Meet The 2019 Edison Board Of Education Candidates

EDISON, NJ — Three seats are open on the Edison Board of Education this year, and Patch caught up with the candidates ahead of the general election.

Ten candidates are running for three open three-year terms on the board. 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 asked to keep answers to a maximum of 200 words each. Answers were submitted by email and are presented here as submitted.

The following candidates did not respond to Patch's requests for comment: Neville Arestani, and Kenneth Nelson.

Carol Bodofsky

Why are you running for Board Of Education?

I am running for the Edison Board of Education because I can accomplish more for our schools, our community and our children, with my skills as an advocate, problem solver and educator, as a Board of Education Member than I can as simply an active citizen! The Edison Public Schools, always known for excellence in education, are facing serious issues right now. Overcrowding has reached crisis levels. School security for such a huge district is a massive task, but absolutely urgent right now, but also a huge endeavor and we need a new Superintendent of Schools in place immediately! I believe strongly in public education, for many reasons. That is why I have attended Edison BOE Meetings for over 25 years, questioning, commenting and making suggestions to the Board Members at just about every meeting. I feel that the time has come to step up and serve as an elected BOE Member for our town.

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

The biggest challenge facing our district is overcrowding. Small additions have been added to almost every school in town over the years. The time has come to analyze the population trends, target the growth areas and form long range and short-range plans to meet the needs of our students! The planning started this year and we have a Bond Referendum slated to go to the voters in December. Voter response will help determine the next steps, whether moving forward or changing plans and direction. In the next two months, we need to get the voters on board for this massive undertaking, and hopefully pass the bond referendum in December. That would leave me, on board as a new BOE Member, as we face the real task managing the logistics and the details of making this happen! I believe my experience in schools for the past 30 years will make me a real asset to the team. In addition, my research, writing and people skills will help me maintain the momentum and support needed to see this project through.

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

Advocate Problem Solver Educator

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

My experiences in several areas have combined to make me an achieved leader in the field of education. All my life I just wanted to teach, to teach children. I went out of my way to not take those leadership courses that would lead me into school administration. Over the years a pattern developed: There was a problem that had to be solved. The “leaders” did not know how to solve it. I quietly made suggestions. My suggestions worked and after a while I was solving bigger and bigger problems. I remained in my niche, teaching children to read, but I was being drafted for more and more programs and problems. In time, I created a school literacy program, wrote grants to get books for our school, taught workshops and courses to my colleagues and was able to “help” fix a lot of problems! During that same period of time, I was working in PTA and with Girl Scouts in my “free time,” creating training materials, conducting training classes and making changes to bring more volunteers into our ranks. By never trying to claim the title of LEADER, I was able to take the lead and make a difference

Xiaohan (Shannon) Peng

Why are you running for Board Of Education?

To advocate for students, educators, parents, taxpayers, to help those who need help but often do not have a way to get the help.

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

Overcrowding.

1. Continue cut the waste and fraud like we did in the past two years and saved taxpayers $8.2 millions non classroom expenses.

2. Initiated a $189 million Referendum for a long term school expansion to be voted on Dec 2019

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

Principled, Passionate, Persistent.

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

• Two Masters's degrees in Science from University of Chicago, 19 years experience in Software Industry.
• Founder of a runner's club who volunteer for Autism.
• Three years on School Board with a track record of budget savings, curriculum strengthening, and school-parent communication enhancements.

Christo Makropoulos

Why are you running for Board Of Education?

• Create Drug Prevention Programs
• Support Theatre, Sports, Band, and the Arts Program
• Hold the BOE accountable to taxpayers and voters they serve by ending the corruption and cut wasteful spending while balancing the budget
• Bring back full day Kindergarten
• Advocate for the over 17,000 students, Parents, and Teachers
• Advocate for the Special Education program
• Solve School overcrowding
• Improve Bus services
• Maintain School Buildings

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

The biggest Challenge facing our Schools is that for over 1.5 years Edison is without a Full time Superintendent and in December if the 189 million dollar Bond referendum is approved there will be no full time superintendent to manage it. The BOE has become political and corrupt they lost 1.4 million dollars in Police Protection, Where did this money go? Routine Maintenance has been ignored. Most classrooms have no air conditioning and our teachers and students have been paying the price for BOE President Jerry Shi corruption for far too long Parents have complained they don't want to go to the BOE meetings because of him also he even disrespects the members of his own Board for having a difference of Opinion and if the Edison Residents want somebody who will not be intimidated and stand up to him vote for me. I will work overtime to address every Issue the Edison Schools are facing with common sense.

