3 Takeaways From Long Valley's School Board Candidate Forum

LONG VALLEY, NJ — Candidates for three seats on the Washington Township Board of Education faced off on Oct. 10 at a public forum hosted by the Old Farmers Road School PTO.

This year, six people have filed petitions seeking election to the Washington Township Board of Education, according to the Morris County Clerk's office.

Three three-year seats are up for grabs.

Here is the list of candidates:

• John R. Oldmixon: Excellence In Education
• Isabel Vieira: Excellence In Education
• Jennifer Ryan: Excellence In Education
• Marisa Baker: For Public Education
• Cynthia McConnell: For Public Education
• Laura Wengel: For Public Education

Current board members Jason Koestenblatt, Jill Mucerino, and Stephanie Wilson, whose terms all expire this December, did not file for re-election.

The nearly three-hour-long debate drew all six candidates, who answered questions submitted by members of the public.

Each candidate had 60 seconds for opening statements, 60 seconds for answering questions, and one minute for closing statements.

Three Main Takeaways From The Debate:

Academics and Fiscal Planning:

All six candidates agreed that being fiscally responsible was one of their top priorities and should remain a top priority for the school board. One resident questioned what the school board would do if they were faced with mass budget cuts in the upcoming years.

In response, all of the candidates agreed that no matter what happened to the budget, teachers would have to remain a top priority for the district in order to maintain the quality of education for students.

McConnell emphasized the importance of keeping classroom numbers small to ensure that each child was receiving quality education and attention from their teachers.

The candidates were asked about the existing education gap, which has been caused in part by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it affects children's readiness to enter high school.

Wengel proposed that a potential solution to the ongoing education gap would be to include benchmark examinations that all children would be required to take at the start and halfway points of the school year to assess their academic growth. The results of the examinations would then be utilized to develop potential action plans for kids who were found to be falling behind on the assessments.

Baker stated that she believes that the school district has been "dropping the ball" on the fundamentals, such as test scores and the overall focus on education. In agreement with the benchmark tests that Wengel proposed, she said that the board would need to first figure out why students were falling behind before they could properly address it.

Oldmixon argued that curriculum measures such as SEL were potentially having adverse effects on students. Oldmixon stated that in order to implement SEL, a section of other core classes had to be cut down to make room in the school schedule.

Vieira emphasized the importance of working with the teachers and seeking their input on why students were potentially falling behind in some classes. She also mentioned potentially working with neighboring school districts to see where there could be differences in the curriculum.

Ryan agreed, also noting that there was little to no communication between Washington Township and the West Morris Board of Education, which she believes should be changed.

"I think we were all on the same page with this one," McConnell said.

She acknowledged that academics were a big issue for her and the other board members, emphasizing that Washington Township should always aspire to be better. In terms of addressing the education gap, McConnell stated that it is up to the school system to investigate how the curriculum is implemented in Long Valley in comparison to other school districts.

Transgender Students and Parental Notification

The six candidates were asked for their thoughts on several contested issues, including parental rights, censoring content, and policies for LGBTQ+ students, which districts across the state, including neighboring Hanover Township, are attempting to overturn.

All six candidates agreed that parental notification was important and advocated for parents' involvement with their children's education.

Wengel, McConnell and Baker all noted that Washington Township Schools already have parental notification policies in place and that the argument of "parental rights" was adding more politics to the school district, which is not necessary.

Oldmixon, Vieira and Ryan, who are running on a parental rights platform, argued that policies such as Policy 5756 are keeping parents in the dark and should be repealed.

"If there is an issue with a child, I 100 percent think that the parents should be involved, regardless of what the state thinks should happen. The state does not live in each of our homes, doesn't know each of our children individually... so I think that the parents should always be involved," Vieira said.

All candidates were asked for their opinions on transgender students and whether they should be allowed in certain school locker rooms and bathrooms. In response, all six candidates agreed that while they would not feel comfortable with a trans woman using the women's bathroom, special accommodations could be set up for those children, such as a single-use bathroom.

"There is no reason that a child who was born male who feels uncomfortable in the male changing room is required to then use that either; they should be allowed the option to use something else," McConnell said.

Politics in Schools

Several questions at the candidate forum revolved around the ongoing concern that politics is playing too large of a role within the local school board. In particular, two residents called out political organizations that were endorsing or working with all six of the candidates.

Moms for Liberty, a conservative non-profit organization that is dedicated to the "survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government," is endorsing Oldmixon, Vieira and Ryan.

When asked about their thoughts on Moms for Liberty being called an "extremist group," the three candidates disagreed with that characterization, noting that they all aligned with the group on a parental rights front, but that they could not speak on what the group stands for on a national level.

"I can't speak for what happens on a national level; I heard something that someone said something in another state, Indiana or Idaho or something like that, which was controversial; I'm not really concerned with that; this is a K–8 school board. I don't know what their agenda is other than being for pro-parental rights," Oldmixon said.

In response, Wengel stated that if Oldmixon, Vieira and Ryan were going to be endorsed by a group that is such a "hot-button issue," they should "do their homework" on what their agenda is.

On the other side, Wengel, McConnell and Baker were all asked about their work with Action Together New Jersey, a foundation that works to create actions to affect change such as letters to state legislators, phone calls to members of Congress, and letters of the editor to inform the public.

Baker noted that while she and her running mates have worked alongside the organization, Action Together New Jersey has a separate umbrella under their organization that works specifically with school boards.

"The professed goal of Action Together New Jersey is legitimately to keep politics out of our schools. I'm not saying for one side or the other; it's all together, and frankly, it has no place in our school system," Baker said.

Oldmixon disagreed with their claims that Action Together New Jersey was not a political organization, stating that they worked directly with Murphy and vocally opposed more conservative organizations.

Oldmixon also stated that it was ironic that he and his running mates were getting flack for working with Moms for Liberty while Wengel, McConnell and Baker were also engaging in similar actions.

The debate was live-streamed on YouTube and has been posted to the Old Farmers Road School PTO YouTube page. To view the entire debate, click here.