Bloomfield Board of Education Candidates Answer Questions About Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The seven candidates running for three seats on the Bloomfield Board of Education are participating in a survey that will be published in four installments, starting with this first installment on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Bloomfield Schools.

Other topic areas include:

• Transparency and Good Governance– October 17
• Superintendent Search and Oversight– October 24
• Policy Issues– October 31

Six of the candidates are running in two slates: 1) Stronger Schools Now Slate, including Deanna Wilson, Kerri Joyce, and Jelani Jeffrey; 2) For the Students Slate, including Andrew LoMonte, Quan R. Miller, and Thomas Heaney. Ben Morse is running as an independent candidate, listed on the ballot as One for All.

The three members of the board elected on November 4 will be one-third of the nine member board that will select a new superintendent after the recently announced retirement of current Bloomfield Superintendent Sal Goncalves on June 30, 2026.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Bloomfield Schools

Local group Bengals Connect gathered input and developed two questions on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:

• How can you as a board member support the needs of a diverse student body?
• How can schools reduce the disproportionate punishment of students of color? Do you support a restorative justice approach?

Deanna Wilson
Stronger Schools Now

My name is Deanna Wilson, a Bloomfield resident, a mother of two, a wife and a Childcare provider. I am currently working towards my master’s degree in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA Therapy), where I will provide ABA services within my childcare center.

How can you as a board member support the needs of a diverse student body?

As a potential board member, I would advocate for recruitment and establish retention strategies that will ensure the teaching staff and leadership reflect the diversity of the student population. In addition, I will advocate for safe spaces in each school that will ensure all students feel comfortable seeking assistance.

How can schools reduce the disproportionate punishment of students of color? Do you support a restorative justice approach?

Schools can reduce the disproportionate punishment of students of color by simply listening. Creating policies that ensure responses to behavior are equitable, culturally responsive, and focused on student growth rather than exclusion. I also support the restorative justice approach, if it is done properly. Meaning, ensuring that the staff is properly trained in the techniques used for this approach.

Kerri Joyce
Stronger Schools Now

I have been a resident of Bloomfield for almost 20 years, and a homeowner for 11 of those years. I received my Bachelor's from Montclair State University and my MBA from Rutgers University. I work in the Financial industry and I commute to Manhattan 4-5 days a week. I am also a woman living with a disability, and my son is Autistic and attends Oak View elementary school. I have no political aspirations, I'm just a concerned special needs mom who is passionate about making things better for ALL students.

How can you as a board member support the needs of a diverse student body?

A diverse student body needs a diverse board. Input from board members of different backgrounds will help shape how the board addresses diversity within the student body. Hiring a diverse teaching staff is a start, but a diverse administration, like diverse guidance counselors, is also a necessity. If elected I would work on mentorship programs, implementing extracurricular activities such as clubs, that join students with teachers and other students from their backgrounds and cultures. Mentoring programs could look like partnerships with local colleges and universities in exchange for college credits.

How can schools reduce the disproportionate punishment of students of color? Do you support a restorative justice approach?

Diversity in hiring will help. Having more diverse teachers and staff who can connect better with students of color will bring down the disproportionate punishment of students of color. Training for all staff on how to diffuse tense situations, how to connect with students who may have, say, a language barrier, will help.

Jelani Jeffrey
Stronger Schools Now

My name is Jelani Jeffrey, and I am a proud Bloomfield resident of six years and father of three, including one neurodivergent child. I bring a diverse professional background in insurance, banking, real estate analytics, sales, and public speaking. These experiences have strengthened my commitment to thoughtful decision-making, fiscal responsibility, and inclusive community engagement.

How can you as a board member support the needs of a diverse student body?

As a prospective board member, I will advocate for policies that celebrate diversity, promote inclusion, and ensure our staff and leadership reflect the communities they serve. Every student deserves to feel valued, supported, and empowered to succeed. My focus is on advancing equity, expanding opportunity, and fostering meaningful connections across all schools.

How can schools reduce the disproportionate punishment of students of color? Do you support a restorative justice approach?

Reducing disproportionate discipline starts with building a staff that reflects the diversity of the students they serve and approaches every situation with fairness. A diverse workforce fosters stronger connections and understanding, creating a more equitable school climate. Ongoing training in cultural responsiveness, de-escalation, and effective communication ensures all students are treated with empathy, dignity, and respect.

Andrew LoMonte
For the Students

Andrew LoMonte is a community organizer and lifelong Bloomfield resident dedicated to public service and civic engagement. A 2023 graduate of Bloomfield High School, he served as Class President for four years and was actively involved in the school’s leadership program, theater program, Key Club, and served as a youth member for Bloomfield Unico. Andrew’s passion for leadership and advocacy continued beyond graduation, culminating in his election as a District Leader- allowing him to work with policymakers, be active in the community, and advocate for the needs of his constituents. Committed to uplifting his community, he brings energy, creativity, and a deep understanding of local needs to everything he does.

