Election Profile: Sunil Polepalli 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 currently a board member.

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

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

Polepalli is a Manalapan resident of 11 years with his wife and two boys. He holds a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Texas at Dallas and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

“I am a proud father of two boys at ages 12 and 14,” Polepalli told Patch. “During the last decade, I have had the experience of Special Education and as well as, Academically Talented programs in the district with my boys. This gives me an unique lens to learn about the real challenges and the true potential of the school district with kids' talents that span across the continuum.”

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?

I believe that the district has great assets but we are not realizing its fullest potential.

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

With the pandemic, the model for kids education is being turned upside down in front of our eyes. And, the district’s budgetary cuts have only magnified the challenges. We need to think of ‘out of the box’ programs for student advancement while alleviating the burden on parents and Teachers. With my professional and personal backgrounds, I will bring the same level of rigor and operational excellence in helping solve once in a generation challenges we all are facing with kids education.

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

I bring in three unique perspectives to the board if elected:

1) Passion for education: Education is near and dear to my heart as I come from a family of educators. My Mom and Grand Mothers were teachers. And, I taught while at Graduate School and as well as, early on in my career. I firmly believe that the education combined with grit are the key to success for kids.

2) Deep Experience with the district: I have had front row seat into the challenges and
opportunities in the district after getting my 2 boys educated in the district over the last decade. My younger son just started middle school in the district.

3) Diverse professional background: Proven track record in the business world with Senior Leadership roles. The pandemic has made it clear to all of us that we need to reinvent our education system so that our kids can adapt to unpredictable situations and overcome setbacks for driving success.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Don’t let perfection become the enemy of the good. Early on in my career, I have picked up this wisdom of nugget from one of my great mentors.
My mentor taught that Success is more likely to be gradual. In other words, Success may happen most likely due to a series of continuous iterations with unwavering focus and persistence which some call as ‘grit’.

I learnt that we should obsessively listen and understand what’s important for the key stakeholders or customers and focus on developing a minimum viable initiative that satisfies the requirements of stakeholders. Near perfection may eventually happen by iterating on the minimal viable initiative over time. The initiative could be launching offering, streamlining a business or reinvention of business models. Professionally, this approach has helped me tremendously. I would like to bring the same persevering approach to the education system in the district.

Thanks for reading! Have a news tip? Email nicole.rosenthal@patch.com. Click here to get Patch email notifications, or to get breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our app, download here. Follow Manalapan Patch on Facebook.