There are three open seats on the South Orange/Maplewood School District Board of Education. Three candidates filed to run by the July deadline and will appear on the ballot; Liz Callahan, Shayna Sackett-Gable and Will Meyer. Two additional candidates are also running; Jeff Bennett and Anthony Mazzocchi. They are asking that voters write their names on the ballot. The following are questionnaires The News-Record asked the candidates to fill out and their answers. The election takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Jeff Bennett
Education
K-12 public schools, University of Chicago for undergraduate, Montclair State and Rutgers for graduate school.
Family
My wife is the principal of a public middle school in New York City. I have three children in the SOMSD public schools, in grades 5, 2, and PreK.
Occupation
Librarian
Service
I was on the SOMA Board of Education from 2012-2015. After my board service I was research director of the Fair Funding Action Committee, a grassroots group dedicated to fighting for fair state aid in New Jersey. Our work culminated in the passage of a landmark state aid reform bill in 2018 called “S2,” which changed state aid law so that the most severely underaided districts got the biggest increases. It also created a gradual pathway for the redistribution of $800 million in excess aid from 200 districts to the 370 that had state aid deficits.
Relevant Experience
During my previous BOE experience I learned federal and state education law, the intricacies of the SOMSD’s budget, the byzantine structure of NJ’s state aid law, and the BOE’s own responsibilities and code of conduct. I have detailed institutional knowledge of the SOMSD going back 12 years.
Goals for the BOE
Fixing transportation will be an area of analysis and accelerated policymaking in my first few months but my central, overarching goal as a board of education member always has to be to raise student achievement by strengthening supports for vulnerable students and eliminating the ceiling for the most advanced ones.
There are several ways we can raise student achievement. One is we have to have elementary reading instruction based on the science of reading, and not use programs that marginalize phonics. There are skills, such as math, that kids learn through practice and a certain amount of homework should be acceptable. We also have to have cultural shifts, like adopting a “growth mindset,” like that intelligence is something people acquire, not something they are innately born with. We cannot be afraid of rigor in the system too. One of Dr. Fergus’s key recommendations was to make sure that lower level classes had quality instruction. We have to have goals on basics, like reducing absenteeism.
Special education is an area of gaps and weaknesses, where often the district cannot adhere to IEPs due to staffing shortages. In terms of budget increases, my priority is special education, where we now have 15 vacancies.
You can’t have a good district without good teachers and a sufficient budget. If elected, I’ll demonstrate how state aid is unfair and deprives us of $3.2 million.
Getting more state aid is absolutely critical for special education, well-kept facilities, a functional transportation network, and competitive teacher salaries.
Transportation must be an area of accelerated policymaking in 2024.
Solving bus lateness will include getting more accurate counts of ridership, sometimes consolidating bus stops, offering parent transportation contracts, and avoiding isolated placements, where a child might be one of a handful going to a particular school from a neighborhood.
To ensure a sufficient number of elementary school busses, I would also call for us to be more strategic with placement for the smallest PreKs to avoid bus routes that have only 1-3 riders.
I want to continue PreK bussing, but when we have severe problems in K-5 bussing, we have to use our resources as efficiently as possible.
We should also have district-employed bus drivers and utilize a bus tracking and notification app.
Liz Callahan
Education
Born and raised in New Jersey, Liz is the product of high-quality public school education. She has a bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall University in social and behavioral sciences with a minor in social work, and later received her master’s in applied behavior analysis at Caldwell University.
Family
Liz and her family moved to Maplewood in 2018. Her husband Mike, is the lead founding director at Change Summer, and a member of the American Camp Association. Their oldest son Deaglan is a third grader at Tuscan Elementary School, and their youngest son, Seamus is a preschooler at Applecore.
