In 2013, I got elected to the WW-P school board, thanks to the support from many residents. I got elected in Plainsboro, but will be responsible for the tax payers from the entire WW-P district, including those who voted for my opponents. I will listen to residents from both Plainsboro and West Windsor.
I want to learn and get involved with the district affairs. For each policy, I believe there are people who are more knowledgeable on the topic than myself. I believe everyone deserves basic respect and every child should benefit from our school district. So I always seek advice from others. In fact, I have spoken to thousands of parents in the past three years.
In the vote to name the High School North baseball field after David Bachner, I read many stories about David Bachner. I realized that David was the greatest baseball player that high school north has ever had. I spoke to dozens of residents, including David’s parents Rhonda and Stephen Bachner, who have since moved to Florida.
I also listened to the opinion from Kurt Baker and Tricia Baker, who lead the effort of “Attitude in Reverse” to prevent young adult suicide. I voted in favor of the naming effort. I want to salute to Bachners and Bakers, who each lost sons in the summer of 2009. I wish both families well.
In the most controversial A&E math voting, I discussed the topic with hundreds of parents, students, other board members, teachers and administrators. I listened to opinions from both sides and attended many meetings. I voted against the change as I was uncertain of the effectiveness of the change and want to see a parallel pilot program.
For controversial policies, I try to come up with a win-win solution. This is illustrated in my proposal to make Chinese New Year and Diwali as district holidays. I made a proposal during my election campaign and shared it with the WWP News. The original request was to make Chinese New Year as an additional district holiday, which means one school day will be deducted from the calendar, making it non-compliant with the state law.
To solve this problem, I proposed to move Teachers Professional Development Day to Chinese New Year Day. That way, students can celebrate the holiday at home while not losing a school day. I also treated Diwali equally important, as WW-P has large number of Indian families.
If both holidays are on the weekends, I propose to move teachers professional development day into another major holiday, such as Eid or Kwanzaa, of different ethnic group in WW-P district. My solution is a win-win situation.
This election is about parents and students. I will keep listening to parents and students in the district.
Yu Taylor Zhong
Plainsboro
Zhong is an incumbent running for the WW-P School Board
