EAST BRUNSWICK Five candidates are running for three available seats on the East Brunswick Board of Education.
Incumbents Susanna Chiu, Laurie Lachs and Todd Simmens will face first-time candidates John Gonzalez and Jean Reger for the three-year terms.
Chiu, 53, said she is running for re-election in order to contribute to the school district’s continued success. A board member since 2014, she has been a resident for 22 years, raising her two children in the school system.
She currently serves on the Finance Committee as the chairperson, the Calendar Committee as the chairperson, the Curriculum Committee, the Transportation Committee, and the newly formed Human Resources Committee.
Chiu has previously served on the Policy and Student Services committees. She is also the board representative on the East Brunswick Human Relations Council.
Prior to becoming a board member, Chiu served on the board’s Community Programs and Technology committees as a member of the public, she said. She has also had roles in the Chinese American Cultural Association as vice-chair, East Brunswick Human Relations Council as vice-chair, Mid-Jersey Chinese School as principal and Literacy Volunteers as president.
She works as the director of energy services for an electric and gas company.
“The Board of Education serves as a group. Therefore, as an individual member, I take great pride in the accomplishments of the school district, but cannot take the credit. As a relatively new member, I was impressed by the collective Board of Education’s commitment to excellence and focus on meeting the needs of the community,” Chiu said.
“As an example, I believe the Strategic Planning effort was a significant accomplishment that entailed seeking input from the community, working through the planning committees, school administration and staff to prioritize and develop action plans, and finally executing those plans, all for the betterment of the community. I helped to shape that planning effort, and I bring value to the [board] by offering a perspective built upon my years of diverse business, cultural and non-profit experiences,” she said.
Chiu said that if re-elected, she would like to see the board to continue to tackle the items identified in the strategic plan.
“I would like to look for more opportunities to continue to seek input from all stakeholders, community members, parents, students, teachers and administrators, to validate our priorities and our initiatives. Elements of that plan that will require continued review and refinement includes technology, the use of technology in our curriculum, school security, and capital upgrades,” Chiu said.
Gonzalez, 39, has been a resident for six years. He is the supervisor of Instruction at Gateway School for students with disabilities in Carteret. He also is a board member on both the East Brunswick Baseball League and St. Bart’s Buffalos Football and Cheer.
“I love being a part of and serving the community. I see my professional experience being an asset for the East Brunswick Board if Education,” Gonzalez said.
A former vice principal at Newark Leadership Academy, Gonzalez said, “I am an educator. I began my career as a special education teacher in September of 2002. My career, which now spans over 15 years, has included being a teacher of the handicapped and school administrator.
“Additionally, last school year while my son was in second grade, I needed to work closely with my son’s case management team and develop his program. There was a point when I did not agree with the direction they were taking with him, and I needed to advocate and push for what I believed was in his best interest. Thankfully, the team took my suggestions and moved in a different direction and my son has flourished since,” Gonzalez said.
If elected to the school board, Gonzalez said his top priority would be facilities.
“I think our schools do a wonderful job teaching our children and preparing them for higher education. However, I do not believe our schools physically match their performance. I have had the pleasure of seeing most of the schools throughout the district and I see a vast contrast in quality,” Gonzalez said. “We have beautiful new buildings in schools like Central and Memorial, then we have out-of-date structures like Chittick and Warnsdorfer. I think our district, which has been doing so well, should make an investment in facilities so each of our schools are leaders in technology. Our schools should be a model to be followed by others from the classroom, to the art studios, to the ball fields and courts.”
Lachs, 47, said that she is a lifelong resident and a proud member of the East Brunswick High School Class of 1988. She has held leadership positions in Fast Break Buddy Ball and the NFL Flag Football organizations, has served on two Parent Teacher Associations and has worked with other civic and religious groups. She is a stay-at-home mother, raising two children who are enrolled in township schools.
“I pledge to continue working toward maintaining excellence in our academic, athletic and arts programs while making sure that all of our residents can still afford to live here. My commitment is not just to the school-aged parents of this district, but to each and every resident,” she said.
A member of the board since 2015, Lachs has served on various committees including the Student Services Committee, Calendar Committee and the Transportation Committee. She is also the chairperson for the board’s Building and Grounds Committee and the Community Programs Committee. She is also a board representative for the East Brunswick Education Association’s negotiations team.
“I have and will continue to work hard to ensure that our schools are safe for our staff and students by serving on the district Safety Committee. One of my personal achievements is providing a stellar staff of security officers that not only protect our schools, but these dedicated men and women have become immersed in the school communities in which they serve,” Lachs said.
Lachs said that she prides herself on being fiscally conservative with township’s tax dollars while working hard to provide the district with the resources needed to maintain its excellence.
“I never lose sight of the financial impact that is placed on the township’s residents. Being on the Board of Education is not without its challenges and at times we are asked to make tough decisions,” she said.
Striving to work in partnership with the township on lease purchase agreements, Lachs said that the board continually looks for other cost-saving measures to defray the taxpayers’ burden.
“My work on Community Programs has produced successful parent funded programs like our top-notch pre-school and enrichment programming, which allow us to offer parents low-cost options for care at no cost to the taxpayer. Our partnership with Middlesex Community College allows our high school students to work towards their associate’s degree or just earn college credits that will lessen the financial burden on their parents for college tuition before graduation,” Lachs said.
A political science major at Middlesex County College, Reger, 19, decided to run since graduating East Brunswick High School in 2016.
“I decided to run for public office when Betsy DeVos was chosen to be secretary of Education. The East Brunswick School District put me on a path toward success in life. It is my goal to preserve the excellence that is the East Brunswick School District and protect it from a federal government that does not seem to care about public education,” Reger said.
She said her biggest issue is in regard to mental health.
“Mental health is the key to student success. We need someone on the board who understands issues from a students’ perspective. As a recent high school graduate, I know how stressful school can be,” Reger said. “The world is becoming increasingly competitive. Now, more than ever, we need to be more conscious of how students are coping with the stress that comes with school. I am looking to streamline communication between students and the administration. This will help us create a more positive environment for students.”
Having served on the school board for more than 10 years, Simmens, 47, currently works as a lawyer and as a certified public accountant with BDO USA, a global accounting firm. He is a township resident since 2001, and his wife is an East Brunswick High School graduate.
He has served on Finance, Building and Grounds, Curriculum, Student Services, Policy, Negotiations, Transportation, Technology and Community Programs committee. He has also served on the Human Relations Council, East Brunswick Cable TV Committee and has held several state liaison positions. He is the current board president.
“During my tenure on the board, we have hired and retained a new superintendent, launched full-day kindergarten, addressed our aging facility needs for some of our buildings, while delivering a tax decrease to our residents, a flat budget, and some of the lowest increases in recent history,” Simmens said.
“We are fortunate to have a Board of Education that works well together and always remembers that it serves in the best interests of the children and staff of our district,” he said. “While our Board of Education has accomplished much over the past years, I feel there is still more work to be done. I have gained good experience during my time on the board, and I feel that I have more to contribute.”
Simmens said that despite the board’s accomplishments, more things can still be improved.
“First, we have more work that needs to be done with respect to our facilities. Some of our buildings are in need of repair and making needed improvements is something that the district will need to address in the short term,” he said. “Second, there are areas of our curriculum that should be revisited to comply with current standards and to remain competitive. In addition, with new state leadership next year, the district may have the opportunity to revisit standardized testing, advocate for more rational assessment of charter school applications, and ensure a regulatory environment that works for all stakeholders.”
Election Day is Nov. 7.
Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.
