Villadom Times Weekly Newpaper Online-April 20, 2011 Issue

Midland Park April 20, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 Midland Park residents next week will reelect three trustees to the board of education and vote on the $17,604,887 to be raised by taxation to support a $19,193,640 million school budget. The election, traditionally held on a Tuesday, this year is set for Wednesday, April 27 statewide because of a conflict with the Jewish Passover. The polls will be open from 2 to 9 p.m. Running unopposed for the three available board seats are incumbents Raymond Moraski, James Canellas and Maryalice Thomas (Hagerty). Moraski has served on the board for nine years, including terms as president. Canellas is finishing his first three-year term. Thomas is currently filling a two-year unexpired term. Moraski, a former U.S. Naval Officer, holds a managerial position with Koestner Associates, a real estate development firm. He said his goal as a board member continues to be “to contribute to enhancing the quality of the district in a fiscally responsible manner. This includes continuing to follow through with the goals set during the Strategic Planning for the areas of communication, curriculum, environment, and partnerships. The district goals that the board set for the current year, regarding student achievement and facility improvement needs, also align with this. The proposed budget includes some curriculum-driven initiatives.I would like to join in providing the continuity to implement these.” Moraski added his belief that “the current slate of candidates offers Midland Park the best option. The three of us represent various perspectives, as parents of children that range in grades from Godwin and Highland schools to middle and high school age and beyond. As incumbents, we all possess the necessary training and Incumbent trustees seek reelection to school board knowledge of the recent board history. This will be beneficial in moving the district forward,” he said. Canellas, a Certified Public Accountant, is currently director of finance and operations for Home Box Office and previously served as an auditor for Deloitte and Touche, LLP. He said he is seeking a second term to continue to put all that he has learned to work for the students of Midland Park and continue to be a productive force on the Midland Park Board of Education. “I have learned so much over the last three years as a member of the Midland Park Board of Education from my fellow trustees, our administration, teachers, parents and students. Our students today are our leaders tomorrow. Their potential is limitless, and I am committed to providing our students an educational program that will allow them to reach their fullest potential. Now I know there are obstacles, facilities and funding to name a few, but I believe that together we can find compromise and common ground that will enable us to address our district’s needs. Our students deserve the `best’ and I will do all I can to provide that for them within a framework of fiscal responsibility and transparency,” he said. Canellas said that during my tenure on the board, he has been an advocate for the students while balancing the concerns of the community. “I believe that my professional background, objectivity and ability to listen have benefitted the board, the community and most of all, the students of the district,” he said. “Student achievement should be our first priority. We need to provide our students with the resources needed to excel. We need to prepare all our students to respond to the challenges and obstacles they will encounter, whether that be in college or the work place. I am prepared to work tirelessly to ensure that our students have the educational foundation needed to respond with confidence and resulting in success,” he concluded. Thomas holds a doctorate from Seton Hall University and has been a student assistance counselor with the Randolph Township Schools in Morris County for 21 years. She said she is seeking reelection so that she can support the district as it negotiates through the challenges of providing quality education while remaining fiscally responsible. “If elected I will strive to implement the goals of our community as well as support the board’s mission of `providing students with a comprehensive, adaptive education in a positive environment by maximizing all resources and empowering them to realize their individual worth and responsibility with the expectation that all students achieve the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards at all grade levels,’” she said. Thomas noted that that during her two years on the board, “I have learned a great deal about the operations and policies of our district,” adding that the experiences she has had in the various committees on which she has served, “have led me to want to continue to serve as a trustee.” She chairs the policy committee, which she said “has given me opportunity to review and understand how our district is governed.” She also serves on the curriculum, technology and personnel committees and is the board’s liaison to Special Education. “In the last two years I have witnessed tremendous change in education; locally, statewide and federally. Our community has welcomed a new elementary principal, a new superintendent and two new board members. Our governor has created new formulas for funding public education and our president has listed education as one of his primary goals. All of this has resulted in many changes in our district, some of which necessitated the board to respond with difficult cuts. These cuts were not made lightly, and every decision was weighed on how it would impact on education and instruction and, most importantly, students and staff,” Thomas concluded. The $19,193,640 proposed spending plan is up 3.48 percent over the current year’s, including the $450,000 debt service. The $17,604,887 to be raised by taxation, however, is up $335,438, a 2 percent increase, as limited by state law. If successful at the polls, the budget would increase the school portion of homeowner’s taxes by $.037 per $100 assessed valuation. A home assessed at $300,000, the borough’s average, would see its annual tax bill increase by $111 for school purposes only. 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