Seven candidates for three open seats on the Lawrence Township school board will make their case for election at a special candidate’s forum sponsored by the Lawrence Township chapter of the League of Women Voters.
The forum, which starts at 7 p.m., Sept. 28, will be livestreamed on the League of Women Voters Facebook page, which is “LWV of Lawrence Township.” It will be recorded and available for viewing on the League of Women Voters of Lawrence Township’s YouTube channel, beginning Sept. 29.
The public may submit questions for the League of Women Voters forum by emailing them to LWVofLawrence@gmail.com, said Nicole Plett, co-chair of the Lawrence Township chapter of the League of Women Voters.
The forum will be moderated by a trained, non-partisan member of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey who does not live or vote in Lawrence Township, Plett said.
Incumbent school board members Pepper Evans, Michelle King and Amanda Santos are facing challengers Thomas J. Figueira, Amy Gregory, Nathanael Gregory and Carlos Raziel Rodriguez in the election. The term is for three years.
Evans, King and Santos are running together on the “Building Tomorrow Together” slate.
Figueira and husband-and-wife Amy Gregory and Nathanael Gregory are running on the “Quality, Community, Family” slate.
Rodriguez is running alone on the “Accountability, Security, Opportunity” slogan.
The candidates also have been invited to submit answers to five questions, whose answers will be posted on the national League of Women Voters website at www.Vote411.org. The answers tentatively will be posted Sept. 25, Plett said.
The five questions, posed by the Lawrence Township chapter of the League of Women Voters, seek to find out why the candidates are running for the school board, and the experiences or skills that have prepared them to serve on the school board, Plett said.
The candidates will be asked about the school district or community activities or organizations in which they have been involved, and for their priorities if they are elected to the school board, she said.
Plett said that each candidate will also be asked about what, in their view, differentiates them from the other candidates.
The school board election is Nov. 8.