Occupation
This is Liz’s 19th year in education. Currently, she is a member of a premier group practice that provides high-quality behavioral consultation, and training to districts across the state. She specializes in working collaboratively with schools to build teacher capacity and develop systems that integrate best practices in teaching, classroom management and social-emotional learning. She provides teacher and team coaching on equitable and inclusive practices, develops safe and practical interventions to address and prevent interfering behavior, and partners to create plans focused on improving school culture and climate, and addressing disproportionality in special education.
Service
Liz has been a Tuscan Elementary School class coordinator since her son Deaglan began in kindergarten in 2020, and is also a class parent in her son Seamus’ preschool. This year she will be serving as the Parade Coordinator for the Tuscan PTA. She has also served as a member of the SOMA Action Education Committee, and organized locally via an organization she co-founded, the Community Alliance for Education, to advocate for more communication, and transparency around how to facilitate a physically and emotionally safe reopening during COVID.
Relevant Experience
As an educator Liz has held many roles in schools, starting with paraprofessional, to teacher, to district leadership, and consultant.
Goals for the BOE
As a board member I would approach this work as I approach the districts that I partner with – as a teammate, with the expertise I have cultivated, and a spirit of curiosity and collaboration. During this crucial time, as we reimagine our schools and make monumental shifts, we need a board that can function at a high level, be radically candid yet collegial, make tough decisions, and remain solutions oriented. I am committed to equitable, inclusive policies, prioritizing the necessary work to achieve equity within our schools, centering and improving student experiences, advocating for evidence-based curriculum and robust training, teacher coaching to continually remove bias and improve their practices, and ensuring that our schools remain safe for LGBTQIA+ students and families.
Anthony Mazzocchi
Education
Tony grew up in Maplewood and attended Tuscan, Maplewood Middle, and Columbia High School.
Family
Tony has two children; an 8th grade daughter at MMS, and a son who is a senior at CHS.
Occupation
Tony currently serves as director of the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University and executive director of Kinhaven Music School in Vermont. He has performed with symphonies across the nation and on Broadway and movie soundtracks.
Service
SOMSD Board of Education from 2018-2020
Relevant experience
SOMSD’s supervisor of fine and performing arts from 2010-2013. Mazzocchi has taught students from kindergarten through college and has served as a consultant for a variety of organizations throughout the nation. Tony has served as faculty and frequent guest lecturer at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, New York University, and Mannes College of Music. He recently served on a NJ State Taskforce for reopening schools and arts organizations during COVID, collaborating on the “September Ready” document that was utilized nationally. Tony led a nationally recognized safe in-person reopening of a university school in the fall of 2020. He is currently on a national taskforce to solve issues around our national teacher shortage, and is on the board of directors of Equity Arc — a coalition charged by its diverse membership of local and national organizations to align, promote, and develop equitable opportunities for aspiring classical musicians from underrepresented ethnicities.
Tony has had firsthand experience on the Board of Education Financial, Facilities & Technology Committee, having collaborated with the district’s former superintendent, Dr. Ficarra, to bring the school budget from being “on a fiscal cliff” to being able to fund key SOMSD initiatives while increasing SOMSD reserve balances.
Goals for the BOE:
Evaluate the Superintendent’s performance, making thoughtful and researched decisions. Promote student-centric, K-12 education policies that drive impact without creating instability or hardships. In the near term, focus on ensuring transportation policies are effectively implemented for the Intentional Integration Initiative. They are committed to the Intentional Integration Initiative and they will make it a priority to hold the superintendent accountable for restoring adequate and fair bussing, without putting massive stress on taxpayers, and ensuring that our kids are getting to school safely and on time.
Explore policy enhancements, using the Berkeley model and yet unfulfilled recommendations from our consultant (The Alves Group), including transfers, which will continue to improve outcomes and increase advocacy for the III.
Re-frame the data committee into an impactful arm of the BOE, positioned to hold the district accountable for data collection, analysis, and transparent reporting with a higher degree of excellence.
Ensure the district delivers on its commitments, as dictated by law, toward the Black Parents Workshop settlement agreement, which, along with NJQSAC, offers a key framework for accountability.
