Meet Monica Berckes, Running For Secaucus School Board

SECAUCUS, NJ — Seven people are running for Secaucus school board this fall; voters will be asked to choose three.

Patch asked all seven candidates the same set of questions, and all seven responded. Beginning today, we are publishing the candidates' answers in the order they were received.

Can you give a brief bio on who you are: How long you've lived in Secaucus, your career experience, where you currently work, your age.

My name is Monica Berckes, I was born and raised in Bergen County and have lived in Secaucus for over 25 years. I am married with two children, both born and raised in Secaucus. They attend school and sports in-district.

In addition to being a licensed New Jersey real estate agent, I’ve worked at a marketing & advertising agency for 30 years. As a senior director, I manage complex budgets, adhere to aggressive deadlines, and pitch/develop campaign concepts and strategies for some of the biggest brands in the world. I nurture interns and prepare them for their role within our agency or outside. Working in the fast-paced field of advertising requires prompt reaction, strategic planning and execution of tactics across a wide range of traditional print and digital media outlets.

This and more about me can be found on my Facebook campaign page, MB for SBOE.

Do you have kids or had kids in the Secaucus school system? Have you served on any prior school boards, or worked in education?

Yes, I have two children in sports and school in-district. Yes. I was a substitute teacher in-district for about five years.

What do you think have been the biggest mistakes or failures made in the past four years on the Secaucus school board/in the district? How would you have done things differently?

I can point to a few. Matters surrounding our recent superintendents are cause for big concern. Redistricting and pre-K are others — much of the community knows this already. However, I feel our biggest issue is that we are not acting as a forward-thinking board. There are so many fires to put out; so much attention is placed on short-term solutions and necessary quick fixes. It feels like we are governing our schools by way of looking in the rear-view mirror. The board is required to present goals for each year. We need to develop goals that are forward-thinking and keep clear sight of these goals for the year ahead. These goals are important in the overview of what the board is trying to accomplish, in tandem with managing the daily issues our district faces.

I would concentrate on establishing goals that look forward. And if elected, I would focus heavily on reaching these goals.

If redistricting is again brought up (a proposal last year to put K-2 in Clarendon, and 3-5 in Huber), how would you vote for it? Yay or nay?

Today I am a nay. The benefit wasn’t made clear to me (or the community) when it was presented and it was completely rushed. If we were to consider redistricting, I would want to understand the real benefits and get community buy-in.

Where are Secaucus schools doing well? Where can they be improved?

Our students love their schools. Their teachers, administrators, faculty, staff, aides, coaches and mentors are amazing. There is such a sense of pride in our district. The students are our brand ambassadors and you can see in their smiling faces whether they are in the classroom, field or court, etc. We are succeeding in producing smart, shining future members of society. We should be proud of that!

We can continue to strive for better in our academic, enrichment, and sports program offerings, not to mention other items not even on the table right now, such as introduction to vocational tech programs, expanding clubs that are more relevant to the world ahead, and better guidance programs to prepare them for beyond graduation, to name a few.

What do you see are the biggest issues facing the Secaucus school district in the next 2-5 years? How are you going to prepare for them?

If we continue to fail, my fear is our rankings will continue to cycle downward. This not only affects the students in the classrooms, it affects every single tax-paying resident. People move to towns with great schools. If our rankings decline, so do our home values. No one wants this to happen. We need to fix a lot of things at once. Starting with staff retention, on up to our top superintendent leadership. We need to focus on building "a winning district." And I know I am the candidate with the skills and dedication to get us there.

Who's running for Secaucus school board this year:

• Melissa Howard - "Advocate for Education." Currently on the Board, seeks re-election.
• Audry Yule - "Community Winning Resolutions"
• Valerie Giraldo - "Community Winning Resolutions"
• Tatiana Geller - "Excellence in Education"
• Gerald Lyons - "Excellence in Education"
• Jamie Fisher - "The People's Voice"
• Monica Berckes - "A Winning District"

The election will be Nov. 5, but you can vote early in person at the Secaucus Rec Center 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, according to the state of NJ Division of Elections. And there is also mail-in voting.

There is a candidates' forum scheduled for Oct. 24 at the high school PAC, moderated by Secaucus Spectator publisher Don Evanson.