Princeton School Board Election Results For 2020

PRINCETON, NJ - The polls have closed, and tallies have begun. The hotly contested race for Princeton Board of Education will be decided soon.

This election cycle, eight candidates were vying for three open seats on the school board. The eight candidates on the ballot are:

• Adam Bierman
• Beth Behrend
• Hendricks S. Davis
• Jean Y. Durbin
• Karen Lemon
• Paul M. Johnson
• Michele Tuck-Ponder
• William "Bill" Hare.

Incumbents Beth Behrend and Michele Tuck-Ponder are running for reelection. Behrend currently serves as board president. If re-elected, she wants to focus on putting students first, while dealing with the various challenges brought on by the pandemic. "I have a proven track record on the job — we've made real progress for our kids over the past two years," she said.

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Meanwhile, Tuck-Ponder has held various offices over the past 30 years. She’s a strong advocate for reasonable spending and cost saving measures. Tuck-Ponder wants to ensure all students get equal and excellent education without putting much burden on the taxpayer. "For the past three years, I have used my voice and my vote on the Board of Education to highlight and address issues of inequity in our schools," she said.

Candidates challenging Behrend and Tuck-Ponder said the board indulged in over spending. Adam Bierman, 60, said the Board needs to learn to "live within its means."

"In my opinion Board of Education at times behaves like a private club. Blindly supporting the ill-conceived and grandiose vision of past superintendents, stifling any critical analysis or oversight," he told Patch.

Bierman said he is running to make education accessible and affordable for students, while keeping taxes low.

Jean Durbin, who works as an attorney/contracts manager in the Office of Finance and Treasury at Princeton University thinks her background could help the school district in achieving many of its future goals. But most importantly, she wants to focus on hiring an experienced superintendent to lead the school district. Among other qualities, she hopes the next superintendent has "a demonstrated record of fostering the principles of equity and inclusion for all our children and within all our schools."

Karen Lemon, Paul Johnson and Bill Hare are running as a slate. They want to work collaboratively to make the school district more diverse and affordable. Lemon hopes to turn diversity into an asset in the school district. "Currently it is a determinate of academic success to the disadvantage of low income, Black/Hispanic, and special needs students," she said.

If elected, Johnson wants to tackle the issues of equity/equality head on. He said the current Board has lacked accountability, and wants to bring back credibility and trust to the job. "The top priority is the issue of equity... It was and has always been the pandemic before the pandemic we call Covid-19... If elected, I believe it is essential that we begin to tackle this issue with our search for the next superintendent, because they will be our leader, our captain who will drive and guide our faculty, staff, and students (our team) to a brighter tomorrow," he said.

All candidates agreed that diversity and inclusion are very important to the school district. They believe that all children — especially low income, Black/Hispanic, and special needs students —should receive an equal education in a safe environment.

Earlier this year, Board voted unanimously to remove John Witherspoon's name from Princeton middle school. It is now known as Princeton Unified Middle School (PUMS), an interim name, until a permanent name is chosen by community members.

Since the change to this year's election was announced by Gov. Phil Murphy because of the coronavirus, there have been many questions about how the process will work.

Every the ballot sent through the mail had to be postmarked by Nov. 3. It must be received by your county's election boards by 8 p.m. on Nov. 10.

"Every vote should be safe. Every vote should be secure. Every vote should be counted," Murphy said of the process.

For full coverage of the 2020 election in New Jersey, go here: New Jersey Elections 2020