[ back ]
Five candidates vie for three terms
(by Kathryn A. Burger - April 02, 2008)
Five candidates are seeking three, three-year terms on the
Park Ridge Board of Education: incumbents Frank Church and Barbara von Bradsky, both of whom are seeking their third consecutive terms, and challengers Robert Sileo, Sue Tudisco and Lisa Verducci. (Board member Alan Beltoff is not seeking re-election.) Each candidate was asked to respond to the same two questions. A narrative of their responses follows.
Controlling costs while maintaining and improving academic offerings is one of the many challenges that local boards of education face. The candidates weighed in on how they would address this issue by responding to the following question:
With fixed costs – that now represent nearly 90 percent of the total cost to run the district – on the rise, how would you control costs? For example, would you consider increasing class sizes?
Frank Church said he has worked on seven school budgets during his years on the board. “On each occasion, I have worked with the other board members to strike a balance between providing a high quality education with fiscal responsibility.” He said his preference is to maintain class sizes that are, “educationally appropriate, especially at the elementary schools.”
Robert Sileo said he would focus on reducing special education costs. “I would continue to develop new programs that would enable us to reduce some of our special education costs by bringing some of our students back into the district. These programs must be equal to or better than what the children may be receiving in their out-of-district placements.” He said he would also “look to develop new shared service opportunities with our municipality or other communities and agencies, whenever it will be benefit our district.”
Susan Tudisco opposes increasing class sizes. “I feel small class size is very important especially for the primary grades. The student-teacher ratio is so imperative for a proper learning environment.” As the rising costs, she said, “Costs go up – that’s why they do. Our kids shouldn’t have to pay the price. I believe we will find a way to make it all work,” through close scrutiny of the budget, fiscal prudence, “and, yes, paying a few more dollars.”
Lisa Verducci said, “I care about how our tax dollars are spent. As a board member, I plan on utilizing the facts to address our academic and financial issues.
Barbara von Bradsky said it is important for the board to be, “proactive in looking for areas to save money,” and while a “quick place to find money may be to increase class sizes and cut salaries, I would not advocate this route unless the circumstances were extreme.” She said the board should, “continue to use cost-saving measures such as participating in several school consortiums to purchase supplies, energy and insurance at lower rates and continue to work with the borough council to identify any possible areas of savings.” She recommends looking at educational models used by other small
Bergen
County districts; exploring grant opportunities and favors providing in-district programs for special education students who are currently in out-of-district programs.
All five candidates were also asked to respond to the following question:
What, in your opinion, is the single most important issue facing the district?
Church said that issue is lack of space. “Due to enrollment increases and required state and federal programs, the district has run out of space.” He said that over the past few years, the board has worked with district administrators, “to develop and implement plans to maximize space utilization within the district.” And while the district is still short of space, “the board is currently considering long-term options that would not only address the space issue, but more importantly, provide facilities that would enable the district to maintain appropriate class sizes, offer additional courses and conduct instruction in an optimal setting.”
Sileo said the district must be able to, “maintain existing programs… and to slowly expand new programs to address student needs,” such as continuing to build, “a strong middle school program.”
Tudisco said, “What’s important is keeping it all about the kids. People get so wrapped up in dollars and cents that I feel they lose focus on the real importance of the happiness in a child’s learning experience. A happy comfortable child will learn and grow faster that a bored and distracted child. We need to keep the programs challenging and interesting and be able to offer choices and make them more available.” She said the district’s small size is an advantage because it provides the, “ability to aim towards tailoring programs to the children and not making the children fit the programs.”
Verducci said, “I feel the single greatest issue plaguing our district right now, is the fact that the community’s trust in the school board has waned significantly due to the failure of the impractical $65 million building referendum the board developed in 2006.” She said she thinks the residents have “lost faith in the board’s ability to run our schools in the right way,” and points to the defeat of last year’s school budget as proof of that assertion.
Von Bradsky said the district’s growing population coupled with condition of its facilities constitutes the single most important issue. “The board needs to form a building plan based on information gained from its previous two facilities committees, the findings outlined in the feasibility study, and input from the community. The plan must meet the needs of the growing student population, must be acceptable to all segments of the community and must be fiscally responsible.”
Biographical information on each of the candidates, as well as their reasons for seeking a seat on the board, will be published in the April 9 edition of Community Life.
Kathryn A. Burger's e-mail address is burger@northjersey.com.
[ back ]
