School Board Candidate H. Ronald Smith: Improve Educational Level of Students

Name: H. Ronald Smith

 Neighborhood: Lake Shawnee, which has a Wharton mailing address but is in the Lake Hopatcong section of Jefferson Township

 Children in District: No children in district, has lived in town for 33 years.

 Education: Seton Hall, B.S. in Business Administration, Masters from Kean, administration and supervision

 Occupation: Assistant Superintendent for Business, Essex County Vocational Technical School

 Civic Involvement: Short stint on Jefferson Planning Board about two years ago.

 Volunteer Involvement: Active in professional association. President of NJ Association of School Business Officials in 1980; president of Association of School Business Offices International in 1986

 What Smith Brings to the Race: “I have over 40 years exp as a school business administration. I understand how BOEs operate and how budgets are constructed and managed. I could offer that perspective,” Smith said. Smith noted that the township has shrinking state resources and caps on real estate taxes, and since the oppotrunity to get significatant new dollars is not ther, the township needs to look for better ways to spend the money it is getting.

 Smith’s List of the Most Important Issues Facing the Board: The board has a limited amount of funds and new dollars and it needs to evaluate the progress students are making through test scores and make sure it is channeling the most resources it can to improving the educational level of students. The board needs to look for other areas of the budget to save money so that it can fund educational areas.