METUCHEN – Three incumbents, who ran unopposed in the November election, will fill the three, three-year seats on the Metuchen Board of Education.
Alicia Sneddon Killean, who will serve her second term, registered the most votes with 1,846/35%. Jonathan Lifton, who will serve his fourth term, received 1,724 votes/33%. Eric Suss, who will serve his second term, recorded 1,672 votes/32%.
Election results are from the Middlesex County Board of Elections and are not official until certified.
Killean, 43, who is a lifelong resident of the borough, said she ran for another term on the board “so that I can continue to be involved with the good work that is being done to support the emotional and academic needs of our students.”
“As our town continues to grow and change, so must our schools,” she said. “Maintaining the high quality of education that I received as a student growing up here and using my professional experience to make informed decisions and recommendations to support our teachers are my goals as a board member.”
Lifton, 51, who has lived in Metuchen for 20 years, said he hopes to continue the board’s commitment to teaching the “whole child,” to protect our Music and Art departments, and to continue to improve our performance for the children of the borough.”
He said his experience as chair of the board’s Negotiating Committee for the last three teacher contract negotiations, and also his professional career, where he has been involved in negotiating nine collective bargaining agreements over 25 years, will be an extremely important asset to the board with the district’s teachers contract expiring at the end of the school year.
Suss, 54, who has lived in Metuchen for 28 years, said he ran for re-election “because the schools of Metuchen have always been important to me.”
He said while his school experiences have been great, there are many challenges – with a limited budget – ahead, including providing appropriate mental health support; improving the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) experience of all children; integrating the appropriate level of technology into the classroom; absorbing population growth, maintaining and repairing the district’ aging school infrastructure; improving school-community communications; and challenging the average student.