How can you as a board member support the needs of a diverse student body?

One of the greatest strengths of the Bloomfield schools is our diversity. I am proud to be running with a multi-generational slate, all from different parts of town. I believe we would adequately represent the diversity of the student body on the Board of Education. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion also means including people of all ages in the conversation, which is why I am proudly running to give the next generation a seat at the table. As a board member, I would make sure that I am supporting the needs of a diverse student body by working towards an inclusive and updated curriculum and supporting students and staff of all different backgrounds.

How can schools reduce the disproportionate punishment of students of color? Do you support a restorative justice approach?

I believe schools can reduce the disproportionate punishment of students of color by using data to track any disparities, providing bias training, and rely on social and emotional learning as well as school counseling. I support a restorative justice approach.

Quan R. Miller
For the Students

Quan R. Miller is a proud Bloomfield resident, husband, and father of a 2nd grade boy who attends Carteret elementary school, and a playful baby girl in Nursery School. For the past 15 years, this town has been home for his family. He is running for the Board of Education because he cares deeply about our kids’ safety, their success in the classroom, and building a school system that supports every child, teacher, and family. Quan wants to work together to make sure our schools are strong, clean, safe, and full of opportunity.

How can you as a board member support the needs of a diverse student body?

I will support the needs of the student body in any way I can, and I will ask for the BTA training to be enhanced to fit the needs.

How can schools reduce the disproportionate punishment of students of color? Do you support a restorative justice approach?

Instead of suspending kids we can have them write apology letters for what they did. We can also mentor them. We can provide counseling to address different issues they may have at home or trauma they may be facing.

Thomas Heaney
For the Students

My name is Thomas Heaney and I have four Bloomfield educated children, two have graduated University, one just started university, and one is an eighth grader. I have been a volunteer in town for 25 years now, and 20 years involved with the HSA. I have been a coach, a cook, a Boy Scout leader and many other hats in between. I served on the Bloomfield BOE from 2017- 2020. Our team became Board Certified, helping our BOE become District Certified. Having 8 of 9 members become Board Certified made our BOE a highly functional and effective working group.

How can you as a board member support the needs of a diverse student body?

One good way to support a diverse student body is to have a diverse body of educators, from the staff to the teachers and on the Board of Education as well. We need people in places that students should feel comfortable sharing without fear or punishment. Teachers who support the LGBTQ students and the GLOW club should be exemplified as heroes for saving lives. We recently attended the Welcome Back to School for Pride day. Many in the community came out to give tribute to and celebrate the life of a student who is no longer with us. If elected I pledge to insure Welcome Back to School day for LGBTQ becomes an annual event. May we never forget the name Damien Lopez.

I am running on a diverse and intergenerational slate. If elected we pledge to support current and proven DEI initiatives as guided from the state and from NJSBA. Governor Murphy just signed a law that requires classroom instruction on Hispanic and Latino History. As a majority Hispanic and Latino district, we will work to implement those new guidelines into the curriculum.
While serving on the BOE we initiated and supported Social Emotional Learning into the curriculum which overlaps into places like inclusion classrooms, where my own special needs children were given the opportunity to just be a kid with the other kids, learning alongside peers.

We made sure that all schools have to be given updates and physical repairs with equity such that all schools get repairs for security and safety, like new doors and better windows for planned addition of environmental controls. Security and safety apply to all students, not just the schools that can raise the most money in their HSA groups. I do know there are Black History Month celebrations at the high school and the African-American Community have clubs in the High School. I know there are several classes exploring black history in the middle school as well as the high school.

I forever remember coming into my kids classrooms as a mystery reader and seeing all the black women of history up and down the walls between the classrooms. Learning about Katherine Johnson started my oldest on wonderment with space which still keeps his attention now a chemist in his 20's. The teachers are the best. They are constantly updating with new skills and methods. They are the stewards of our children at the end of the day. Because of their good works, our children learn and grow into beautiful people. Our teachers really do multiple jobs as teachers, yet often are buying supplies out of their meager paychecks.

How can schools reduce the disproportionate punishment of students of color? Do you support a restorative justice approach?

Yes, we support a restorative justice approach. We believe that all students live and learn and need to be guided and directed and given the resources and instruction needed to function with their peers. We understand some students have special needs and need accommodations. Bloomfield School district is fortunate to have agreements with neighboring schools and districts.

One such place is at Bloomfield College where students can avoid the big crowds found at the high school and finish their studies in a much smaller building. Sometimes the solution is not in the classroom but at the home or other places outside the classroom. Those students should be helped with extra support if they need it.

