schools received last year, and the incident involving a High School South student and her adult boyfriend last month that prompted a lockdown and a police search for the man.
“I think the second issue which I believe is more related to the curriculum is preparing the students to go to college,” he said.
He said because the communities are extremely diverse with a lot of various populations with different backgrounds moving here recently, he wants to make sure the district is “able to balance the curriculum so that the kids feel comfortable.”
Another issue is the student-teacher ratio. Manikandan, who attended the February 26 school board meeting (see below), said he believes in maintaining the “good facilities, the good curriculum, and the student-counselor ratio.”
“I want to convey the message that I would want to be a representative of this diverse crowd which has come into the community, and I’ll be more than happy to represent them in any of the problems, suggestions, or comments, they might have.”
Mindy Fox-Heifler, a five-year township resident, says she became interested in running because of her experience with the special education program in the district.
She has three sons in the district, two of whom are classified. “One has a great placement within the district,” she said. “I’m thrilled with his programs. There should be so much more of that. The other one is placed out of district, not in an appropriate place for him.”
She says over the five years she’s been here, she has gotten to know many parents whose children “are not typical, be it gifted to disabled.”
“I feel that the district offers a lot of cookie-cutter solutions that work for many children, but not all, and they need to think outside the box a little more,” she said. “They’re not taking advantage of the creativity and the ways that the students are different. Their differences are not nurtured. I’m speaking as much about the gifted children as the rest.”
Further, “even the children who are very typical are just being moved with the ride,” she said. “I don’t think their individual talents are really being brought out.”
Fox-Heifler also points to her experience in design and construction management as something she brings to the table. “I think that the money spent in facilities management could be better spent,” she said. “Millions and millions of dollars are spent on the construction and upkeep of our buildings, and I think that deserves a lot more of a look than it’s getting, and that’s where my professional background will come in handy.”
Fox-Heifler was born and raised in Philadelphia. Her father was in sales, and her mother in real estate. She attended the Parsons School of Design, where she studied architecture. Since then, she has worked in the field, including frequent freelance work. Most recently, she worked for Bloomingdale’s doing construction management, but has since concentrated her energy on her children, Steven, 9, who attends Rockbrook; Alex 8, who attends Dutch Neck; and Eric, 4, who attends Wicoff. She says she and her husband, Michael, a financial analyst, moved to West Windsor from New York because of the school system’s reputation. They live in Princeton Oaks.
She said while she thinks the current board is “doing an extremely good job,” she does see “a waste in the district’s spending,” including the legal fees, which she says are “way out of control.”
“The district has spent thousands of dollars fighting a family who needs an assistive device, which only costs a few hundred dollars,” she said. “There are dozens of these stories. These court battles not only cost too much money, but they tie up our staff in court instead (allowing them) to have that time to do their jobs. This system needs to be corrected immediately.
She also questioned the importance of spending “so much money” on artificial turf when there are other important places it could be spent.
“I’ve been to board meetings. I think the board as a whole is doing a good job,” she said. “I just think I can help out and be an asset, and help them do better.”
Richard Kaye is running for his second term. A resident of West Windsor’s Village Grande for the past eight years, Kaye spent 39 years as a teacher, educational consultant, and principal. He served as the principal of South Brunswick High School and Crossroads Middle School for 25 years. He has master’s degrees in social studies and education from New York University and in school administration from the City University of New York. Kaye, who is originally from New York, also has a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Queens College (now City University).
His mother was a stay-at-home mother until he reached the fourth grade, when she returned to work and eventually became a manager of a corporation that dealt with street lighting and maintenance of major buildings, like the Empire State Building. His father was a civil servant for the federal government and eventually became a management consultant. Kaye and his wife, Judy, have one grown daughter, who is a teacher. Judy is an artist, who is now retired. One of her pieces was chosen as a winner recently at the Mercer County Artists show, and was bought by Mercer County Community College, where it will be on display.
Kaye has served on the board’s curriculum and buildings and facilities committees, and he said he believes his experience and work has been valuable and he would like to continue to work in those areas. “I now have a better working knowledge in those after having participated in both.”
Before beginning his current term on the board, Kaye helped to craft the WW-P Strategic Planning Document as a member of the Core Team.
Kaye says his experience as an educator will allow him to bring an important first-hand perspective, and that he wants to see the full implementation of the referendum program and the strategic plan “because I was part of that planning from the beginning.”
Kaye says he’s had experience knowing what can be looked at when it comes to cutting costs. At the same time, he says, since he’s retired, he has a clear understanding of “how critical it is that we be very, very careful in our use of every resource” and that the board has to get the most for the money.
Another of his goals is to help educate the public about legislation affecting school boards, especially as it relates to taxes. “I have a lot of knowledge in theory and practice,” Kaye says. “I believe I can really bring an important voice to those issues. That’s the world I understand – I spent my life in it.”
Randall Tucker is also seeking his second term on the WW-P school board. A resident of West Windsor since 1995, Tucker was born and raised in Texas. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.
Tucker moved to West Windsor after he was recruited by i-STAT Corporation to be its director of pperations. He currently works for Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, a Johnson & Johnson company.
His mother was a school administrator, and his father was in the insurance business. Tucker and his wife, Lisa, have a daughter, Natalie, a sophomore at High School South, and a son, Preston, a senior at High School South.
“The perspective I bring is one based upon many years of experience with strong business practices and processes that focus on continuous improvement and planning for success. I believe I have added a valuable perspective to the board since my election in 2005, because I am one of the few members with a strong business background inside a public corporation.”
He said his focus will be on completion of the facilities referendum and construction at High School South, and successful negotiations with teachers, service workers and administrative associations, as he currently serves as chair of the service association negotiation committee and a member of the teachers association negotiation committee. Tucker said he also wants to oversee the building of effective and responsible budgets and ensure that program reviews, such as math and world language, “result in actionable recommendations that improve the quality of the educational experience for our students.”
