Six seeking 3 spots on Board of Education

Six candidates are on the ballot for the Bloomfield Board of Education elections this Tuesday, Nov. 7.

All were contacted for an interview by this newspaper; four responded. Three incumbents are seeking reelection and are on the Students Parents Community slate. The three challengers are on the Putting Children First slate. The board is composed of nine members serving three year terms. A resident may vote for three candidates.

Kasey Dudley, the current board vice-president, said she was first elected on a slate that emphasized diversity and inclusion.

“The last three years have been amazing,” she said. “I want to continue the momentum. Grades are up and we passed QSAC.”

QSAC is a NJ Department of Education evaluation required for all schools.

“I’m a parent first and foremost and work for SPAN Advocacy which supports parents with the greatest needs and children with special needs. We educate parents of their rights.”

Dudley is the program director for the Parents as Champions Healthy School Project, which is funded by the NJ Department of Health.

“Whole school and whole child,” she said. “Whole is the goal for the school project.”

The Bloomfield district has many challenges, she said.

“There is a plethora of children from a wide demographic,” she said. “I want opportunities for the students we support. There needs to be appropriate language access in the district. A student may speak Spanish. If we support our students, we have to ensure that the same message is going home. Students have parents that do not speak English. All communications should go home in English and Spanish. That circles back to equity and inclusion.”

Pedro Antonio Gongora is a challenger running on the Putting Children First slate.

“I have been a Bloomfield resident for about 20 years,” he said. “I am also a teacher and school administrator for a Hudson County vocational school. I feel I have a lot of experience and my two sons are just starting at Brookdale Elementary and I wanted to make sure the district is meeting the needs of the students.”

Gongora has been a mathematics teacher for 15 years and has a masters in educational supervision.

“I have knowledge of what should be going on in classrooms,” he said.

Gongora has been a full-time administrator for the last two years. He is not currently a classroom teacher, but an academic coach for math.

“I’m the lead teacher,” he said. “You can think of it that way. I help teachers improve their practice as a teacher.”

If elected, a goal would be to help secure more state funding for special education and gifted and talented students.

“We also have to be sure we’re recruiting and keeping high-quality teachers,” he said. “We should target previous Bloomfield students to teach in the district. And we want teachers who reflect the student population. I would hope to push the board in hiring decisions. It’s not easy because everybody wants the same people.”

Nadeisha Greene, an incumbent, said it has been a great honor to serve on the board. She is running on the Students Parents Community slate.

“My main motivation for running again is to continue having a positive impact and ensure that schools continue to provide a diverse, inclusive and equitable education,” she said. “My background lends itself to this.”

Greene is the director of operations for a Newark elementary school and she has two sons, a third- and fifth-grade, at Demarest Elementary. But, she said, being on the board is to have an impact on all Bloomfield school children.

“I know the intricacies of running a school whether it’s operational or instructional,” she said.

As for the challenges facing the district, Greene said greater faculty and administrative diversity are a priority on which she will work.

The board recently completed its five-year planning process and Greene was the chairperson.

“During Covid, all schools saw a learning loss,” she said. “The district has been addressing this with the Backstop Program and summer school. We should continue to
support all types of learners to critical thinkers. The district focuses on it and should enhance it.”

Stephanie Parry, an incumbent running on the Students Parents Community slate, said her motivation to be a candidate starts with a firm belief in the promise of public education as a great equalizer and a human right.

“The quality of a child’s education is one of the most high-stakes levers for lifelong success and fulfillment, especially for historically marginalized members of our society,” she said.

Parry said she comes from a family of educators. Her mother taught special education and all her grandparents were in higher education.

Professionally, she oversees development, communications, and government relations for a non-profit that supports 22 public schools in New York and provides programming for academic and social-emotional needs in 10 districts nationwide.

“My own career has been dedicated to public service in education-related initiatives, whether running afterschool programs, preparing inmates for their GED, providing classroom support to challenged learners, conducting education policy research or overseeing education programs and initiatives in the US and overseas,” she said.

Parry has a second-grader at Demarest Elementary and a preschooler who will start kindergarten in Bloomfield next year. In April, she was appointed to the board and served on the personnel committee.

“I have also reviewed recent updates to policies on Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying and acceptable computing and artificial intelligence use,” she said.

The challenges facing the district, she said, include the need for high-quality preschool across Bloomfield and Algebra 1 proficiency, especially in eighth grade.

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