Election 2022: Jeff Mann, Holmdel Board of Education

HOLMDEL, NJ — Jeff Mann is one of eight candidates seeking three full-term seats on the Holmdel Board of Education in the Nov. 8 general election.

In these profiles, based on questions provided, the candidates give voters background about themselves and their positions on the issues. Patch is publishing individual profiles leading up to the election.

Mann is part of the slate Save Holmdel Schools, which says it supports academic excellence and wants to ensure parental rights regarding the state-mandated health/sex education standards.

Mann says that better communication from the school board and the district with parents is a priority to him. "I feel we can do better by simply reaching out, listening and making the attempt to inform and educate parents and students alike," he says. Mann says he also would like to see an appointed curriculum oversight group formed to provide parents with prior information about curriculum.

Read more from candidate Jeff Mann:

Name: Jeff Mann

Age: 47

Town of residence: Holmdel

Position sought: Holmdel Board of Education

Are you an incumbent or have previous board or civic experience? No

Do you have a campaign designation or slate? Save Holmdel Schools

Campaign website: www.saveholmdelschools.org

Family: Wife, Jennifer; son, Jackson; daughter, Julia

Occupation: Regional manager

Why do you want to run for the school board and what in your experience or background prepares you for election?

I feel we are straying form the academic excellence Holmdel is known for, we seem to be attempting to focus on an ideology that is not in line with educating our children to succeed in life and I want to help set us back on course.

In my current corporate role as a Regional Manager, I manage a team of 17 people from Maine to Pennsylvania. I oversee the execution of large facility maintenance projects where materials and labor need to come together at my customers large retail sites within a strict timeline. Frequent pivoting and finding solutions to ever changing problems is where I can add value to the school board.

If you are running as part of a slate of candidates, please explain the main positions of the slate if there are agreed upon positions. Please name your slate and its other candidates.

Agreed upon positions:

• Focus on academic excellence.
• Oppose new state mandated sex education standards.
• Protect parental rights by ensuring their role in the education of their children.
• Ensuring curriculum transparency and promoting accountability of all stakeholders.

The Save Holmdel Schools slate is also comprised of candidates Chris DiMare and John Buckley.

What do you see as the top issues currently facing your district and how you plan to address them These can be local issues and/or statewide issues:

Locally, I feel parent relations is a top issue of our district, specifically communication and
transparency. My personal experience in dealing with the current BOE in Holmdel has been
underwhelming. Emails from many concerned parents, including me, go unanswered by the
current board president. Whereby concerns are voiced and questions are posed to the board and
they are met with silence. Some current board members are perceived as unassertive,
pretentious and un-welcoming.

An unfortunate example of this came during an Aug. 15 board meeting when a concerned Holmdel father of an 11th-grader stood up in front of the school board, and prior to voicing his concerns said “the overwhelming thing that has me concerned is I encouraged my daughter to come speak today; she didn’t want to because she didn’t think there would be any action.”

This is one example of the overall perception of the board. This is bothersome and unfortunate, I feel we can do better by simply reaching out, listening and making the attempt to inform and educate parents and students alike so they are “in the loop” and not left with little or no information and causing frustration.

Statewide, we have allowed too much state influence in our district with no pushback. There is no place for political agendas in our classrooms. We are seriously lacking in parental oversight as we currently have little or no curriculum transparency and less when it comes to learning aids and materials. This is more important now than ever as they ramp up the new sex education mandates.

Parents need to know what’s in store for their children before it is implemented, proactive documentation and review of specific lesson plans before they are rolled out, including
materials and learning aids would be ideal. This could be accomplished through an appointed
curriculum oversight group.

What changes or improvements do you see for the district that could enhance educational life and is there a way you might accomplish that?

I agree with my bracket and think COVID-related learning loss is lingering. The ripple effect this has on our children is dramatic and could echo through their lives; hindering them socially and financially. In many cases the “achievement gap" is growing especially in the younger students.

Here is a perfect example and a great spot for the State of New Jersey to get involved. We would
welcome it, as there are billions of dollars being allocated and distributed to combat learning
loss. However the State Department of Education under Gov. Phil Murphy was charged with tracking how this money is used; they did not. We are lacking in district accountability here as well as any academic growth from the expenditure.

It is important we address this with innovative new approaches: an accessible networks of tutors
is valuable, as well as online review courses for the summer. Also, focused learning. based on
the needs of children, would be something I’d like to see as well, utilizing testing to formulate the
learning needs and implement lesson plans for the specific cohort.

Candidates for Holmdel Township Board of Education:

Full Term - Vote for Three

• Deborah Wilson, School Community Advocacy
• Elizabeth Urbanski
• Chris DiMare, Save Holmdel Schools
• Jeff D. Mann, Save Holmdel Schools
• John Buckley, Save Holmdel Schools
• Joanne Lam, Education First
• Alicia Unusan, Education First
• Mathew Weisfeld, Education First