Election 2022: Mike Golabek For West Morris Board Of Education

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Candidates are set for the West Morris Regional High School District Board of Education race on the Nov. 8 ballot.

In anticipation, Patch sent questionnaires to each of the candidates vying for the open seats on the Board of Education, asking them to share facts about themselves and why voters should choose them to represent the local school district.

The responses received will get published between now and Election Day.

Here are candidate Mike Golabek's answers below:

• Name: Mike Golabek
• Age: 62
• Town of residence: Chester Township
• Position sought: West Morris Regional High School District Board of Education

• Family: My family moved to Chester in 2010 so our son, Noah - an Eagle Scout who is now a college freshman - could attend Chester’s great schools. My wife, Christine - who is quite active in our schools and community - and I have been married for over 20 years. We are St. Lawrence parishioners and we love life in Chester.
• Education: Colgate University and University of Wisconsin Law School
• Occupation: Retired Human Resources Professional/Lawyer
• Previous or current elected appointed office: Current Board of Education Member for the West Morris Regional High School District

Why are you seeking to run for School Board?

As my signs around town say: Support All Students, Back Our Educators, and Protect Our Taxpayers. We have a tremendous public school district which is the envy of other districts across New Jersey. Our District’s Superintendent and Administration, our teaching professionals, and this Board have been instrumental to this success; particularly before, during and after the pandemic. I believe that we must not mess with the great success that we’ve had and want to ensure continued fiscal and academic greatness for West Morris high schools. We are a public school system that supports all its students in a safe and welcoming learning environment in which all can thrive and succeed. We follow all NJ requirements regarding the running of our schools which we take an oath to ensure. We need a Board that can work together in harmony and with minimal discord. I would be honored to continue working for district students, their families and for Chester Township taxpayers.

COVID-19 resulted in learning loss for many students. What will you do to ensure students bounce back?

Without any context whatsoever (including what grade is tested), my opponent is critical of our math proficiency scores. As usual, he purports to identify an alleged problem without offering any solution.

The West Morris Regional High School District (WMR) educates students from four different K-8 sending districts, each with their own math curriculum and pathways for their various levels of students. So, it is nothing new that WMR must have an agile math curriculum, especially for freshmen, that supports all math aptitudes. Pre-Covid, our district was praised for its ability to get students where they need to be in their junior and senior years, regardless of their level of entry as freshmen. Now, after 2+ years of undeniable learning loss at WMR and in our sending districts, our Math Supervisor and educators are prepared to support our students even more, with robust programming, especially for our freshmen and sophomores. Based on results from New Jersey’s Start Strong assessment, given to students this past spring, the district has already implemented the following established and new supports:

• Targeted supports for individual students and classes of students based on their identified skill gaps
• Algebra Accelerator classes
• Geometry Extension classes
• Summer Math programs
• Math Resource Rooms, staffed with a Math educator, every period in both buildings

What other issues do you feel need to be tackled in the school district?

Taxpayer AND Educational Value for West Morris Regional High School Board is and will continue to be a huge challenge. Adding value for taxpayers and students requires careful attention to operational issues within a Board member’s control, especially in the face of steeply rising costs in areas outside Board control. Without constant and nonpartisan attention to these issues, costs combined with the NJ’s mandatory tax cap will quickly result in diminished programs and performance. We’ve constructed smart, conservative budgets and will continue to do so.

A Board of Education oversees the professional administrators and teachers and is not designed to derail the school in its day-to-day operations by micromanaging and injecting individual political beliefs in curriculum or operations. Importantly, we should not be dragging politics into our school and distracting our students. West Morris High Schools needs to continue to focus on the fundamentals of learning. We have great educators who are producing great results and we must continue to back them. Our West Morris high schools are and must continue to be sanctuaries for education, not indoctrination by any political element whatsoever. We want our schools to continue to be a desirable destination for students, families, educators, and taxpayers who now have and deserve a great, stable, predictable, and attractive high school system in the West Morris High School District.

What is your view on the sex education curriculum that Gov. Murphy put forth earlier this year? What is your position on inclusion and diversity? Is the district doing enough? Not enough?

