MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The South Orange–Maplewood Board of Education has three vacancies and five candidates vying for election. BOE First Vice President Shannon Cuttle, running under the slogan “Forward Together,” is the only incumbent seeking reelection. Challengers include the team of Arun Vadlamani and Qawi Telesford, running under the slogan “Excellence, Action, Accountability”; William Rodriguez; and Kaitlin M. Wittleder, running under the slogan “Student Voices Matter.”
Cuttle, who is running for their second term, joined the SOMA community when they became managing director of Garden State Equality, focusing on statewide education policy, training, programming, education and student leadership, including work on key civil rights and LGBTQ policies. Cuttle founded the Safe Schools Action Network and the New Jersey Safe Schools Coalition, and is a recognized national leader in the safe schools movement. In addition to founding and organizing several LGBTQ events, Cuttle co-founded Cougar Cares, which fights food insecurity in the schools community. Cuttle, who currently serves as first vice president on the BOE, was elected vice president of the Essex County School Board Association and was elected to serve on the New Jersey School Board Association board of directors representing Essex County, marking the first time SOMSD has had a seat at the county and state levels. Cuttle is also an NJSBA State Certified Board Member and meets the qualifications for NJSBA Master Board Member Certification. According to Cuttle, one of the top issues in the school district right now is access and equity.
“When I ran for the board of education three years ago, I said we needed to move the district forward — that we needed to build upon a foundation to address access and equity, systems, policies and data collection, crumbling outdated facilities and district leadership,” Cuttle told the News-Record. “Since joining the Board of Education, I have worked to establish that foundation and move us to act on the pivotal next steps in moving forward together to continue the important, hard work of building the frameworks, infrastructure and the pathway towards 21st-century learning.
“Additional work needs to be done around breaking down the barriers for our students and families addressing access and equity across the school community. We have made strides the last two and half years but need to continue in the work, creating inclusive and welcoming schools for our community, ensuring we have equity focus for our students across our whole school community,” Cuttle continued.
Rodriguez, who moved to Maplewood last year with his wife and two young children, is an insurance executive at a global insurer, where he is responsible for a global customer portfolio of financial institutions worth some $300 million in revenue. Rodriguez has volunteered for several nonprofit organizations, such as the Food Bank of New York, Covenant House, Points of Light and the Grace Institute. He also served as the executive chairperson of his firm’s intern recruitment program at Howard University and led its countrywide summer internship program. According to Rodriguez, the top issue in SOMA schools today is supporting students as the world begins to recover from the pandemic.
“I think we should be very concerned about how students have been affected by the past 18 months,” Rodriguez told the News-Record. “First, I need to understand how each student fared — personally and educationally — and then work collectively with the other board members to craft solutions for accelerating learning recovery.”
A product of the SOMSD himself, Telesford is a research scientist at the Nathan Kline Institute in Orangeburg, N.Y., where he does brain imaging research. Up until the pandemic, he taught dance classes with SOMA Rueda de Casino at First Presbyterian & Trinity Church in South Orange. The group, which teaches casino, which is sometimes called Cuban salsa, has done demonstrations and performances at local events and schools, including Marshall, South Mountain and Tuscan elementary schools. According to Telesford, the top issues in the district are the Intentional Integration Initiative, the transition into a post-pandemic landscape and the Long-Range Facilities Plan.
“The pilot of the Intentional Integration Initiative began for kindergartners throughout the district. In five years, our elementary schools should reflect the overall demographics of the community, but the question remains, how will we determine success? We will need to develop metrics that measure all the ways our kids are thriving, as well as gather data to determine where we can improve and streamline the process,” Telesford told the News-Record. “As the initiative expands into the middle schools, there will also need to be further policies, procedures and training to promote a culture throughout the district that creates a more equitable framework for all students.”
As for returning to post-pandemic normalcy, Telesford cautioned that scientific findings can change quickly.
“As a board member I will use my research background to interpret the constantly changing scientific data to inform our district policies,” he said, adding that the board needs to provide proper oversight regarding the LRFP to ensure it remains on schedule.
Vadlamani has lived in South Orange for more than 18 years and has two daughters in the district. During the past decade, he has been a Girl Scout dad, serving as cookie distribution coordinator for the entire district of more than 60 troops, and has volunteered at a number of school activities. Growing up in India, Vadlamani said he witnessed how important education is in a child’s life and is now a board member for Asha for Education, an international nonprofit organization that works to catalyze socioeconomic change in India. With a background in computer engineering, Vadlamani works on Wall Street. When it comes to pinpointing the most pressing issue in the school district, Vadlamani approaches the question from several angles.
“I see this question from the point of view of the three roles that I play in our community: a parent of children in the school district, a citizen of SOMA and as a professional,” he told the News-Record. “As a parent, simplifying the process of accessing educational resources resonates the most with me. One shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get the right help, the appropriate classification, or move to a suitably challenging level of a class. In the past, I have worked to bring AMC 8 math contests to our middle school, and I want to work with the board and administration to ensure excellent math instruction for all children in our schools.