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

3 words to describe myself are Honest, Loyal and Honor

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

I was a production and Safety Manager at a tool manufacturing facility for over 10 years with no accidents. I am an American Patriot we are born leaders...

Shivi Prasad Madhukar

Why are you running for Board Of Education?

I have a Master’s degree in Public Administration with specialization in Public Policy from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. For the past 15 years, I have been working in the field of applied research, statistics, and public policy. I have also served in various voluntary positions, such as president of a middle school PTO, member of school safety committee, newsletter writer and have been an active PTO parent. I have two children who have graduated from Edison schools and one who is currently attending school here. Given my varied experiences and qualifications, I believe I am in a unique position to contribute – because not only do I bring budget and policy knowledge but also perspectives of students and residents.

There are many critical issues affecting our students and I feel that not enough attention is being paid to those areas. This includes rampant use of drugs and vaping in our schools and increasing influence of special interest groups. I want to curb those, as well as bring more attention to the deficiencies in our curriculum, special needs program and address mental health issues. I also want to focus on curbing wasteful expenditure, increasing state funding and stabilizing property taxes. These are some of the reasons why I am running for BOE

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

The biggest challenge facing our district is overcrowding. I have a three-pronged plan:

1. There are many students going to school here who do not live in Edison. I will make a concerted effort to identify those students. Currently, we have only three investigation officers for more than 16,000 students. We need to have a better ratio because we are spending more than $10,000 taxpayer dollars for every student who does not live here. But equally important is the fact that these students are adding to the overcrowding. Identifying them, and removing them from the rolls, will help immensely in this area.

2. I will explore block scheduling because that is one way to reduce crowding in the hallways during passing time

3. It’s a no-brainer that we need to add to the existing space and reduce parking and traffic congestion. However, we have to make sure that we dip into the tax payers as a last resort (and not first) because the taxes are high enough in Edison. If I am elected, I will seek out state construction grants and alumni-giving (we have many former students owning multi-million dollar companies). I will look into shared-services and cut wasteful expenditure in the budget to free up resources for building. I will also set up a school fund where developers and businesses have to pay into every time they have a new proposal. Finally, and most importantly, I will collaborate with township and zoning officials to stop over-building in our town.

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

• Independent
• Qualified
• Creative

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

First and foremost, I am an independent thinker, influenced only by knowledge, rationality, and pragmatism. I believe to be an effective leader, one should be able to look at issues creatively without any type of bias or personal interest. Leadership does not happen on its own and the most critical factors are gaining the respect and confidence of people you are serving. I believe I have been successful in achieving the admiration and approval of the people I have served (and interacted with) in my previous roles as a BOE member, PTO president and in the professional world. I have been able to productively and amicably steer the conversations to benefit the students and taxpayers of Edison. I feel that an effective leader “is not a searcher of consensus but a molder of consensus.” My experiences and interactions with residents over the past decade have prepared me to understand the ground realities of families living in Edison. It has humbled and empowered me at the same time to lead our town to a better future.

Anthony DeAmorin

Why are you running for Board Of Education?

I am running for the a seat on our School Board to bridge the gap between our school board & all township officials/entities & our community. It is crucial to do so in order to effectively address problems such as overcrowding. Also the people must be better informed of things such as the $190 million bond referendum in Dec they will be asked to approve & pay for without knowing the break down on how & where the money will be spent. This is All without having a permanent superintendent after nearly 2 years. It is simply unacceptable. A change in leadership is desperately needed. And if elected, I ensure a much brighter & more optimistic future awaits our great district & community.

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

The biggest challenges we face are the same we faced just a year ago that have yet to be addressed. A permanent superintendent & overcrowded schools. I will work tirelessly with all township elected & unelected officials to finally get on the same page & begin having communication & open dialogue. It is crucial to tackling some of the big issues on hand so that we do not continue to deal with these issues every 5 or so years. And not relying on every single hard-working tax payer to constantly bail out poor management & decision making. Overcrowding is a township, not just a Board of Ed issue. But first & foremost we must hire a competent leader to lead our district into the next decade. It is long past due.

