Election Profile: Ryan Urgo For Manalapan School Board

MANALAPAN, NJ - Four seats are up for grabs on the Manalapan-Englishtown Board of Education, according to the Monmouth County Clerk's Office.

Running in the full-term race (with three seats open) are John D'Amato, Dorothy B. "Dotty" Porcaro, Ryan Urgo and Sunil Polepalli. Porcaro currently serves as board president, while Urgo is an incumbent board member.

Present board member Brian Graime is running unopposed for a one-year unexpired term.

Related: Election 2020: Who's Running For School Board In Manalapan?

Urgo assumed his seat on the board of education in 2019. He coordinates health policy and strategy within the biopharmaceutical industry and holds a master’s degree in public affairs and politics from Rutgers University Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy. He previously earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Rutgers University.

Urgo has lived in Manalapan for a decade with his spouse and two children, a daughter in fifth grade and a son in first grade. “My spouse is a teacher,” Urgo told Patch. “We have a long-term vested interest in the quality of education in Manalapan-Englishtown.”

Are you running for a spot on the board of education? Contact Nicole Rosenthal at nicole.rosenthal@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate profile and submitting campaign announcements to Patch.

Why are you seeking a seat on the school board:

There has never been a more critical time for education than now. As if the past year’s historic state budget cuts to education in Manalapan weren’t enough, the pandemic has upended nearly every aspect of life, with our schools and the quality of education near the top of the list. Parents must grapple with a difficult balance between protecting the health and safety of our residents and ensuring that our children do not fall behind academically. As a parent and a current board member, I feel a strong commitment to being a part of the solution to these challenges.

The single most pressing issue facing our school district is ________________, and this is what I intend to do about it:

The single most pressing issue facing our school district is opening our schools safely during the pandemic.

I will continue shaping the good work of the current administration to find ways to increase live instruction time, especially for our youngest students, in a safe and responsible way. Most importantly, we need to consistently assess the effectiveness of our current hybrid and virtual academy models and introduce incremental changes where appropriate. For example, we must explore opportunities to increase in-person learning in the core subjects of reading, writing, and math for students that may have the most difficulty with virtual learning, in particular our youngest students. The timing of any decisions must of course depend upon the trajectory of the virus as we enter flu season. If we move too quickly, we can undermine efforts to return to a semblance of normalcy.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking to serve on the school board seat?:

As a working professional with deep experience in public policy, I offer a skill set of strategic thinking, consensus building, and interpersonal communication that has allowed me to be an effective and engaged board member. I also think having young children in the district is especially important in giving me a real-world perspective of the difficulties we currently face. When we are asked to develop and vote on policy affecting education in the district, it is important to understand issues both as a parent and a board member. I am inquisitive and vocal by nature and am always seeking ways to find the “sweet spot” when facing decisions with difficult trade-offs on both sides of an issue. Residents can also trust me to be responsive and honest at all times, and to work well with my fellow colleagues on the board and in the administration. For good reasons, school board positions are non-partisan, and all residents can count on me to be independent-minded and impartial at all times.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

Aside from the pandemic, our district is facing immense budget cuts from Trenton, that will force us to do more with less. We must be responsible with our budgets without sacrificing the high quality of Manalapan’s education. I also strive to increase community involvement and engagement in the day-to-day issues of the board. The more informed we all are, the more effective we will be.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you will be effective on the school board?:

My professional experience and academic background has given me a solid understanding of the role of government and the importance of the policy formation process in achieving desired outcomes. As stated above, this experience has sharpened my skill set in negotiation, critical thinking, and consensus-building. These traits are vitally important to being an effective board member.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Two quotes come to mind: “Don’t take things personally…when you suffer a setback, keep moving forward” and “We don’t need to be ‘like’ anyone else. It’s better to be an individual thinker”.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

That I can relate to the struggles we all face during these difficult times, and in spite of the stress and hardship brought on by the pandemic, I see this moment as an opportunity to make a genuine and positive impact in people’s day-to-day lives.