Watch: Washington Twp. Board Of Ed Candidate Forum

LONG VALLEY, NJ — The Old Farmers Road School and Long Valley Middle School PTAs jointly hosted a question and answer session with Washington Township Board of Education candidates, which was in-person and is available on YouTube.

The event on Oct. 19 at the Valley View Chapel, included the five candidates running for three, three-year seats in the contested race, as well as one write-in candidate, who also attended.

Each candidate had a two-minute introduction, with a “15-second grace period” to finish their statements, said Mary Jean Jones, a Long Valley parent who moderated the event on behalf of the PTAs.

Candidates on the ballot included incumbents Carmine Capogrosso and José Lorenço, as well as candidates vying for the seat, Cynthia Field Ruggiero, Walter Curioni and Robert A Waskis, Jr. While write-in candidate Sarah Gruenwald was permitted to introduce herself, she did not participate in the question and answer period.

Waskis first introduced himself, sharing that he grew up in Long Valley and is “deeply familiar with the school system. Waskis said he has two children within the school system, as well as a son who graduated high school. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Chemical Engineering and holds an MBA. Waskis is employed as an engineer at Picatinny Arsenal, working “process improvement projects,” which he added that he “sees opportunities for improvement in our school system,” which is why he is running. He said he reviewed the U.S. News & World Report rankings, stating he “noticed we were not number one,” but says he sees no reason that the district cannot be. He says he “sees plenty of opportunities to grow and provide a better education for our children.” He said he believes he would be well-suited to help achieve that.

Ruggiero, who was next, told the attendees she is a 40-year resident, Long Valley businesswoman and former West Morris Regional Board of Education member for eight years, with “the moral compass and vision to work alongside parents, administrators, teachers and community members to lead our schools.” Ruggiero added that she is accustomed to “making tough decisions, which effect me every day,” as a realtor representing both buyers and sellers. She described the lifestyle in Long Valley as “very unique,” which is attractive to all families, whether they have children who are school-aged, though she said the school system is “always at the top” of the minds of families who have chosen Long Valley as their home. Like Waskis, she quoted the U.S. News ranking for K-8, concerned students are only 64 percent “on grade level in math and reading.” She said the Benedict A. Cucinella School ranked among the lowest in K-8 schools statewide on the U.S. News list at 880, Flocktown-Kossmann School at 674 and Old Farmers at 351. She referred to the rankings as “disturbing,” saying they reflect a need to “change the culture, attitudes, by working together.” Ruggiero described her concerns about the schools as “personal,” with three grown children and 10 grandchildren who live in Long Valley. “What is really important to you is what matters,” Ruggiero told the audience.

Curioni spoke after Ruggiero, calling himself “really blessed,” that for the past 20 years he’s worked in public education, currently in Randolph. He started his career as a general and special education teacher, with his last dozen years as a school administrator. That has given Curioni insights, he added, in that he says he knows the topics and trends that impact New Jersey’s schools. One point he said is rarely talked about, is that Washington Township’s district stands to lose $1,145,457 in state funding or 18 percent, with the district having taken a 35 percent cut over the past three years. “Nobody’s talking about how we’re going to make up this cut,” Curioni said, as well as how to increase revenue, offset it to support the district’s teachers. He believes he has the experience to help, including having built programs for children with anxiety and depression; and partnered with private schools for children with disabilities. Over the past five years, he said he’s saved $5 million annually in tuition and brought in a million from out-of-district tuition, with students coming to Randolph from Mendham and even as far as High Point and West Caldwell. He said when a program like that has been built, students come and he “wants to bring that vision to Washington Township.” His family moved to the district because of the schools, he said; and says he’ll “pledge every minute to make sure the schools remain the top in the county.”

Capogrosso was next in line to speak, stating he moved to Long Valley six years ago from Stanhope. His nine-year-old granddaughter is a student at Flocktown-Kossmann, with two grandchildren in the Chester schools. He has 40 years past experience in education, about 35 of them in East Orange. Capogrosso said his teaching experience spanned from Pre-K to eighth grade, teaching science at the start of his career, having also taught math and gifted and talented students. He described his experience in that district as “very community-oriented.” One community project that earned second place in a contest with schools from the U.S. and other countries, was beautifying an empty lot in that district that had been "riddled with needles." He joined the board initially, because of an issue with a teacher contract negotiation that remained at a stalemate for 2.5 years. He said the mold issue at Old Farmers was another reason behind his initial candidacy, with a referendum passed since he’s been on the board, with the school now “a great environment to be in for the children and the staff,” he told the audience.

Lorenço, another current board member, was the last to introduce himself, among the candidates on the ballot. He said like Capogrosso, he was elected to the board three years ago, having gotten involved as well because of the teachers’ contract issue. He was a write-in candidate during that election. Lorenço said he grew up in Chester, having always seen a “great sense of community” with Chester, Long Valley and Mendham. After high school, he moved to Portugal, returning to the United States, after meeting the woman who would become his wife. They moved back into the area seven years ago, Lorenço said; and have three children who are students in the district. He is also involved with the Recreation Committee, Cub Scout Pack 136 and coaching some of the township sports. He called Long Valley a “wonderful community,” stating it’s a place where he’d like his children to grow up, hoping his kids will eventually come back after they are grown to settle with their families, something Lorenço said he sees frequently.

Gruenwald spoke after the rest and said she is a single parent of two children in the district, having moved to Long Valley with Ruggiero as her agent in 2014. She's a doctor of physical therapy, her degree from Columbia University, who started in the township in 2008 in an equine-assisted physical therapy practice at Freedom Horse Farm on Flocktown Road, where she was on the board of directors and spearheading fundraising. She now works in the Randolph School District, she said, providing “school-based physical therapy.” Having grown up with her mother a special education teacher who headed the teachers union she said she knows “how hard teachers work and how valuable they are to our children and to our future.” She explained she is running as a write-in at the last minute, after watching Board of Education meetings over the last couple of years, stating “everything was getting so distracted from the purpose of the board.” She believes the board is distracted with "political hot button issues," rather than running the schools, which she said if she's elected, she'd like to bring back the focus. Some of the schools, for example, she said aren't climate controlled, with students being sent home in the heat, stating, “We should have air conditioning, it’s the 21st century.” Aligning the K-8 calendar to the high schools was another topic she covered. She echoed Waskis’ and Ruggiero’s concerns about students falling behind.

Click here to watch the full debate.

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