Candidate Profile: Brian Lawrence For Millburn Board Of Ed 2021

MILLBURN, NJ — As a father of two in Millburn School District and a the CEO of a non-profit senior housing organization, Brian Lawrence believes he can make difference if elected to Millburn's Board of Education.

Lawrence is one of eight candidates vying for three seats on Millburn's Board of Education this election season.

Read below to learn more about Lawrence and his platform for the upcoming election on Nov. 2.

1. What is your background?

"I am Brian Lawrence, born and raised in Essex County and a six-year resident of Millburn-Short Hills. Over the past six years my wife and I have appreciated the excellent education and support that our son, Jonah (7th grade) and daughter, Emma (4th grade) have received at Hartshorn Elementary, Washington School, and Millburn Middle School. We have experienced these institutions first-hand and look forward to many years ahead in the school system.

"I want to help ensure that we continue to provide the best support and education for all the children in our community. We have also lived through the challenges of working full-time and educating our children through the pandemic, which has affected all of us in so many ways.

"Professionally, as the CEO of a non-profit senior housing and services organization, I have had to balance helping my wife and children while being directly responsible for the lives and mental well-being of seniors and our team members. I have had to roll up my sleeves by engaging with our healthcare heroes and COVID positive patients.

"I have frequent and ongoing discussions with the New Jersey Department of Health and the CDC and have put measures in place to best protect the team and all those we care for and serve every day. I will do the same for all our children and our community."

Related: Meet all eight Millburn Board of Ed candidates running this November

2. What goals do you want to accomplish on the BOE?

"As a member of your Board of Education, I committed to the following:

• "I will ask the tough questions to make sure that our students are getting the best education, fair access to Advanced Placement classes, and support for their mental health.
• "I will ensure the budget, which represents almost 50% of our township tax collections, is appropriately allocated to the right resources to support the students, school infrastructure, and that our teachers are getting the support and training they need.
• "I will proactively establish a plan with the board and administration to keep our class sizes stable with the pending future growth of housing."

3. What is the number one problem you feel needs to be addressed in Millburn's education system?

"There are several important areas that should be focused on, but the one that stands out is mental health.

"We need to do everything we can to reduce stress and support mental health for our children. For example, the Thrive program recently started provides a specialized counselor for the schools in the district to support the students. This is an amazing resource and I would support the continuation of this program and other opportunities to provide mental health support for our kids.

"At the High School we need to eliminate the Advanced Placement Qualifier – it’s not used in other districts and creates unnecessary stress for the students. There should be equal opportunity and access to AP classes based upon each student’s capability. Extending class time with rolling periods in the High School as they did in the Middle School to give each student more instructional time is another great avenue to explore.

"The longer a mental health situation goes unchecked, the more severe the consequences may become, The lack of access to supports can have a serious and lasting impact across all areas of a child’s life. Leaving children without support contributes to school drop-out, unemployment, and worse.

"Adults may not always realize when a child is struggling, and the child may not understand what he or she is going through either, which is why it is important that schools start teaching children about mental health alongside the physical health material.

"Research by the National Association of School Psychologists shows that students are more likely to seek counseling when resources are available at school. From the research they gathered, they also concluded that students who receive social, emotional, and mental health support achieve better academically.

"Mental Health comes in many different forms, but teaching children how to identify their feelings and express them to a trusted adult can help them to find the right diagnosis and start the road to recovery. Mental health of our students should always be a priority. This will always be on my mind if I have the opportunity to service on the Board of Education."

To learn more about Lawrence and his platform, follow his campaign on Facebook.

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