GLEN RIDGE, NJ — Glen Ridge has four well-qualified candidates vying for three, three-year seats on the Board of Education.
Each candidate was recently interviewed by telephone for the following look at what they believe they can offer the community, if elected.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6. Do not forget to vote.
Anthony Bonnett – Challenger
Anthony Bonnett is a first-time candidate for the Glen Ridge Board of Education. He is employed as a consultant and program manager for Bed, Bath and Beyond.
“I’ve been in town for 10 years and for the last seven have been attending the majority of board meetings,” he said. “My kids are in seventh grade. I have a vested interest in contributing.”
Bonnett said his qualifications to be an effective board member include his being a parent with an interest in how education has evolved over the last 10 years. The prevalence of standardized tests and the resultant pressures on students, he said, are part of that evolution.
“It’s a much more complex world,” he said. “A good part stems from technology.”
Bonnett said he will bring his background in technology to the board.
“I don’t think anyone on the board has my background in project and program management, and organizing large efforts,” he said. “These are skills and good practices I have which can only supplement what is on the board.”
He has experience working with children, having been an assistant travel baseball coach, and a recreation department basketball coach. He has been an assistant Cub Scout leader and an assistant Boy Scout leader.
“I’ve learned about the kids that are here,” he said.
Bonnett also served three terms on Glen Ridge Civic Conference Committee.
If elected, Bonnett would like to work on the curriculum and personnel committees.
“As Glen Ridge becomes more diverse, more effort should reflect the population,” he said. “Students, to get the greatest education they can, should see that diversity reflected in the teachers.”
Bonnett also said a certain skill set is required for test-taking and he thought it incumbent upon the schools to introduce some of those skills to the students.
Tim Kepple – Incumbent
Tim Kepple has been a GR Board of Education member for 10 consecutive years, having served three full terms after filling out an unexpired term.
“The people on the board like each other,” he said. “That’s part of my longevity.”
A trained civil engineer, he is employed at Merck for global procurements. As a board member, he chairs the finance/facilities committee. He is also a member of the negotiations committee.
“We have unique challenges in Glen Ridge,” he said. “We have older buildings and high expectations.”
Kepple noted the public referendum passed last year which provided the school district with $23 million for capital investments, to include the purchase of the Wells Fargo Bank building on Bloomfield Avenue, and the installation of boilers and air conditioning at the elementary schools. The bank is being converted back into a district school.
“I feel with my experience as an engineer, and as a procurement professional, that I bring a unique advantage of management for the complex projects over the next term, and I ensure that they will be delivered correctly.”
Kepple was a sports coach when his children were younger and his wife is co-chairwoman for the 2019 Project Graduation.
“I’m back leading a crew in construction again,” he said. “I’m involved because of my daughter. My son graduated a few years ago.”
Kepple said he was also part of the team involved with rehabilitation of the field house at Hurrell Field. The Wells Fargo building, he said, is anticipated to open September 2019.
“I would really appreciate the public to give me one more term to see through this capital program and return some value to the community,” he said. “The community entrusted us with $23 million.”
David Campbell – Incumbent
David Campbell has been a board member for seven years and currently is on the finance/facilities committee.
“The board and town have a need,” he said. “There’s a great volunteer spirit in Glen Ridge and I am an integral part of some projects.”
He also chairs the personnel/policy committee.
“In my time, we hired a new superintendent, two new high school principals, created an assistant principalship at the high school, changed the athletic director and the director of student activities. It’s a lot of work.
“Now we’re looking at diversity of qualified staff,” he said. “There’s an issue facing NJ and the U.S. We’re taking a close look at diversity of background. No one has found a solution, in the country or the state. We started looking in earnest the last six or eight months.”
Campbell said he was the only attorney serving on the board, and with the renovation of the Wells Fargo building, having an attorney is a benefit.
“Occupying the building fully is a legal process,” he said. “I am liaison to outside counsel.”
Campbell is the general counsel for an asset-management firm in NYC.
He said he was also the chairman of the communications committee for the referendum, leading outreach by the board to inform the public.
“I would like to see the completion of the referendum goals,” he said.
Campbell has been a resident since 2000. He has three children in the school system.
“Knowing how the town works is important,” he said.
He served as a volunteer commissioner for the Glen Ridge Athletic Association floor hockey team and has been a class
parent.
Campbell said the most important quality a board member can have is the ability to work collaboratively. He feels he does.
Teresa Boyle-Vellucci – Challenger
Teresa Boyle-Vellucci has lived in Glen Ridge for 16 years. She ran unsuccessfully for the board two years ago.
“As you get older, it’s important to raise your hand — to volunteer and give the skills you have back to the community.”
Boyle-Vellucci has two children in the school system. She said a reason for her living in GR is the same as with other borough families: the excellence of its schools.
She is an employment attorney and says she is analytical, a strategic thinker, and a person who likes to communicate with others.
If elected, she would serve on any board committee, but with her background would like to be on personnel/policies committee. As an attorney, Boyle-Vellucci said she would be able to help with policy-making.
She has been a class mother for her two children and she noted that as one’s children get older, there are fewer opportunities for a parent to volunteer.
“Everybody is so busy, but you have to make a decision,” she said.
She said, if elected, she will have the time to serve on the board.
“This is very important,” she said.
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