Here Are 4 Takeaways From Chatham's Board Of Ed Candidates' Forum

CHATHAM, NJ — There are four candidates vying for two seats on the School District of the Chathams’ Board of Education, one three-year seat and one, one-year unexpired term.

Incumbent Ann Ciccarelli in the three-year seat faced challenger Lara Freidenfelds and Chris Delsandro in the unexpired term, his challenger Brian Hargrove, in a virtual forum hosted by the Morristown Area League of Women Voters.

Here is how they each weighed in on several of the issues discussed during the 1.25 hour live-streamed forum on Monday, Oct. 25, from questions that had been submitted in advance by the public. Toni Zimmer of Sussex County’s League of Women Voters was the moderator.

1. Is it the Board of Education’s responsibility to be involved in identifying possible gaps in learning due to COVID restrictions? If yes, what actions would you support and how would you ensure that students who have fallen behind due to COVID will receive the academic support they need?

Freidenfelds said it’s the administration that does the detailed work in “figuring out how to implement these kinds of services for our students,” with the board in an oversight role. At present, she said teachers are looking for the gaps now, especially in the lower grades. Once they have identified them, administrators, she said should support them and the board, in turn, the administrators.

Hargrove echoed Freidenfelds support of school administrators, as well as stating the board assists with policymaking. Once gaps are identified, he said it’s important that students receive the attention that they need, in light of what they’ve dealt with in the past 1.5 years of the pandemic.

Delsandro said he’s on a policy board already, which receives policies from the state, as well as those written by or through the policy board. At present, he said attempts are being made to identify gaps, with it a district priority to assist students with pandemic-related “mental, social and emotional learning gaps.”

Ciccarelli said that students, parents and staff have worked together “tirelessly to make sure our kids are getting the best possible education they could have gotten.” In her role as chair of the personnel committee, over the past 18 to 20 months, Ciccarelli said work has been done to ensure that the district has been fully staffed, with teachers having access to what they needed, the social, emotional and learning gaps a few of many concerns.

2. With the potential of high-density housing coming to Chatham Borough and an uptick in enrollment based on that, what advice would the candidates give on handling the increase?

Hargrove said that fluctuations in population have been a trend in the past and would need to be something to watch. He said the School District of the Chathams has been successful in keeping an eye on the dollars spent per student, in what he called “a very competitive level,” as well as the student-teacher ratio. He said the board would need to work closely with administration to ensure growth was managed.

Delsandro said the district has been fortunate to attract amazing teachers, however, more recently because of the pandemic there have been challenges to find qualified teachers, with staffing a concern for him if the student body increased overall. The district’s Human Resources manager, he added, has been actively working on recruiting college graduates.

Ciccarelli said she is the liaison with Chatham Borough’s Council and Planning Board and is very familiar with potential upcoming construction projects, with the school district “working collaboratively” with the borough. Staffing, space and funding, would be three necessary elements should there be an increase in enrollment.

Freidenfelds said demographically, the district has decreased in numbers, especially at the elementary school levels, with concerns already about staff loss, such as to the librarians on staff. She said the school district’s positive programming, clubs and activities are attributed to the district’s size. She said if there were an influx of students, which she doesn’t foresee could happen with the potential building plans, it will offset “what has been a gradual decline.”

3. What are the district’s major strengths, weaknesses and challenges?

Delsandro said a challenge at the forefront is the mental health of students in the district, with a program that was in place over the summer to help about 150 ninth graders transition to in-person learning at the high school. Funding, he said is another challenge, with the district needing to“find new ways to continually fund the schools,” whether through grants and/or new revenue sources, including shared services.

Ciccarelli outlined a short-term challenge, which she said has been keeping students and staff safe during the pandemic, with the district successful in keeping COVID numbers low overall. New housing will be a challenge over the next three or five years, she added, as candidates had discussed previously. One long-term challenge, she said, is finding new teachers, especially in World Languages and other concentrated subject areas.

Freidenfelds said the district’s strength lies in its “academic excellence,” which she said is related to the significant challenge of mental health issues that are persisting in the pandemic but pre-dated COVID, with students facing internalized pressure to be successful students. She and Hargrove have proposed some other plans for mental health, such as ones that allow students to network with people in and out of the community, including students from other cities or countries.

Hargrove said a strength in Chatham is its educational system, calling it a “benchmark school” and one of the primary reasons why many residents moved into or stay in Chatham. He also complimented the district on its mental health programs. He said students at Milton Avenue Elementary are feeling the impact of the loss of the school's librarian.

Ciccarelli rebutted Hargrove’s commentary about the librarian loss, stating as “much as we didn’t want to have to eliminate a librarian, our class sizes have gone down dramatically,” stating while the 2021 graduating class had 361 students, there are only 185 kindergartners, 234 first graders and 230 second graders, in the district. She called the elimination of the position the “fiscally-responsible thing to do at the time,” with students still having library periods as they’d had previously.

Hargrove responded, stating he agreed on the decline in enrollment, but said teachers are performing "double duty," with the rotating librarian a "stress factor at Milton.”

A question about SEPAG (the Special Education Parent Advisory Group) came up, which serves about 750 special education families in the district. The candidates were asked what the board’s role should be in collaborating with SEPAG?

Ciccarelli answered that the board has been “open to SEPAG’s comments and updates," with the group representatives coming to board meetings and Superintendent Dr. Michael LaSusa and other administrators attending SEPAG meetings. She commended SEPAG for its work and said the board would do what it could to support them, with the administration the main collaborators.

Freidenfelds said if elected, she would like to be the group's liaison, suggesting SEPAG comes to meetings because there is currently no board liaison. She feels communication should be tightened with SEPAG, in case of dire situations with any of the special needs students. She is an adult with a disability, she said and understands how issues can escalate.

Hargrove said continued open dialogue and alignment with SEPAG is necessary, to ensure voices of the SEPAG families are heard. He said the board’s number one role is policy management with finances, but being a support to SEPAG is something the board should strive to do.

Delsandro said grew up with “severe learning disabilities” growing up and is empathetic to the families and students with SEPAG, also stating the board has been sympathetic to SEPAG. He also has a daughter who struggled with auditory issues, but wasn't able to get help, as she was on the borderline with them. He said he virtually participated a recent SEPAG symposium. Delsandro said if he was elected to the board, he would, like Freidenfelds, be glad to be a liaison for SEPAG.

Click the video below to watch the forum in its entirety:

RELATED: Meet Chatham Board Of Education Candidates In Forum: Watch

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