Seek out additional revenue sources beyond taxpayers for the district’s missteps around bussing and the LRFP.
Will Meyer
Education
Born and raised on the North Shore of Massachusetts, Will is the product of a high-quality public school education. He received a B.S. in print journalism from Emerson College and a J.D. from the Washington College of Law at American University. He is admitted as an attorney in the state of New York.
Family
Will and his family moved to South Orange from Brooklyn in 2019. His wife Katie is chief innovation officer for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and serves on the South Orange Environmental Commission. Their son Henry is an incoming third grader at South Mountain School, and their daughter Josephine is a preschooler at the Montrose Early Childhood Center.
Occupation
Will has fought for the better part of two decades defending the rights of special needs children to a quality education, first at a non-profit, and since 2012 at a preeminent special education law firm in the city. His work is focused entirely on the representation of the parents of children with special needs, resolving disputes with their school districts and securing appropriate educational services and placements where their children can thrive. In addition to direct client advocacy, Will mentors and supervises associates in his firm, directs the firm’s technology planning and policy, and regularly presents continuing legal education courses to attorneys nationwide on special education law. Service
Will is proud to serve on the SOMA Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) as Vice President of Policy Initiatives, and represents SEPAC on the SOMSD Presidents’ Council. He is also Co-Chair of Programming for the South Mountain PTA. He is a member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates.
Relevant Experience
Will has experience working with families in critical need of more support and has been a leader in educating others about this work.
Goals for the BOE
I’m running because I want to see every student in our district have access to the best education we can provide. We need to substantially strengthen the services we are providing to our students of color, students from low-income families, and special education students, from the earliest grades up to high school. Our district is also beset by operational struggles, which we have seen most recently in the problematic roll-out of expanded transportation services.
We need a board that will more competently supervise the superintendent and district administration, and make hard decisions about whether we have the right leadership for the district. We need an administration that can adequately support our teachers and students, and meaningfully engage with parents.
To accomplish this, we need a board of education composed of competent, knowledgeable, and collegial members who are prepared to thoughtfully address the myriad issues presented to the BOE, and preferably members with professional experience in PK-12 education.
It it is especially crucial that we have members able to build consensus and put aside the partisan squabbling of past boards.
Shayna Sackett-Gable
Education
Shayna grew up in South Orange and attended Jefferson (now Bolden) School, South Orange Middle School, and graduated from Columbia High School. She holds a B.S. in early childhood education and an M.Ed. in Education Policy: Curriculum Theory & Design, both from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Family
Shayna is mother to Logan, a CHS sophomore and Laurel, a CHS junior. She’s also a bonus mom to Ray III who is a college junior and wife to Ray Gable Jr.
Occupation
Shayna spent 19 years in public schools, with 13 of those years as a third-grade teacher and math interventionist at Seth Boyden School. Now, she is the director of pedagogy at Bedtime Math where she works to bring engaging, hands-on math instruction to elementary-aged children.
Service
Shayna served as a teacher liaison on the Seth Boyden PTA, was co-president of the South Orange Middle School HSA, and co-president of Presidents’ Council.
Relevant Experience
In her volunteer roles, Shayna listened to parents from all schools, advocated for students and worked with district leadership to meet the needs of families.
Professionally, Shayna has a strong grasp of elementary curriculum with an emphasis on math instruction. She has analyzed data to make instructional decisions and coached novice and veteran teachers.
Goals for the BOE
Shayna is committed to providing oversight as the district works to complete the equity recommendations from Dr. Fergus. Items of especially key concern to Shayna are improving academic achievement of marginalized groups, enhancing the experiences of Black students and families across the district, and attracting and retaining exceptional staff.
Shayna believes every child deserves an equitable and exceptional education and that a well-functioning school board can help achieve that goal.
Meet your South Orange/Maplewood Board of Education candidates added by Editor on
View all posts by Editor →