This year’s WW-P Board of Education election had a contentious atmosphere more reminiscent of municipal elections.
Divided races in both townships featured increased organization from candidates, the proliferation of roadside signs, and endorsements by the current board president as well as by elected politicians. This is the second year school board elections have been held in November, at the same time as general elections, and the surge in intensity has raised concerns regarding large campaign expenditures and the introduction of partisan divisions and local politics.
Incumbents Richard Kaye and Dana Krug, alongside Yingchao Zhang, were the three candidates running for two open West Windsor seats. Incumbent Rachelle Feldman Hurwitz and Isaac Cheng competed for Plainsboro’s sole contested seat. In the end Kaye and Hurwitz were not reelected.
“This year is not what’s happened in the previous three elections,” said board vice president Kaye, who is completing his third term on the board after spending more than 40 years as an educator. This is the first election for which he has put up campaign signs, sharing signs with Krug. In addition to seeing more signage, Kaye says he has not previously encountered a mass mailing by a school board candidate, referencing the leaflets mailed out by Zhang, who also ran unsuccessfully for a board seat last year.
There was unusual polarization in the contest between Hurwitz and Cheng, a 2008 graduate of High School North. Both candidates received public support from high-profile individuals. Current board president Anthony Fleres and former board president Hemant Marathe, who also served with Hurwitz, wrote letters to the News that passed over the incumbent Hurwitz in favor of Cheng. Both Fleres and Marathe also accompanied Cheng door-to-door in Plainsboro to meet with voters.
Not only was Hurwitz passed over in the endorsement, her opponent was coached by other board members, who were introduced to him by Marathe, who served on the board from 2001 to 2013 and as board president from 2004 to 2013. In West Windsor’s 2013 mayoral race, Marathe ran against incumbent Shing-Fu Hsueh. Hurwitz supported Hsueh in that race, and people have wondered whether Marathe’s involvement in the school election was in response to Hurwitz’s support for Hsueh.
Fleres’ letter also voiced support for candidates Kaye and Krug. Shortly before the election, the West Windsor Republican Club circulated an E-mail letter written by Marathe also supporting Kaye and Krug.
The campaign was further complicated by the involvement of elected officials on behalf of Hurwitz and Zhang, raising concerns of partisan politics pervading a school board election. Hurwitz’s campaign ad included endorsements by two Democratic state legislators, Linda Greenstein and Dan Benson, who represent Plainsboro’s state district. Benson also wrote a letter to the News in support of Hurwitz, and in a Facebook post the Monday before the election, Benson urged voters to elect Zhang.
On the News’ website, one anonymous post on Benson’s letter of support for Hurwitz referred to a 2011 New Jersey School Boards Association FAQ, which said in part that “the Commissioner of Education has traditionally frowned on political party endorsements of school board members.”
There was cross-town collaboration between Hurwitz and Zhang. In addition to a $300 donation made by Zhang to Hurwitz, disclosed by the latter in state finance filings, in August the two school board candidates attended an annual picnic hosted by the Central Jersey Chinese-American Association (CJCAA). West Windsor mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh and Plainsboro mayor Peter Cantu, as well as state senator Greenstein, were present at the community event. Zhang is president of CJCAA.
Fleres did not further explain why he supported Cheng over Hurwitz. “I think Cheng would serve better on the board,” Fleres said in a phone interview before the election. “Everybody has different styles, and Rachelle’s style I disagree with.”
Fleres said board members have supported other candidates and have run as slates in the past, and what was unusual this year was the introduction of elected officials.
“I want to stay out of party politics,” Fleres said. “There was a lot of people identifying themselves as friends of Democrats. I just find it’s divisive. I don’t think it’s good for schools. School board issues such as budgets and class sizes are basically local issues and they should be kept that way. Having political party endorsements, I think, can be a problem long term. I think it brings a whole level of argument into the debate.”
Marathe also took exception to Hurwitz’s endorsements by state legislators.
“I am certainly not happy seeing Trenton politicians endorsing anybody. If people want the school board to function like Trenton, they can pay attention to the endorsement,” Marathe said.
Reached after the election, Cheng said Fleres and Marathe both provided guidance, calling them “good advisors throughout the process.” Cheng went to school with Marathe’s oldest daughter, and he said Marathe introduced him to Fleres and other board members.
How Hurwitz fell so out of favor among her school board colleagues is uncertain. One point of contention during her term on the board concerned this year’s budgeting process. As reported in the March 21 issue of the News, Hurwitz said: “We had no budget retreat this year, nor did we have in-depth conversations about the budget.” She voted against the budget as a “matter of conscience.”
In the same article, superintendent David Aderhold said: “To say we didn’t have a budget process is disingenuous at best. We have been working on this budget for over a year, and we have had many, many conversations about it, as we always do.”
Fleres later explained: “I disagreed with her on the fact of the process. The process had been consistent over the years. Neither me nor any other board members knew she had objection to the process.”
When reached by phone after the election Hurwitz said, “I have no interest in having any comment right now,” before ending the call without further elaboration.
In West Windsor, the school board election has begun to mirror the township’s active local politics scene. There has been an unprecedented spike in school board signage, campaign expenditures, as well as reports of volunteers canvassing outside polling stations.
In addition to the involvement of Marathe, Hsueh has voiced support for candidates. At the CJCAA picnic, Hsueh told attendees to vote for Zhang and Hurwitz, which Zhang said was “personal advice to members of the community.”
“The CJCAA picnic event was an open invitation,” Zhang said, “We invited all levels of officials in our area.”
Hsueh said Zhang is a friend who has been supportive in the past, and that the CJCAA picnic was a social gathering.
Said Hsueh: “I have not openly and officially endorsed anybody in writing. School board is not supposed to be political. Elected officials will not get involved in endorsements of school board candidates. That is a mutual understanding between the school board and municipal government.”
Hsueh also commented on the increase in political signs, saying this is the first time he recalls all the candidates having put up signs.
“I’m concerned for future local public office elections,” Hsueh said. “The scale of resources involved may discourage people from participating.” He added that school board campaign expenditures are usually several hundred dollars.
Residents also noticed the explosion in school board signs and the possibly illegal placement on public and private property. There were around 50 signs by Kaye and Krug, while Zhang had more than 300 signs.
Hsueh said the township has received calls regarding the unfair removal of signs, and that those were removed by the township are according to local ordinances.
At the school board meeting on election night, West Windsor resident Catherine Foley, who has three children in the district and is a former PTSA president at Community Middle School, expressed concern regarding the large expenditures in this year’s board election.
“I’m grateful to anyone making the sacrifice and serving on the board,” Foley says. “I feel we need independent board members who don’t owe anything to any party, any interest. You’ve got someone supporting your campaign, what do they want back? Board candidates need to reject any political ties.”
According to state campaign filings available before the election, Zhang has disclosed more than $8,700 in contributions. Hurwitz has disclosed contributions totaling more than $5,600, including donations by Benson and Greenstein. Cheng said he spent more than $1,000.
Zhang held a fundraiser in early October, though he declined to specify who attended.
“I don’t think any school board member in Plainsboro, until this year, spent more than $1,000,” Fleres said. “It’s a volunteer job. It’s strange you have to spend a couple thousand dollars to volunteer in schools. If it’s going to take that much, you’re going to weed out good people who just don’t want to deal with that.”
Outgoing board vice president Kaye will continue to serve as a class room volunteer at Dutch Neck Elementary School. “I’m grateful to have had the opportunity of serving the district for nine years,” said Kaye, who despite this year’s contentious election voiced confidence in the board.
