Author	Message
guest13	Posted: Thu, Mar 29 2012, 12:00 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: BOE Candidates Night attitude & actions ma wrote: We should all absolutely pay attention to the positive characteristics, experience and/or expertise that each candidate can bring to the BOE. Varied experiences, perspectices and expertise do matter. However, a major factor influencing my voting this year is the openess and disposition of our candidates. Are they interested and open to hearing public opinions, concerns and questions?! Do they believe in authentically partnering with parents and the public to support all kids and our community at large... OR are they more concerned with living in the past, hearing themselves speak and being 'right'? It is no secret that in our community that if you have a concern or question about the school's practice or procedures and you attempt to address it with the Board, some members are likely to be dismissive, offer public humiliation tactics, only be concerned with their opinions rather than truly listening to the concerns being presented, OR start an unprofessional public debate. It simply is NOT healthy to have BOE members that do not demonstrate open, honest and collaborative communication. Choose wisely! You make it sound ("it is no secret") that your opinion is common, accepted knowledge, but that's not my experience at all. I have gradually met and gotten to know a majority of the board members through various school functions and I have yet to interact with any of the ones I have met in the negative way you portray. It seems like anonymous mud-slinging to me. In any event, if it is a common as you suggest no one needs to take your word for it because that should already be their first-hand experience. And if it's not, then that probably suggests your point of view is not as widespread or accurate as you believe. BTW, I know one of the non-incumbents running as well and also have nothing but a good experience with her. We have plenty of great options, all volunteers ready to devote a lot of their personal time in the service of our community, and I see no reason to go negative.
attitude & actions ma	Posted: Thu, Mar 29 2012, 10:48 am EDT    Post subject: Re: BOE Candidates Night We should all absolutely pay attention to the positive characteristics, experience and/or expertise that each candidate can bring to the BOE. Varied experiences, perspectices and expertise do matter. However, a major factor influencing my voting this year is the openess and disposition of our candidates. Are they interested and open to hearing public opinions, concerns and questions?! Do they believe in authentically partnering with parents and the public to support all kids and our community at large... OR are they more concerned with living in the past, hearing themselves speak and being 'right'? It is no secret that in our community that if you have a concern or question about the school's practice or procedures and you attempt to address it with the Board, some members are likely to be dismissive, offer public humiliation tactics, only be concerned with their opinions rather than truly listening to the concerns being presented, OR start an unprofessional public debate. It simply is NOT healthy to have BOE members that do not demonstrate open, honest and collaborative communication. Choose wisely!
citizen	Posted: Thu, Mar 29 2012, 10:17 am EDT    Post subject: Re: BOE Candidates Night The school sent out an email about BOE candidates night to everyone (who gave their email address, which is most people), they mentioned it in their school newsletter (which is now distributed as an email link and posted on their website, and it was mentioned a couple times on this forum. That seems like a reasonable effort at "getting the word out." If someone choses not to read their email, I don't think that's the school's fault.
also uninformed	Posted: Thu, Mar 29 2012, 9:29 am EDT    Post subject: Re: BOE Candidates Night I don't know if it was publicized - I did not see any notice of it. While Austin did not mention his BOE as volunteer service last night, I think it is totally acceptable to list and should be mentioned. The BOE members volunteer a lot of time and energy, and have a lot of responsibility. If someone serves on ONLY the BOE and does nothing else as a volunteer, it is still serving the community. I think that to classify Lynne Schwartz as "mediocre" when she already serves on the BOE is wrong. The BOE election is not a contest of who does the most community service, it is about selecting those who have the passion, interest, and skill sets needed as a member of the BOE. If someone runs who has done little or no prior community service, it should not disqualify that person.
Austin Schraudenbach	Posted: Wed, Mar 28 2012, 10:57 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: BOE Candidates Night Observing wrote: There were a lot of good questions and answers tonight. The best came up at the end of the night. Candidates were asked how they had volunteered to help the school and the community. Callahan was pretty solid with all she has done to help others. Schwartz was pretty mediocre to say that her husband volunteers and she helps him. For real ! Schraudenbach must not have been paying attention at all and went on to say he considered his time with the BOE as community service and his wife did a lot of volunteering as well. Hard to believe these two are the incumbents - time for some change I would suggest. Sir or Madam, What is hard to believe is that someone would deliberately lie about the proceedings on candidates night. On that particular question, I jotted down notes prior to my answer. I will summarize that answer from the notes here. My answer included volunteering for the school as; a PTO member, a centers parent, 8 years of Lunch duty, and as a field trip chaperone. I have volunteered for the township as a member of the parks board for 14 years. I have volunteered in the community as a little league and lacrosse coach. I most definitely DID NOT mention the Cranbury Board of Education as one of my volunteer activities. I carefully used the word lie in this post. I do not believe simple inattention would result in such a serious misrepresentation of the truth. This is a very sad state where deliberate lies are anonymously posted on a public forum. If anyone would like to discuss this further with me, my number is in the book. Sincerely, Austin Schraudenbach
uninformed	Posted: Wed, Mar 28 2012, 10:35 pm EDT    Post subject: Re: BOE Candidates Night Was this event publicized?
Observing	Posted: Wed, Mar 28 2012, 9:24 pm EDT    Post subject: BOE Candidates Night There were a lot of good questions and answers tonight. The best came up at the end of the night. Candidates were asked how they had volunteered to help the school and the community. Callahan was pretty solid with all she has done to help others. Schwartz was pretty mediocre to say that her husband volunteers and she helps him. For real ! Schraudenbach must not have been paying attention at all and went on to say he considered his time with the BOE as community service and his wife did a lot of volunteering as well. Hard to believe these two are the incumbents - time for some change I would suggest.