NORTH BRUNSWICK – The North Brunswick Board of Education will see some new – and familiar faces – when it reorganizes in January.
Incumbent Claribel Cortes received 27 percent of the vote on Nov. 7, with 2,792 votes, according to election results provided by Middlesex County.
“I want to thank everyone who supported me during this campaign and came out to vote. I take great pride [in knowing] that the voters of North Brunswick have placed their faith and trust in me to continue to improve the education for all our students,” Cortes said.
“I will dedicate a great deal of my time to assisting in securing additional funding for programs via grants and strategic partnerships which will help our students become future-ready without bearing additional costs to the taxpayers. Also, I will continue my initiative to help increase communication between the community and the North Brunswick Board of Education via increasing avenues of digital streaming of our meetings along with the improved broadcast. I’m excited about what awaits in the next few years, and I’m confident that the future of our students is brighter now more than ever,” she said.
Former board member Richard Liguori was voted back onto the board with 27 percent, or 2,847 votes. He said he “can’t wait” to get started again.
“I’m extremely humbled to have the opportunity to return to the board; thanks so much to the voters who placed their confidence in me. My focus will be to work collaboratively with the rest of the board and the administrative team to achieve, and hopefully surpass, both the board’s goals and the district’s goals in a thorough and transparent way, and to develop sound policies to get us there. We need to continue to be the eyes and ears of all the children of our wonderful school district, while striking a balance and being fiscally responsible to the taxpayers of our town,” he said.
Newcomer Howard Liu was voted in during his second attempt, with 24 percent, or 2,518 votes.
“Thank you to all the voters of North Brunswick who voted for me,” Liu said. “North Brunswick is my hometown and I believe I can bring a fresh perspective to the Board of Education. Having gone through the K-12 system in North Brunswick myself, I saw firsthand how policies of the North Brunswick Board of Education impact students, both positively and negatively. It is an incredible honor to be able to serve my hometown and community of the great town of North Brunswick.”
Liu said he plans to follow through with the concerns he addressed during his campaign.
“I will fight for a more transparent government that represents and is accountable to the students, teachers and taxpayers of North Brunswick. I would make sure to fully represent the people of North Brunswick, since that is the No. 1 job as an elected official. Also, I will focus on improving the quality of education for our students as well as the curriculum, and not on increasing taxes and spending more money. Finally, the focus of the Board of Education should be on students, teachers and taxpayers, and not on the bureaucracy of the administration. The red tape needs to be cut. Students should feel comfortable to go directly to the North Brunswick Board of Education to speak out with issues they have with administrators and administration, he said.
Incumbent David Brockman received 23 percent, or 2,371 votes, but lost his re-election bid.
Cortes and Brockman could not be reached for further comment.
The school board will reorganize at a meeting in January.
Contact Jennifer Amato at jamato@newspapermediagroup.com.
