Stafford Township Board Of Education Election 2025: Barbara Crystal

MANAHAWKIN, NJ — Election Day is Nov. 4, and voters will have their say on New Jersey's next governor. But in Manahawkin, residents will also vote on school board and county elections.

Ahead of the 2025 election, Patch will be publishing profiles on local candidates. Here's what Barbara Crystal had to say.

Editor's Note: Patch sent out emails to all candidates to the email addresses listed for their campaign provided to the office of the clerk. The responses received will be published between now and the Nov. 4 general election. These responses will be published edited only for style. Candidates who would like to participate but did not receive one (for whatever reason) can contact veronica.flesher@patch.com.

Name: Barbara Crystal

Age: 61

Education: Bachelor of Science in Special Education - University of Virginia, Master of Education in Special Education Technology - George Mason University

Occupation: Retired 5th -12th Grade Special Education Teacher - Arlington Public Schools, Virginia (5 years), Southern Regional High School (28 years)

Government Experience: Stafford Democratic County Committee member for 3 years and interim Chair for 2 years

Family: Mother of two adult daughters who attended Stafford Schools and graduated from Southern Regional High School

What drove you to seek public office?
Both of my daughters received a high quality educational foundation in Stafford, and I believe that all of our children deserve the same strong academic start. I want to support our exceptional teaching staff, and promote more communication between parents, families, staff and our community members. I also feel that more oversight and transparency regarding district construction projects and community concerns is needed.

What sets you apart from other candidates?
I am the only former teacher running for a seat on the Stafford Board of Education. I have taught phonics, reading comprehension, critical thinking, sentence, paragraph and essay writing, early foundational math skills through solving complex algebraic equations, and more. My time at Southern Regional enabled me to see exactly what elementary skills were crucial for students’ secondary level academic success. I bring that unique and broad curricular knowledge to the table.

What is the most pressing issue facing the Stafford Township School District?
As a veteran educator and a long-term member of our community, I was seriously concerned to hear that high quality teachers are choosing to leave our district. In the past, the majority of Stafford and Southern Regional teachers would spend their careers working in their schools. Our students lose out when good teachers opt to move on to other school systems. I would like to find out why this is happening, and what our district can do to retain our outstanding teaching staff.

If elected, what will your top priority be?
In order to do what is in the best interest of all of our students, I believe that it is critical for the school board to establish more open and informative communication between the school district and our community. The handling of last year’s administrative incident lacked a professional level of communication, and information was withheld from students’ families and residents. If elected, I will hold periodic listening sessions inviting parents and families to voice their concerns and ask questions, and make suggestions about educational topics. It truly takes all of us working together to provide our children with the best possible start on their educational journeys.

What is your favorite thing about living in Stafford?
I am originally from McLean, Virginia and I moved to New Jersey in 1993 to begin teaching at Southern Regional. I love our community, and truly cherish the 28 years that I spent teaching in our high school. People here are kind, have big hearts and come together to support each other in challenging times. I am so grateful that I moved to Manahawkin, and was able to raise my two daughters here.