Richard Gondek Mendham Township School Board Candidate

MENDHAM, NJ — The Mendham Township Board of Education has a contested election this fall, with three candidates who filed to run for two available, three-year seats; and two for one, two-year unexpired term.

Richard Gondek is one of the candidates for the two-year seat, along with Thomas Keeling.

The other candidates on the ballot for the three-year seat include:

• Peter Dumovic
• Jubin Pejman
• Adam P. Dubek

Dumovic is the only incumbent to put his hat back into the ring, for a three-year seat.

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.

Gondek's responses to the questions are below:

Name: Richard Gondek

Town of residence: Mendham Township

Position sought: Board of Education, 2 Year Unexpired Term

Family: I live in Mendham Township with my wife and two children

Education: BS in Business from Fordham University, Dual MS from Webster University in Human Resource Development and Computer Resource Management

Occupation: Senior Technical Director, Azure Solution Architecture at Presidio, Inc.

Previous or current elected appointed office:
I served on the Mendham Township School District Board of Education from January 2018 to December 2020. I then rejoined the MTSD School Board in September 2021 and am currently in that position, filling the position of a Board member who resigned.

Why are you seeking to run for school board?
I have always worked to serve my community in very active ways. This started in college at Fordham University, when I worked as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician in a Bronx/Fordham-based volunteer ambulance corps, spending 20-30 hours per week helping others. I then served the United States Army on Active Duty, to include working as a field medical officer in a forward deployed airborne infantry front line unit. Fast forward to the present, our family chose Mendham Township in large part because of the quality of the schools, and I wanted to give back to the school system. I won a seat on the school board in the 2017 election, and joined the Board in 2018. The Mendham Township School District is a high performing and very high quality school district. Many families select Mendham Township for the same reason my family did: consistent school quality. Over the past 3+ years I have seen what it takes to maintain and improve on that, and I want to remain on the Board to continue this. The secret to success is a relentless focus on delivering a quality well rounded education that prepares our students for high school and all that awaits them after that. I have seen first-hand the focus on every detail, the sincere discussion on the merits of every critical decision, and the dedication from the teachers, staff, and administrators. The best recent example of this was in 2020, when the District re-opening plan that I was a part of creating enabled in-person learning for the full student body. This would not have been possible without the dedicated effort of the full team. Any working parent with kids in the District knows that a difference that made, not only for the students, but also for their own work schedules.

What is your stance on masks in schools?
Masks have become in society a hot-button issue that some people have unfortunately chosen to politicize. For me it is not about politics, but rather about following the science, the data, and the guidance of professionals who have worked in the field of infectious disease for years on solving exactly these problems. My stance on masks in schools is that at this point in time they are needed indoors and at other times when social distancing cannot be followed. They should be worn, and it is not an individual decision, it is a community safety issue. But this is not a static issue, and there is a huge change on the near term horizon with the pending release of the vaccine for younger children, to include most of the population of the School District. None of us know the exact timing of when it will be safe to change mask requirements, but as a Board member it is something I will be actively monitoring, and I will support a change when it is the right thing to do. I look forward to the day when we can as a District return to full standard classroom teaching practices, and that without question includes no mandate for masks. We as a District will get there, but we will get there when it is correct to do so.

Should schools offer a virtual option?
As part of the District reopening plan for September 2020 the Mendham Township School District supported a virtual option for any family that wanted that. At that time there were too many unknowns about COVID-19 and there was no vaccine available for adults. I supported that decision and as the Chairperson of the Board of Education Policy Committee helped to refine and communicate the policies that supported that option. Our school district does not have a virtual option for 2021, and I fully support this. This is another case of following facts, and we as a society are in a different place than we were in September 2020. Both as a Board member and as a parent I saw the impact of a split learning experience on all aspects of the educational experience. This ranged from the burden on the teachers to create a hybrid curriculum and learning materials to the broader inefficiency of that curriculum delivery to all students, whether they were in-person or remote. In Mendham Township, at the point we are in this pandemic, and given the student population and the facilities that we have, we should not offer a remote option.

What other issues do you feel must be tackled in the school district?
On the Board of Education we have focused on two other critical areas for the past few years. The first is on delivering stability to school district finances and the budget. This has been challenging in recent years as a result of a rapidly growing student population and additional staffing requirements brought on by the need for COVID safeguards. However we have approached this both by being diligent about all spending and by looking for creative ways to bring additional non-taxpayer revenue into the district.I strongly supported, and worked on the analysis and communication of a plan by the district to expand our transportation department in 2020. This will give the district the ability to contract out excess capacity to other schools and school districts that have that need. This program, still in its beginning stage, has already shown to be successful. The other key issue the school district is focusing on is improving how we approach Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). While my core and primary belief is that we should invest time and other resources in our DEI initiatives because it is the right thing to do, I also look at the tremendous benefits that it will bring to our students. I am initially focusing on what our efforts can lead to in regard to innovation , bringing in new talent, and recognizing current talent.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates?
The key differentiator is the my personal experience with the top three specific challenges that face our district. Our schools have approached student, teacher, and staff safety in a unique way that enabled us to deliver in-person learning to our students well ahead of many other neighboring school districts. However we expect significant changes and hundreds of decisions along our path over the next year as we seek to move fully back to standard classroom teaching practices. On the budgetary front, we are continuing the work of the past 3 years to deliver a stable budget. Concerning our DEI initiatives, I have focused on this for the past two years, but also recognize that this is a multi-year change and commitment, and I want to continue to improve the student experience.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?
The next few years will be challenging times to be on the Board of Education, and I approach this with full understanding of that and appreciation of the effort that this role requires. I look forward to working with the other school board members, the administrators, and the full Mendham Township community to make sure that all voices are heard and that we keep the school district on the right track. The school district is a primary reason that many families move to Mendham Township, and as Mendham Township grows we need to make sure that we can continue to deliver the quality and full educational experience to every student.

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