Meet The Florham Park Board Of Education Candidates

FLORHAM PARK, NJ — Florham Park residents will head to the polls this November to vote on local and regional school board members. Patch caught up with them ahead of the general election.

Linda Rozek and Charles "Skip" Shanley III are running unopposed for two three-year terms on the local board of education. We asked all candidates the same four questions:

• Why are you running for Board Of Education?
• What is the biggest challenge facing schools in your town, and how will you address it?
• What three words would you use to describe yourself to someone who has never met you?
• What experience in your background has prepared you to be an effective leader?

All candidates were sent the questions at the same time, and were given the same deadline to submit them. They were given no minimum or maximum word count, and encouraged to write as much as they needed, or to keep the answers brief if they wanted to. Answers were submitted by email and are presented here as submitted. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Ernest Eveland and Rhett Eveland are running unopposed for seats on the Hanover Park Regional Board. Rhett Eveland declined the opportunity to participate, and Ernest Eveland did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Rozek did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Charles "Skip" Shanley III, Local Board

Why are you running for BOE?

I am running for the BOE again to help make sure that every new program the board adopts is researched based and will help increase student achievement. Working with the rest of the board, I want to continue to question collectively everything we do and make sure that our students have every tool needed to be successful 21st century learners.

What is the biggest challenge facing schools in your town, and how will you address it?

Some of the biggest challenges we face are related to our budget. The state only allows the school budget to increase 2 plus percent a year. Our health care costs and salaries take a good portion of that increase. We are also operating in older buildings that are in constant need of maintenance repairs and upgrades. We have many needs but only a small amount of money each year to achieve the needs. Prioritizing needs with a fiscally conservative approach is probably our biggest challenge. However, my experiences on the board with the other board members has been to help make sure we always prioritize what is best for our children. The children are always the priority and what will help them become better 21st century learners.

What three words would you use to describe yourself to someone who has never met you?

Passionate, committed, progressive

What experience in your background has prepared you to be an effective leader?

I worked 23 years for a Fortune 50 company where collaboration and the team concept were imbedded in the culture. I also have been involved in running my own business and was a President and Property manager of a homeowners association. I also received an MS in Management from NJIT in 1995. I enjoy reading and being a life long learner.

All candidate images submitted by the candidates and used with permission. Header image via Shutterstock.