As Board members we take an Oath and follow a Code of Ethics to upheld state law requirements. While there are concerns with legislation out of Trenton, that is where change in this area is properly directed. It should be importantly noted that regarding the high school curriculum, there really has not been material changes made by the state in years. As has been the case in past years, students and their parents are free to opt out of the high school curriculum for the sexual education material that might be viewed as most controversial. The Human Sexuality unit of the Health curriculum is covered within a two-week unit session for high school students. If opting out, the student can complete an alternate course of study during that two-week period. While the Human Sexuality unit has been in use for years and remains essentially the same content, no opt outs have occurred in the high school for 9th thru 12th graders. Our highly trained professional educators develop curriculum based on state standards for this subject matter as well as other subject matters. We have excellent educators at our West Morris high schools and our students routinely report back after high school graduation about how well they have been prepared for the rigors of their college and university studies.

With regard to diversity and inclusion, we must remember that we are a public school, and we are entrusted to provide a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for ALL students!
Any time a student or students tells us they are ostracized or demeaned, it is of great and painful concern and makes us question if we do enough. But programmatically we do try to address these issues with assemblies, student committees and staff training, among other things. We have numerous programs to make our schools a welcoming and safe environment for all. And we fully comply with all state and federal diversity and inclusion requirements. Of course, we also are an IB (International Baccalaureate) school which inherently and rightly provides a world view. There is a big, beautiful, and diverse world beyond Chester Township that our students will experience, be part of and enjoy once they graduate.

What special qualifications do you bring to help meet the challenge?

I worked for a Fortune 20 Company for 30 years mostly in Human Resources helping employees and ensuring a great workplace for them to thrive in. During my time there, I oversaw Global Environmental Health and Safety Operations and Employee Relations for over a decade and worked towards ensuring all had a safe and open workplace where all could succeed. I also headed the Ethics Office. And, most recently, I led the Wellness Team through the pandemic. I am a recovering lawyer who hasn’t actively practiced law in almost two decades but remains grateful for the legal training I’ve had to listen to various perspectives to build consensus and determine paths forward. I have had collective bargaining experience with unions and have managed budgets of many millions of dollars. I retired last fall to spend more time with my elderly parents and my family and to give back to my community. I believe my perspective and background has been valued by my fellow Board members and the Administration and I can continue to be an asset as we move forward in the years ahead if I am re-elected.

While I have only been on the Board for ten months, I believe my unique perspective on health and safety, labor relations, and wellness has let me provide insight in these areas to the Board and Administration. I am most proud to have served on the Education Committee where we advocated that the Curriculum section of the district’s website be more user friendly, be more transparent, and include the specific resources that are used in our classrooms for parents, voters, and taxpayers to see. It is up and running…take a look! It’s not perfect but it’s an improvement and a significant step forward.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?

I commit to transparency and honesty in representing the voters of Chester Township on the Board in pursuit to an excellent public high school education for all. I ask that you re-elect me to represent you on the West Morris Regional High School Board of Education. Contrary to the representations of my opponent in some of his literature, I was elected to the Board by 1778 Chester Township voters in November 2021 for a one-year term. I was not appointed.

My opponent has publicly stated that he is, as he should be, “greatly appreciative of the education [his] children have received”. Nonetheless he is deriding the Board’s focus on operational issues, failing to recognize that operational excellence equals taxpayer and educational value. He wants to replace current administration and education leaders that have created highly ranked award-winning high schools. Furthermore, he believes his medical background as a vein doctor somehow qualifies him as the definitive expert on curriculum, book selection, gender identity, finance, infectious disease, mental health, and law, among other issues. And he also campaigns on a nonexistent political and cultural shift in the West Morris school’s priorities since 2020. His outrageous positions and proposals are not representative of the nonpartisan and collaborative mindset needed to effectively serve on the Board, and they are in conflict with the NJ Code of Ethics for School Board Members which instructs that Board members are to oversee and not micro-manage our schools.

Let’s not derail our schools. Let’s strive to work together in a nonpartisan and productive manner. We need to keep our great high schools great. Let’s continue to make West Morris District a desirable destination for all students, families, educators, and taxpayers. Let’s not mess with success!

For more information, please visit Facebook page “Reelect Golabek to Board” and/or Google search www.mikegolabekforwmrboe.wordp...