“As a citizen of SOMA, intentional integration is by far the most critical issue. We cannot and should not have segregation and demographic immobility in our school district,” he continued. “As a professional, I think that managing the Long-Range Facilities Plan is very important. If elected, I will bring all my understanding of big data and process-driven decision-making skills to ensure that this project stays on track. We are spending almost a full year’s budget on these construction plans.”
Wittleder, who has lived in Maplewood for five years, is a Girls on the Run coach this year at Maplewood Middle School and previously coached a GOTR team at Jefferson Elementary School in 2018. Professionally, Wittleder has worked in business development in the financial services industry and, most recently, in the nonprofit sector. Throughout her career, Wittleder has served on several boards, including that of the American Society of Bogota when she lived in Colombia. With three young children, the oldest of whom will begin school in the district next fall, Wittleder said it is vital to her that all children be given the opportunity to thrive in the SOMSD.
“I think our district needs to go back to basics in a lot of ways in an effort to build a strong and stable foundation,” Wittleder told the News-Record. “What are the most fundamental needs of our children to receive a great education? Creating an education system that challenges all children and meets every child where they are on their academic journey; investing in our teachers and their education around 21st-century learning practices, (as) we want good teachers to build a legacy in this district; prioritizing comprehensive data collection so that we can make informed decisions, measure the efficacy and identify areas for continued improvement; ensuring the safety of our children by addressing urgent safety issues and by creating safe facilities and athletic fields; and establishing effective two-way communication from top to bottom and with our community.”
The closure of school buildings due to COVID-19 highlighted issues regarding the digital divide in New Jersey, as well as issues of equity and access.
Already deeply aware of the digital divide, Cuttle emphasized that the school district has already made a commitment to providing one-to-one devices for every district student, with the district purchasing additional devices to replace outdated models and upgrading bandwidth within the buildings.
“The COVID pandemic has accelerated the real impacts of the digital divide in New Jersey and across the country. In 2019, when I joined the board, the digital divide was something that I put forward to the district as an equity and access issue that we needed to include in our Long-Range Facility Plan,” Cuttle said. “The COVID pandemic moved up our original LRFP technology timeline, but the district was able to meet the need for every student to have a Chromebook, including hot spots available for families that may need one. Moving ahead, the board approved in 2021 additional COVID grant funding opportunities to continue our plan and investment to end the digital divide in our classrooms and communities.
Addressing the digital divide is not only an access and equity issue, but a welcoming schools issue,” Cuttle continued.
Wittleder said the school district needs to deviate from the norm to find the best ways to support all students.
“The pandemic has been detrimental to our most vulnerable students and many families have been faced with difficult decisions on how best to support their children,” Wittleder said. “The school district must reimagine traditional ways of learning so that we are prepared to support our kids under any and all circumstances. SOMSD must continually invest in innovative technologies that encourage students and teachers to develop relationships and learn effectively both inside and outside of the classroom. Access to education, resources and to fellow peers must be afforded to every student while at school or at home. We know what didn’t work last year while learning at home; let’s develop solutions that address these challenges now so we can be better prepared in the future.”
Rodriguez believes the best antidote to the digital divide is doing everything possible to keep school buildings open and safe.
“I would advocate for policies that achieve the in-person learning goals of students and parents alike. The past 18 months have been difficult for everyone, and at times we’ve been overly cautious. However, the cure cannot be worse than the disease. Operationally, continuing the district-issued Chromebook and hot spot program is a good place to begin addressing the issues of equity and access in the event the district must resume remote learning,” he said. “It’s no secret that providing equal access to education is critical to closing the achievement gap. I also believe the negative effect of COVID on access and equity in SOMSD is ongoing. We must consider that some parents are not back to compensable work and some will return to in-person jobs. Bear in mind, we must also consider how the labor shortage is affecting families faced with a loss of aftercare and busing.”
In addition to voicing his support for strides the district has already made in this area, Telesford said that a key component needs to be engaging with parents.
“While student access is important, the district can help families more by bringing parents into the fold,” Telesford said. “For instance, through the Parenting Center, the district should consider workshops on digital literacy. These types of workshops should also be provided at local library branches and community centers, to make the availability of these services more local to parents. Providing students with the proper tools and families with the proper resources creates an equitable framework to bridge the digital divide.”
In line with his running mate, Vadlamani praised the steps already taken by the district but cautioned that the district must remain committed to this issue.
“The pandemic caught most organizations unawares and unprepared. Though there were initial issues with Chromebook distribution, the district eventually did an excellent job addressing the technical gap. Also, the district offered summer classes to handle part of the instruction deficit, which is one of the things that our school district did well during the pandemic,” Vadlamani said. “The board must enhance the policies so that the digital divide and other inequities are addressed. There must be policies (for) having virtual versions of all curriculum, and procedures for switching between physical and virtual education in case we ever need to do virtual instruction again.”
