The four candidates who are competing for two seats on the Board of Education this year all have careers and families. And they all are running to serve on a board that has the most demanding time commitment of any in Verona: While the public portion of a BOE meeting starts at 7 p.m. twice a month, BOE members generally need to be in conference starting at 6 p.m. Meetings can run to 10 p.m., or much later, and there are regular meetings for each of a BOE member’s two committee assignments, as well as an often thick briefing book to read ahead of each meeting. BOE members also often turn out for events at all six Verona schools, from concerts to curriculum events and sports, as well as the Town Council’s two monthly meetings.
In short, being on the BOE is a lot of work and we wanted to know how candidates Jim Day, Sara Drappi, Glenn Elliott, and Lynn Halsey planned to handle it, so we asked them this:
QUESTION 4: The BOE is the most demanding community position in Verona, and you all have day jobs. What in your current job roles and responsibilities might prevent you from fully carrying out your duties on the BOE?
In the run-up to this year’s BOE election, MyVeronaNJ.com sent candidates one question every Friday that they had to answer by noon on the following Tuesday. In Week 1, we asked them to explain the role of the BOE to voters. In Week 2, we asked about dealing with conflict. Week 3 was about best practices in the outside world that they would bring to the BOE. The candidates’ responses are listed in the order in which they are received, and MyVeronaNJ.com does not edit the answers in any way, whether for grammar, spelling or length.
Click on the arrows to read all the responses.
This series was very helpful in deciding how to vote. Thank you!