Board of Ed Candidates Spar Over Future of District as Election Nears

Six candidates vying for seats on the Englewood Board of Education made their final election pitches and responded to a variety of questions from residents about district spending decisions, student achievement and treatment of parents Thursday night before a passionate crowd at City Council chambers.

Residents take to the polls Tuesday to elect three of the candidates to three-year terms on the nine-member board.

Stephen Brown and Glenn Garrison, who are both nine-year veterans of the board, spent much of Thursday’s debate defending their record against repeated onslaughts from the public and their challengers.

At issue were the length and tenor of board meetings, the outsourcing of district secretaries and classroom assistants, and the elimination or watering down of academic programs while continuing to pay the superintendent more than the state-imposed salary cap.

“I think we’ve spent in wrong areas,” challenger Junius “Jeff” Carter III said. “We’re overpaying our superintendent and if we look at bringing some of those other costs in then we would have the funds to be able to put in the programs that are necessary.”

Carter, an employee of the Bergen County Special Services School District, is running with fellow challengers Devry Pazant and Carol Feinstein. They oppose the slate that comprises incumbents Brown and Garrison, and newcomer Amy Ginsberg, an associate dean at Long Island University in Brookyln.

Despite running alongside incumbents, Ginsberg took a measured approach to many of the debated issues, acknowledged the need for change within the district and advocated a comprehensive assessment of its programs and practices. 

The audience broke into spontaneous applause after a number of her responses, including statements she made preaching mutual respect between residents and board members.

“Even if you disagree with the decisions that the board members made, those are members that were elected by the people of Englewood…and they’re working really, really hard to do right by the kids of Englewood,” Ginsberg said in response to a question about healing the strained relationship between the board and the community. “On the other side, I think that the questions and the challenges that the public brings to the board, even if they’re not questions that the board likes to be asked, make the board do their job better, and so the tough questions and the challenges are good and they should continue.” 

Ginsberg also straddled the middle ground during a contentious debate over the length of board meetings, which have been known to run so late that many parents with young children can’t attend or must leave early before their questions have been answered.

Incumbents Brown and Garrison defended the length of meetings, arguing that their purpose was to disseminate information and allow the public to witness the board’s drawn out deliberations, not necessarily answer the concerns of residents. 

“If someone has a question, if someone has a concern, standing at the mic is not always the best way to get your answer,” Garrison said. “Your superintendent is in his office every day, there are principals in the schools, every board member has an email address and a phone number listed on the website that you can call, we’ll be more than happy to give information to you.” 

Feinstein and her fellow challengers disagreed, arguing that the meetings were intended for parents and their children, and suggested the board hold separate “listening meetings” where residents could ask questions.

“If the parents come out, then we need to keep their interest in coming out by making the meetings user-friendly,” said Feinstein, the former president of the Englewood Teachers Association. “I attend a lot of board meetings in this state in different communities and that is not an issue in successful school districts.”

Each of the candidates offered pet programs or initiatives they would like to see implemented in Englewood. 

Brown noted the New Jersey SEEDS program, which provides talented, economically-disadvantaged students with extra academic enrichment on weekends and in the summer. He said the district had supported the program for four years until it became too expensive to continue. Going forward, Brown said the district needed to consider extending its school day and giving students more time on task.

Garrison spoke of launching a career development program for children who are not college bound that he said he’s been working on with the county.

“I think it would be a wonderful program to bring to our children,” he said. “We’re probably a year out right now, but as with anything else someone has to take ownership and push it and that’s my baby right now.”

Pazant, a TD Bank branch manager, advocated for more financial literacy courses for students and Carter said he thought the district should take better advantage of its rich well of community volunteers to provide students with free after-school tutoring or mentoring.

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