Lawrence Township voters will choose from among five candidates to fill three open seats on the Lawrence Township Public Schools Board of Education in the Nov. 5 general election.
Three of the five candidates – Jonathan Dauber, Pepper Evans and Michelle King – are incumbent school board members who are seeking another three-year term. They are being challenged by Heather L. Camp and Adena Romeo-Ratliff.
A fourth incumbent school board member, Cathy LeCompte, is running unopposed to fill out a one-year unexpired term on the school board.
Camp has lived in Lawrence Township for six years, and has one child enrolled in the school district.
Camp said one of the issues facing the Lawrence Township Public School District is keeping students at the Lawrence Intermediate School, which teaches students in grades 4-6. Children have been leaving the intermediate school for other schools, but administrative changes have been made for the 2019-20 school year, she said.
Addressing budget issues, Camp suggested that staff and administrators should seek out grant opportunities, and also expand partnerships as it balances facilities maintenance and educational and staffing needs.
Dauber is a seven-year resident of Lawrence Township. His two children attend the public schools.
Ensuring that the needs of the students and their families are being met is one of the challenges facing the district, Dauber said. Instruction should be tailored to each student. In turn, students need to be able to apply their learning in a global context.
Mental health and social growth issues also are critical, and the school district needs to find ways to connect with community agencies to help and support students, Dauber said.
Evans has lived in Lawrence Township since the 1980’s. Her children are graduates of Lawrence High School.
Evans said one of the major issues facing the school district is the significant cost of special education. The district is training teachers so they can teach the special education students. This would avoid the need to pay for their tuition at costly private, specialized schools, she said.
Transportation is another issue, Evans said. The district has arranged for staggered starting times for the schools, so the same bus can go around the township twice to pick up students. The district also has purchased some of its own buses, she said.
King is a 21-year resident of Lawrence Township. Her children attended Catholic parochial schools in grades K-8, and The Pennington School for high school.
Kings said the school board and the administration have undertaken a broad evaluation of the special education programs. They have identified issues that are going to be dealt with over a three-year period. Plans have been drawn up and will be implemented.
The costs of special education programs and transportation are increasing at a faster pace than the school district can meet financially, while still meeting its obligation to educate students, King said. The school district should join forces with other districts county-wide or state-wide to address the issue, she said.
Romeo-Ratliff is a life-long Lawrence resident who graduated from Lawrence High School. One of her three children attends the public schools, and the other two children have been placed by the district in schools outside of the district for lack of available programming.
The main issues facing the district are the rising costs of education, educating an increasingly diverse student population, and preparing them for the future in a world that is changing rapidly, Romeo-Ratliff said.
To solve those issues requires collecting data, diagnosing the issue, coming up with a plan to address the issue and then implementing the plan. The plan will be evaluated, she said. Solving the issues requires teamwork, she said, adding that she hopes to be part of that team.
LeCompte, who is running unopposed for an unexpired term, has lived in Lawrence Township for 21 years. Her children are graduates of Lawrence High School.
LeCompte said special education costs are high because of the need to send some special education students to specialized schools. The recently completed review of special education programs – in the district and out of the district – can be used as a guide to help develop programs in the district to keep the special education students in the district, she said.
Keeping the children safe is another issue, which is being addressed by the addition of safety vestibules in each school building, LeCompte said. There is a need to expand the character education programs in all of the schools to teach students to be respectful and accepting of everyone, she said.