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

Competent, trailblazer, passionate

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

Leadership is earned. My work recently on the water & sewer petition that I help put together & circulated took many hours of hard work & dedication. And After recieving close to 5k signatures, we were able to bring the water deal to a referendum so people would decide it's fate. My team & I along with the help & support of many town patriots, the great residents of Edison were ultimately victorious. The same passion & dedication that was brought to pass that referendum in Sept, will be brought to our School Board. And a new era of accountability, communication & transparency will follow. Our students deserve that much.

Samuel Marshall

Why are you running for Board Of Education?

I am running for the Edison Board of Education because my experience as a more recent graduate of the Edison school system provide me with a perspective on the issues facing youth today that I believe the board could benefit from. In addition to this, through my attendance at BOE and Town Council meetings I have noticed a disconnect between the older and younger generations of this town in terms of investment in local affairs. I would like to be among those that help to bridge this gap going forward.

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

The biggest challenge facing the Board of Education today is how best to go about mitigating overcrowding. I would go about solving this issue by first consulting with officials from other similarly sized towns that have faced overcrowding problems in the past and using their input to inform decisions that the board makes going forward. I also support publicizing information on the initiatives that the board is working on currently so townspeople are more informed as to how their concerns are being addressed.

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

Three words I would use to describe myself to those who have never met me are: dedicated, thoughtful, and optimistic.

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

The experiences and qualifications that have prepared me to occupy a seat on the BOE are unique in that they are still ongoing. In addition to my 13 years as a student in the Edison school system, I am currently attending the Rutgers Graduate School of Education where I am studying for a Masters Degree in secondary English Education. My unique perspective, in conjunction with those of the talented former or active teachers and administrators serving on the board today, will help move our town’s school forward in myriad ways. Every day I am learning more about where the education field is heading in the future, and I am very excited to use this knowledge to help give back to the town that gave me so much.

Tahira Nasood

Why are you running for Board Of Education?

As a parent with three children in Edison schools,and member of healthcare team, I understand the importance of integrating healthcare principles into school district's policies and procedures. I am running for BOE because I want to focus on students wellness issues including stress reduction, opioid abuse and vaping .And also looks forward to expanding healthy lunch menu choices with the goal of providing nutritious menu option with better quality and quantity.

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

The biggest challenge facing school is overcrowding.
To prevent overcrowding, school expansion and new school construction must keep pace with increases in student enrollment. we should expand school buildings and create more expansion plans including trailer facilities .

Another big challenge that students are facing in our school is anxiety. Anxiety becomes an issue when it begins holding the student back from opportunities, such as participating in extracurricular activities or social engagements. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that approximately 25% of teen between 13 and 18 years old have an anxiety disorder and slightly less than 6% have a severe anxiety disorder.During this time, teachers and school staff are extremely valuable in helping students become healthy, productive members of society. Teacher training in mental health is a major key to student success.

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

Reliable, Motivated, Hardworking

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

By way of background ,I am Administrative Director for a local Sleep Disorder Center and I also serve as the Director of Operation at APPNA - NJ ,a free clinic that offers services to indigent patients.

I have been seeing a lot of teens in clinic who are dealing with anxiety, depression and sleep deprivation. This gives me inside view of what our children are lacking and experiencing in our schools. Along with that, I have always valued patients concerns and feed back in the health care field, thus I will always value learning our children and parents concerns regarding our schools.

Sparshil Patel

Why are you running for Board Of Education?

This election is not about winning, it’s about fixing the problems for our children. We need outsider thinkers like myself who will bring new ideas and implement them. Many of these issues have been address year after year with no execution or resolution. We need to move Edison to back where it should be and elevate back to its prestigious rankings. It’s about doing the right thing, its community service, all internal motives need to be set aside. I am confident that I will be a great asset to the board and we will work together to get things done. We must rebuild proper structure and foundation for school board and teachers alike so our next generation of children can prosper. I want my daughter to enter a school system where she can flourish. I want all our children to have space to sit on the bus, have enough time for lunch, and reduce all the
side effects of overcrowding.

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

Overcrowding is one area I would concentrate on if elected. We need to ask realistic questions and figure out long term solutions. We need to find grants and have conversation with administration in Trenton, we need to build infrastructure and facilities in our growing district. This will not be a quick fix, and a blank check will not solve our problems. I want to create a master plan and resolve this issue over the next 5 years.

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

Creative/innovative, empowering, and honest/integrity

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

My business healthcare background and education has prepared me to become an effective leader. I am able to analyze budgets and reduce costs and spend fiscally. I know what it takes to turn this district around and will make sure our children have the best resources for optimal nourishment.

Editor's note: Not all candidates submitted photographs.