“School safety” has certainly become a buzz phrase in recent times, with continued concerns regarding weapons in schools, as well as concerns regarding student and staff well-being in terms of mental health support.
According to Telesford, there are several components that must be considered when it comes to school safety.
“I believe in a 360-degree view of safety, which involves psychological, emotional and physical safety,” Telesford said. “Physical safety reflects security, which means adequate lighting and cameras on all school properties, and controlled entrances to all buildings. Emotional safety means using a framework with tools like conflict resolution, anti-bullying, peer mentors and counseling services to give students adequate support. Psychological safety means ensuring resources like counselors and social workers are provided to students.”
Telesford added that there are still areas where the district can improve in regard to student and staff well-being.
“The district recently updated its sexual harassment policy in September 2021; the district can take this further by broadening consent training in our K-12 health curriculum,” he said. “Another area where the district can review policy is in active-shooter response drills. Given the higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression that is linked to these drills, considering alternatives like tabletop exercises will help promote psychological health of all staff and students. The district must uphold its commitment to restorative justice in discipline by providing adequate resources in counseling and social work.”
Vadlamani echoed several of his running mate’s opinions on this issue, restating that safety must be considered from physical, emotional and psychological standpoints.
“In addition to the required and essential physical safety measures to school buildings, we need to protect our children from bullying both at schools and online; we need to ensure that our children grow up to be resilient and have empathy. We should shy away from seemingly quick solutions that allow us a false sense of security,” Vadlamani said. “Active shooter drills are said to be ineffective. Evidence shows that they negatively impact the kids, so I am for eliminating them. My daughter and her friends were caught in such a drill; no mention was made that it was a test and many of her classmates were in emotional distress. I work in a skyscraper, and twice a year we have fire drills, and, after 9/11, I take all fire drills seriously. We are informed multiple times — in advance — that ‘this is a test.’ This procedure reduces emotional stress and allows people to absorb lifesaving information without distress. Our school district should learn from the Fire Department of New York and clearly announce tests so that students can learn how best to react in a simulated real-life situation without being in one. We should also be expanding counseling and social work programs. Also, expanding the Parenting Center will strengthen the school–family interaction and collaboration.”
For Cuttle, supporting and embracing all students is a critical mission.
“Creating welcoming, inclusive, safer schools means also investing in the climate and culture of our classrooms and hallways across our curricula and in all of our district policies, procedures, manuals, handbooks, training and professional development. All students should feel seen, heard, safe, respected and included. Since my time on the board, I have championed and updated policies such as the suicide prevention and intervention policy, transgender and nonbinary student policy, sexual harassment student policy, and designated a districtwide task force to address and create systems to better support students around sexual harssment and sexual assualt,” Cuttle said, adding that they have worked with the district and the towns to address mental health and food insecurity. “Starting with this 2021-2022 school year, all district staff will now receive LGBTQ-plus cultural competency training, antibias training and suicide prevention training.”
Cuttle has also worked to bring in partnerships for counseling, has advocated for updated curricula to be more inclusive of SOMA’s diverse population, and has championed the creation of the board’s new Health, Wellness and Security Committee.
Rodriguez said the district needs to think about safety holistically and needs to forge partnerships with the community.
“Some people are concerned about having armed guards in our schools. I would not support this. I just don’t see the need or the net benefit,” Rodriguez said. “Additionally, as a community, we can do a better job of holistically understanding the concept of safety along with the risks our district is facing. This all goes well beyond arrests and use-of-force incidents involving security resource officers. Consider for a moment some other events that may occur, such as fires, trespassing and extreme weather.
“When I drop off and pick up Elli, my 3-year-old, from the preschool program at Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel, I’m greeted warmly by teachers and security guards. I feel comfortable about taking her there and she loves it. I’ve learned the most secure environments are built on strong partnerships with families, schools and security officers,” he continued.
Wittleder feels a lot more can be done to keep SOMA students safe.
“Safety is a fundamental right of our children and it’s currently being ignored. I believe it’s important to develop a comprehensive security plan that sets the overall foundation of safety and climate for all schools and which prepares our schools, administration, staff and students to handle physical and emotional situations,” she said. “The safety and security response currently varies from school to school. For example, in the first six weeks of school there have been instances of code red and code blue. In two of the schools, guardians were notified quickly of what was transpiring and, in the case of another school, guardians weren’t notified until after school hours. What is a reasonable amount of time that the district should be expected to communicate security situations to guardians?
“I believe that this is something that should be standardized across all of our schools, and is just one piece of a comprehensive security plan,” she continued. “Everyone from guardians, students, teachers and administrators should understand what is expected of them to create a safe environment for students to thrive in this district. The physical and emotional safety of our students is of the utmost importance, and immediate measures must be taken to secure our buildings and the Underhill Field sports facility.”
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2, and there are multiple ways for county residents to vote — by mail, early in-person voting, via drop box and in person on the day.
Upcoming election sees fives candidates running for three open seats on SOMA Board of Ed added by Yael Katzwer on
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