Information about demographics of students receiving suspensions in Bloomfield schools can be found on page 72 of the district’s NJ School Performance Report: https://www.nj.gov/education/sprreports/202324/District-Detail/13-0410.pdf

This is a detailed report. Bloomfield is one of the most integrated school districts in New Jersey, which happens to be one of the most segregated states in the nation.

Whites are a minority with ~23%
Black/ African American are ~21%.
Hispanic /Latino are the majority with ~47%.

While we can say for sure that Blacks/AfricanAmericans are at 5% suspension rate, while Whites or Hispanic/Latino are at only 2%, which is disproportionate punishment, we must also look at the 2 dozen students out of over 2000 students in the building. We could hire interventionists, each having their own specialty.

Ben Morse
One for All

Hello, I'm Ben Morse and I've been on the Bloomfield Board of Education for 8 years, 7 concurrently. I've been involved with Bloomfield schools since my daughter was in pre-k at Shoresh, kindergarten at Franklin Elementary, and then at Watsessing for the rest of elementary school through to high school graduation.

For employment, I'm the managing editor of Platts Oilgram Price Report for S&P Global and have been working for the company for 23 years.

In addition to traveling adventures with my family, I enjoy coffee with friends at Skidoo Cafe and walking my dog, Maestro.

How can you as a board member support the needs of a diverse student body?

As a board member, I support the district's philosophy of meeting students where they are and developing an individualized learning plan to make sure each student can grow academically and socially no matter what their background is.

On a practical level this has meant investing in a robust student management system, building out teams of interventionists, creating programs like the Backstop and High Impact Tutoring programs, and increasing our guidance and mental health support capabilities.

It also means supporting the establishment of clubs, sports, theater and other extracurricular activities so the district can engage as many students as possible and keep them interested in coming to school.

The successes of the programs are evident in several ways 1) is through assessment data that shows steady progress across the student population, except during the covid era and 2) Bloomfield’s top graduates each year are as diverse a group as you can find. If you can work hard, success is within reach in Bloomfield .

We also offer a diverse set of programs to match the wide range of student needs from the alternative education Twilight Program to Career and Technical education pathways as well as a college preparatory experience.

How can schools reduce the disproportionate punishment of students of color? Do you support a restorative justice approach?

Post Covid, Social and Emotional Learning has been an increased focus for the district. We have increased hiring of mental health professionals and developed programs that tend to the whole child and it’s a work in progress, but ultimately this should reduce suspension rates for all students in the district.

Restorative justice plays an important role in this and the district continues to deepen its implementation.

For instance, Demarest deserves a shout out (https://essexnewsdaily.com/headlne-news/restorative-justice-at-demarest-...'s%20attention) for being in the forefront in that space. Feedback about the program at Demarest has been great and I would support this project being implemented across our elementary schools.

If we start with restorative practices in the elementary schools it will have a positive effect that should last well into the student’s high school career.

One area the district could improve upon is parent/guardian engagement. The schools can’t control what goes on at home but the success we had with our High Impact Tutoring program offers a good model for how the district might engage more with parents/guardians.

The program targeted students with the lowest grades in the elementary schools and one of the requirements to participate was a commitment from them to support the student in making time to study everyday and making sure the student attended the sessions.

The program starts with a parent/guardian meeting to discuss the student’s academic well being and stress the importance of nipping in the bud any bad study habits now before school gets that much more difficult in the future.

With parents/guardians on board, the result was near perfect attendance for most students and grades went up, in some cases by an entire grade level. Truly amazing results.

If we could engage parents/guardians in this way about student behavior, we should have similarly positive outcomes.

Candidate forum and election details

On October 25, 2025, a Bloomfield Board of Education Candidate Forum will be held at 3:00 p.m. at the Bloomfield Public Library, hosted by Bloomfield Pride, Bloomfield DEI Network, Bengals Connect, Bloomfield for Preschool Expansion, and Bloomfield Restorative Justice Partners. Questions will be sourced ahead of the forum in Facebook groups, through community organizations, and can be submitted to preschoolforbloomfield@gmail.com. The forum will also include a 45 minute informal meet and greet for community members to meet all of the candidates and ask any additional questions they have.

Election Day is November 4, 2025, and early voting will begin October 25. More information about in-person and vote-by-mail options can be found here: https://www.bloomfieldtwpnj.com/1541/Voter-Information

The author is a part of Bengals Connect: Inside Bloomfield Schools, a Facebook group for residents of Bloomfield, New Jersey who want to be better informed about how our school district operates. Our goal is to engage in discourse on issues in our district and to take meaningful action to advocate for children in our town. https://www.facebook.com/group...