BOE Candidates Field Questions At Forum

Candidates for seats on the Board of Education answered questions from about 100 who attended a Meet the Candidates event held Tuesday at Wall High School.

The 90-minute event was hosted by the Wall High School Boosters.

All eight candidates vying for seats on the Board of Education attended, where audience members submitted questions to the board through moderator Linda Mather, a representative of the League of Women Voters.

Candidates in the April 27 election answered a slew of questions that probed their views on what makes a good superintendent to which recent curriculum changes have been most beneficial in the district.

Incumbents David Wren, 3243 Rambling Hill Ct., Douglas Wild, 2131 Old Mill Rd., and Pamela Perrotto, 2315 Xanadu Ln., have filed to run to retain their seats in the April 27 polling.

Challenging them are: Robin Cervantes, 2009 Tally Ho Dr.; Timothy Farrell, 1601 Walton Way;  Anne Moonan, 1910 Sherwood Dr.; Joseph Tonzola, 2400 Lincoln Ave.; and John Tavis, 1610 Holly Blvd.

Tavis and Perotto are running for the 1-year unexpired term of former board member Michael Bogner, who resigned in July, 2010.

Cervantes, Farrell, Moonan, Tonzola, Wren and Wild are all running for full, three-year terms.

Mather broke up the candidates into two groups of four and asked separate questions of each group during the largely cordial event.

The next board likely will have an opportunity to choose a new schools superintendent when James Habel’s contract expires next year.

And candidates fielded two separate questions on that topic, with a variety of responses, many of which hit upon the same themes.

Candidates said that the next superintendent should be a good communicator, a good listener and would be paid far less than Habel, who under his current contract receives a base salary of $207,873, plus additional perks.

Candidates also agreed on the district’s $61 million budget, which they all agreed should be passed, even if some had reservations about sections of it.

Cervantes said the budget should be passed, but line items likely should be examined after. Wren called it the best budget the whole of the board could come up with.