I urge Hillsborough voters to vote for Judy Haas for Hillsborough School Board. Judy not only cares deeply about our students and our educational community, but she is a consummate public servant.
Having a master’s degree in public administration, and with a career as a public administrator and policy advisor in New York before becoming township administrator in Hillsborough, Judy totally understands the legal, financial, regulatory and ethical aspects of maintaining the public’s trust. She is also passionate about education and truly appreciates the efforts of students, teachers, and administrators to create a great educational environment.
As budgets become tighter and expectations of public education increase, it’s imperative that we have people on the school board who take their responsibility very seriously and are transparent and responsive to the public. Judy works hard to question and review in detail everything that comes before her as a board member. She has never been a rubber stamp for the school administration, and always adds value to the discussion.
In addition to her 15 years on Hillsborough school board, Judy currently serves as vice president, after six years as president, of the Board of Directors of the Somerset County Educational Services Commission (ESC), which provides special education, alternative education and vocational training. Her service to the ESC and other volunteer experience allow her to develop creative and diverse solutions to educational and management problems.
If we want Hillsborough to continue to be a desirable community in which to raise a family, we have to have great schools. Excellence only happens with great leadership. Judy is not just experienced and dedicated, she is strong and principled, and her values inform everything she does. As current political and economic forces bear down upon our school system, Judy understands that we must continue to inject new ideas into our program, even while pressure is applied to the bottom line.
Judy is also attuned to the state legislative agenda on education and to the development going on in town and the impact on the schools. She has met with legislative leadership and testified in front of the planning board and township committee as to the impact of all the development in town on enrollment, class size, and facility needs.
This is why we need Judy to continue her critical work on the board.
This election year is like no other. fter seven months of the pandemic pressing down on us and a difficult economic recession, we need to regain some stability, especially for our children. We have three excellent incumbents running for re-election: Judy Haas (a lifetime public official), Lorraine Soisson (an infectious disease expert), and Ann Harris (a retired Hillsborough teacher), who are well-credentialed and have always maintained their independence from special interests, both in their campaigns and in their actions on the Board of Education. It is hard to see how the challengers who have accepted not only the Hillsborough Education Association endorsement, but super Political Action Committee support, can be objective and independent representatives of the community, and how they will keep our taxes stable.
I ask for your vote for Judy Haas, as well as Lorraine Soisson and Ann Harris. Submit your ballot now.
Meryl Bisberg
Hillsborough
