Election Profile: Surekha Collur For Holmdel Board Of Education

HOLMDEL, NJ —Three seats are open for the Holmdel Township Board of Education and six candidates are in the run.

Terence M. Wall, Surekha Collur, Kimberly Tuccillo, Weiping Wang, Jill Perez and Kristy O'Connor are all vying for a seat.

Collur, 57, is an ophthalmologist who also currently serves in the Holmdel Zoning Board and Holmdel Green Team.

She has been a Holmdel resident for two decades and owns her own eye practice, Bayshore Ophthalmology.

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READ MORE: Holmdel 2021 Election: Who's Running, All The Ways To Vote

Why are you seeking elective office?

In 2003 I moved to Holmdel with two toddlers in tow. I had an opportunity to start my medical practice here. I love this town. In Holmdel I got the chance to be a part of a wonderful community, bringing together the elements that were important to me: My family, my sons’ education, and my work. It’s a blessing that my patients are my neighbors and friends. It is here that I found a deep sense of connection to my community. Holmdel’s schools played a huge role in turning my boys into the fine young men they are now.

I’ve learned so much as a Holmdel parent for 20 years. I hope to use my experiences to help the BOE connect better with Holmdel parents’ concerns. If elected, I want to partner with parents, teachers, and students to make Holmdel a wonderful school district that supports all Holmdel children in pursuing their dreams. This is the reason I’m running for the BOE.

Recently, the school system, in my opinion, is in a bit of disarray. While the tax burden on Holmdel residents has been increasing, rankings have been falling steadily over the last few years, which has had a ripple effect on our home prices

A lot of parents are frustrated by a lack of accountability and transparency. No explanations have been offered for the high turnover of teachers, principals and key staff members, as well as the interim positions held by our superintendent for over a year. The community needs to know why this is happening and what steps to take to solve it.

I intend to bring clarity in communication such as posting agendas well ahead of time and allowing parents time to bring up questions or comments in person or via email. I intend to bring a balance to education with a greater emphasis on exposure to STEM and supporting after-school clubs. Clarity, transparency, and accountability is what I will strive for.

What is the single most important issue the Holmdel School District is facing and what do you intend to do about it?

Our rankings are dropping. In the past, we spoke of our national and state ranking with pride. Now we started talking about our ranking in Monmouth county. That’s lowering the bar quite a bit. Rankings are a way to measure school performance. When families look for a community to move into, they look at rankings. If in any organization performance metrics are dropping, a clear explanation is needed.

Do we not believe in rankings but have another system to measure performance? What is it then? No matter what we need to clearly define what is the measure of performance of our school, maintain the performance standards or raise them. If they are dropping, we cannot deny them but rather bring them out in the open and take collective input.

One way to address it is by bringing back stability to the schools, making teachers feel valued and respected so that they can impart a passion for learning to children. Another thing I would do is to reduce the durian of our students to MCVSD. Holmdel High School has a lot to offer, a better mix of music and arts, more facilities. I intend to have open houses for high school students from 7th and 8th grade early on much before the MCVSD test is taken.

I intend to make STEM more fun. STEM is the future they inherit. More clubs and early exposure will help make students thrive naturally.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have lived and studied in three different continents and have witnessed educational systems in all their diversity. I can bring a fresh, open-minded approach drawing from this experience. As a surgeon, I’m also accustomed to having a detailed plan on a weekly basis and executing it. From a broad vision to the finest details. I hope to bring in that same level of attention and passion to my work as a BOE member.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

Transparency, communication, accountability. Putting students first and getting politics out.
A better balance of academics and extracurricular activities, exposure to a variety of clubs from middle school, better communication with parents, hiring a superintendent who is not an interim, putting out Board agenda ahead of time giving residents time to study it and come up with questions, help balance the budget with greater emphasis on academics.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am a resident of Holmdel, where I have run my eye practice Bayshore Ophthalmology for the past 20 years. I have experience successfully navigating the complexities of healthcare systems and administrative experience from running my own business. I also train ophthalmology residents at SUNY Downstate.

I believe it is not my personal opinions, positions or views, nor any single person’s, that should guide the Board activities. Rather, my task will be to show professionalism and provide a logical approach to envisioning ways that bring together our government guidelines, the needs of our community, and the cooperation of our superintendent, in order to make our schools run. I will bring in my unbiased, fresh approach without any personal agenda.