Robert Waskis Long Valley School Board Candidate

LONG VALLEY, NJ — The Washington Township Schools Board of Education has a contested election this fall, with five candidates who filed to run for three available, three-year seats.

Robert A. Waskis, Jr. is one those candidates who put his hat into the ring.

The other candidates on the ballot include:

• José Lourenço
• Cynthia Field Ruggiero
• Walter Curioni
• Carmine Capogrosso

Editor's Note: Are you a candidate on the ballot? 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 General Election. Candidates who would like to participate but did not receive one (for whatever reason) may contact jennifer.miller@patch.com.

Name: Rob Waskis

Town of residence: Washington Township

Position sought: Washington Township Board of Education

Family: Married to wife Melissa for 15 years; three children - Allan (went to Old Farmers, LVMS & WMC), Madilyn (went to Cucinella, now in LVMS), Lillian (now in Cucinella).

Education: Graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (concentration in Aerospace), also holds an M.S. in Management and an M.B.A. from Florida Institute of Technology.

Occupation: Department of the Army Civilian engineer working at Picatinny Arsenal

Previous or current elected appointed office: Seeking office for the Washington Township Board of Education

Why are you seeking to run for school board: As someone who grew up in this town, matriculated through the school system, and has attended Board of Education meetings for over a year, I have noticed numerous opportunities to improve the way our school district is run. With the challenges of mental health issues, decrements to state funding, and learning loss due to the pandemic response, I believe my problem solving and leadership experience will help me advance the quality of education provided to our students.

What is your stance on masks in schools: NJ Executive Order 251 states that schools must maintain a policy regarding mandatory use of face masks by staff, students, and visitors in the indoor portion of school district premises except under stated circumstances (NJ Executive Order 253 provides an additional documentation requirement).

Should schools offer a virtual option: As long as school policy requires extended periods of quarantine, a virtual option will be necessary to prevent students from falling behind. Such an option currently exists and should be evaluated for applicability to similar instances that are medical in nature and require extended periods away from the classroom.

What other issues do you feel must be tackled in the school district: As mentioned above, our district is facing severe learning loss due to the pandemic response coupled with already-declining test scores over the last several years. Mental health issues are also on the rise as documented in the NJ School Board Association Task Force on Mental Health Services in Public Schools report. Our district has lost over one million dollars in state aid this year. These issues must be addressed in order to provide the best environment possible for our students to excel in.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates: The responsibilities of the Board of Education are to set goals and objectives for the district, create policies based on those, and work with the Superintendent to implement those policies to meet the goals and objectives. My experience making timely, fact-based decisions sets me apart from the candidates running for re-election, who failed month after month to create a re-opening policy based on relevant metrics last year, spent months debating the name of a holiday on the school calendar instead of how to improve student math proficiency, and have yet to approve a policy regarding mask usage as mandated by NJ Executive Order 251 this year.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign: I have been coaching, mentoring, and supporting youth in this community for over 25 years. I have coached Raiders football, helped build sets for the WMC Theater program, currently coach soccer and am on the Long Valley Rec Soccer Board. I have run youth-based mission trips to repair houses in the southern Appalachia region of the US, led youth trips to Washington DC to help the homeless, and run an outreach program to perform science experiments with third graders in underserved NJ schools in the area around Picatinny Arsenal. Together with Walter Curioni and Cindy Field-Ruggiero, we have a complimentary set of skills and a level of dedication to our community that makes us ideal candidates for the Washington Township Board of Education.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.