Lacey School Board Election 2025: Meg Forney

LACEY, NJ — Election Day is Nov. 4, and voters will have their say on New Jersey's next governor. But in Lacey, residents will also vote on local, school board and county elections.

Ahead of the 2025 election, Patch will be publishing profiles on local candidates. Here's what Meg Forney had to say.

Editor's Note: Patch sent out emails to all candidates to the email addresses listed for their campaign provided to the office of the clerk. The responses received will be published between now and the Nov. 4 general election. These responses will be published edited only for style. Candidates who would like to participate but did not receive one (for whatever reason) can contact veronica.flesher@patch.com.

Name: Meg Forney, PhD

Age: 35

Education: PhD in Criminal Justice from Temple University, MA in Criminal Justice from Stockton University, BA in Psychology from Temple University

Occupation: Associate Professor of Criminal Justice

Government experience: I have never served in public office, but I am a former Research and Reform Specialist for the New Jersey Youth Justice Commission. There, I used data to inform best practices in youth justice reform and served on the Education-Law Enforcement Workgroup, which is a partnership between the Department of Law and Safety and the Department of Education, to revise the 2020 Memorandum of Agreement between Law Enforcement and Schools.

Family: I am married to my husband, Glenn, and we have two young daughters: Paige (6) and Sawyer (2). Both girls attend/will attend public school.

What drove you to seek public office?:

I have always had one foot in policy, and the other in education. Though I followed district news since moving to Lacey in 2021, I began attending BOE meetings last year when it became clear that budget shortfalls would again impact our community. I wanted to be educated about the schools prior to our oldest daughter entering the district. It quickly became clear that there is a disconnect between the BOE and the community--whether that be due to misinformation spread among the public, or a lack of transparency from the BOE to the community. I have over 15 years of experience coordinating efforts between the community and government organizations and using data to provide meaningful, transparent information to those involved in decision-making processes. Though I am a busy mother of two young children, I feel called to serve our community and know that I have the experience to do so effectively.

What sets you apart from other candidates?:

Of the candidates running this cycle, I am the only one who works in education. At the university-level, I am responsible for developing and assessing curriculum both within my department and university-wide. I know what it means to be a great teacher and I serve on a select group of faculty who evaluate faculty teaching. I also understand that the working conditions of our teachers are the learning conditions of our students--we need to ensure that our teachers and staff have the tools and the environment necessary to create a thriving learning environment, especially now when they are being asked to do more with less. In addition, my work experience includes applying for state and federal grants, writing requests for proposals, and evaluating grant applications. I would act as a strong support for seeking funds outside of local and state dollars and understand budget allocation and monitoring funds.

What is the most pressing issue facing the Lacey Township School District?:

At present, I believe our most pressing issue is class sizes. I know firsthand that each additional student in the classroom changes the learning environment and have personally fought to keep class sizes for my own courses below 15-20 students. If budget shortfalls continue to limit our ability to fully staff our schools, we need to ensure our teachers have the tools available to teach effectively in our changing environment. This means allocating funds for professional development related to classroom management and teaching strategies for larger classes. Teachers are only as strong as the tools they have, and we need to ensure that our district supplies them with strategies to remain effective in the classroom.

If elected, what will your top priority be?:

My top priority, outside of addressing the aforementioned class size issue, would be to build back trust between the school district and the community. I strongly believe that this can be achieved through transparent presentation of data and district priorities, and increasing the ease of access that the community has to district resources.

What is your favorite thing about living in Lacey?:

We moved to Lacey in 2021 for the small community, beautiful parks, and quick access to the water. We love our neighbors and the community we have built here.