Meet Mireille Cameau-Wicks, Running For Old Bridge School Board

OLD BRIDGE, NJ — Six people are running for three seats on the Old Bridge school board. Patch asked all six candidates the same set of questions.

Provide a brief bio on yourself. Age, education, occupation.

Hi, my name is Mireille Cameau-Wicks. I am a 50-year-old mother of three children. I have been a resident of Old Bridge for almost 45 years. I attended Madison Central High School in Old Bridge and Rutgers University in New Brunswick, studying accounting and minoring in psychology. I have been a professional in the healthcare and pharmaceutical fields for almost 25+ years. I am an executive associate at a major global pharmaceutical company. I am a parent and a homeowner who is running for an open seat on the Old Bridge Board of Education.

Do you have children in the district or formerly in the district?

I am a former graduate, an alum, of Old Bridge Township public schools, having attended elementary (Carpenter), middle (Joans Salk), and high school (graduation class of Madison Central High School, 1992), all within my district. All three of my children like me have followed suit with either attended, graduated or still attending the Old Bridge schools within district. My oldest child graduated from Old Bridge High School in 2019, my middle child recently graduated in June 2024 and my youngest child is currently in middle school. I also have five cousins who like me are alums and graduated from Old Bridge Township public schools.

What experience do you have that would make you a good BOE member?

My experiences that would make me a good BOE member is my extensive involvement with the schools and school administration for almost 17 years, as well as being involved as a lifelong volunteer for my community, lifelong resident, taxpayer and as a parent.

I attend BOE committee meetings, PTA and SEPTA meetings as well as BOE meetings, whereas I have learned what it takes to be a BOE member as well as to listen and advocate to what are the needs of our students, educators, parents and our community. I have often spoken publicly at meetings to voice my ideas, as well as be a voice and advocate for other parents, educators, students, and residents. I also bring a wealth of knowledge of years from a professional aspect of budget management, policy writing, rules/regulations coding, contract negotiations, organizational alignment and business administration as well as being a community-oriented resident with being a recreational volunteer basketball coach to the children in our district.

For current school board members, what is some of the work you're proudest of that the Board has done?

N/A

Where do you think the Board needs to improve? This is for both current BOE members and those not on the Board.

The issue I see amongst the board is the members are not forming a unified team within the board. I am seeing politics at play at the cost of our children, the students. The board should collaborate effectively for the advancement of our children, schools, community, educators and parents. It is essential that they work in unison, creating a team dedicated to the students' best interests in order to achieve academic excellence.

Looking ahead, what are some of the biggest challenges facing the Old Bridge school district in the next 2 -5 years, and how do you plan to confront them?

Some of the biggest challenges facing the Old Bridge School district in the upcoming 2-5 years are going to be the state budget aid/cuts/reductions and accommodating provisions for necessary tools amongst the budget cuts for teachers, staff and students.

The board has no control over state budget cuts. They are issued by the state based on a formula. This year we witnessed the potential consequences if measures were not taken by the BOE to compensate for the shortfall from state aid reductions, which included half-day schools, no music, arts, extra school programs, etc. Even though we were granted a one-time school tax increase, we will need to investigate other avenues to find, decrease or reallocate funds. I would advocate for more presentation at state hearings to stop the cuts/reductions, explore more grant submissions/applications, pursue contract re-negotiations with vendors, explore energy cost effective savings, explore a preventive maintenance program for cost savings, revisit our shared services agreement, look to rent out empty school space, request parental input for savings brainstorming and look within “house” (the school administration and staff) to fill in open positions (this would promote talent retention and development). I would confront and advocate for these avenues as maintaining our school system for the present and future children of our town is crucial to our community's vitality.

Who's running for Old Bridge school board in 2024; voters will be asked to choose three:

• Brooke Richards-Patterson — Transparent, Intentional, Accountable
• Jay Slade - Rational, Not Radical - current Old Bridge school board member, seeks re-election
• Kiran Venkatesan - Transforming Education Together
• Carl Von Stetten - More Student Opportunity
• Mireille Cameau-Wicks - Ensuring Education Integrity
• Richard J. Dunn - Old Bridge Education

• Salvatore DiPrima - Kids First (He dropped out of the race.)
• Kyler Dineen - Old Bridge Alum (He dropped out of the race.)

Who else got back to us:

Meet Brooke Richards-Patterson, Running For Old Bridge School Board

Meet Kiran Venkatesan, Running For Old Bridge School Board

Meet Jay Slade, Running For Re-Election On Old Bridge School Board

The election will be Nov. 5, but you can vote early in person at the Old Bridge Public Library from Oct. 26 - Nov. 3. Hours will be Monday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. and Sunday, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. No appointment is necessary. There is also mail-in voting.