Election 2023: Denise Hirschhorn, Howell Board of Education

HOWELL, NJ — Denise Hirschhorn is a write-in candidate for the Howell Board of Education in the Nov. 7 election, one of six candidates seeking three seats on the board.

Hirschhorn, of Scarlet Lane, is seeking election to her first term on the board.

One note for voters, the name of a write-in candidate must be spelled accurately for your vote to count. Voters will need to write in Denise Hirschhorn correctly. Voters can also view her candidate page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551355475794&mibextid=LQQJ4d.

In the election, three incumbents are seeking re-election, including current Board of Education President Albert Miller and incumbents Denise M. Lowe and Ira Thor.

Martianne Degliuomini has also filed as a candidate, seeking her first term on the board. Eleonora Calo is also a write-in candidate

In these profiles, candidates provide voters with background about themselves and their positions on the issues, as they see them.

Hirschhorn cites several areas she would like to focus on if on the school board, including the redistricting brought about by expanded pre-school, busing concerns and mental health issues. She also urges parents to attend Board of Education meetings to hear first-hand about issues in the district, and not rely on sometimes "misleading" social media.

Read more from Denise Hirschhorn:

Background:

Candidates were asked to provide their professional or volunteer information, school board experience and personal background.

Denise Hirschhorn is a mother of two children, with her oldest currently in 1st grade and her youngest being 7 months old.

Denise has 10 years experience in the hospitality and event planning business. She has experience working with families and couples, creating lasting memories for private and community events.

She has worked closely with school PTO members in planning school events, as well as non-profits. She also has a background in clean energy, supervising solar project managers and home upgrades.

She was running on the ballot last year, until she was happily surprised by a second pregnancy. Becoming a board member with a newborn did not seem like a good fit at that time, so she dropped out of the race to focus on her growing family. She is passionate about parental rights and stands for the best interests of all children.

Over the past 2.5 years, Denise has actively engaged with parents in the community, including those with children attending public, private and homeschools.

Denise attended Parent University in 2022 after reading about school concerns on social media. She went to this meeting to get informed, and this is where she learned about Policy 5756 and how to opt out of certain curriculum, which continued to gain attention as the year went on. Through the board meetings and interactions, she has observed a concerning divide among parents, which she believes needs to be addressed for the benefit of all children.

Top issues:
Candidates were asked about the important issues in their district, and how the school board can address them.

Denise's campaign focuses on supporting parents' values, advocating for transparency, and ensuring safety in preschoolers and K-8 schools. Out of all candidates, she has the youngest child in Howell schools, who began public school after the pandemic ended.

She continues to communicate with the board during redistricting changes, and encourage that the early learning centers, as well as K-5 schools should include, and bring back, the special events they had prior to COVID mandates. For example, graduations, dances, as well as many others the community misses dearly.

One of the pressing issues she highlights is the topic of busing, which remains a hot topic in the community. She reminds the community, that although busing is provided, there are still many families driving their kids to school because they are either unhappy with their bus driver, the driver doesn’t show up, or there are safety concerns. This continues to put a strain on working parents, but also stay-at-home parents who also do not feel peace of mind in regards to bussing.

With the town changing, there’s also an influx of students, which has overloaded our teachers with more students per class. Moving into next year, her concerns are even larger classes for K-5 schools. She supports that by reminding the community that the town will only have (8) K-5 schools, which was not the case years ago under this districting.

Fewer schools and more students is a concern for how children focus and how teachers teach so many students. Denise aims to be a voice for parents and address these challenges, along with new boundary lines.

She expressed that many parents are waiting on boundary lines, to figure out if they will in fact stay in Howell or decide to sell their homes and look into other districts. Along with redistricting, she states that neighborhood changes are also a concern for Howell parents, who are trying to keep their kids in our schools, or let them finish up their final years.

Additionally, she recognizes the importance of addressing mental health concerns, particularly in relation to upcoming policies.

Denise also stands up for educators who love their jobs but feel exhausted by political pressures. Through her involvement in the community, she has developed positive relationships with several members of the Board of Education and Town Council, all of whom are dedicated parents striving to make a difference in Howell, and do not have an agenda, but to be in their child’s lives every step of the way, no matter what.

Denise actively attends meetings, and speaks at board meetings regularly. She has been a voice of reason for many parents that cannot make the meeting due to busy schedules or the days the meetings fall on.

She urges parents to stop relying on social media for information, and try to attend meetings. Her biggest concern in regards to Howell is that there are parents who do not have the information they need for their children entering public school.

There is also an influx in Facebook groups that often share conflicting information, that only mislead our community. She feels that social media pages deter parents from getting to Board of Education meetings, although many have started watching more closely from home.

Policy 5756:

Candidates were asked if they wanted to comment on state Policy 5756, which provides guidance regarding transgender students, including communication with parents. Some districts in the state are repealing or amending the policy.

Her thoughts on Policy 5756 align with Howell voting to abolish this policy. The state does not allow for revisions. The Board of Education and their lawyer made it clear that there is already policy in place to protect all students, and she agrees that Howell supports transgender children in school. Additionally, she feels that Howell made the right decision as we are now seeing other districts being sued by parents over the standing of Policy 5756.

Candidates for Howell Board of Education: (Full term, vote for three)

• Ira Thor: Experienced. Parent. Advocate.
• Martianne Degliuomini: Putting Children First
• Denise M. Lowe
• Albert "Al" Miller
• Eleonora Calo: Write-in candidate
• Denise Hirschhorn: Write-in candidate

There are no open spots for the Freehold Regional Board of Education from Howell this election year.

Note: Candidates who have not received their request for profile information from Patch should check their spam folders or can contact Pat McDaniel at patricia.mcdaniel@patch.com for the email with candidate questions.