Election 2022: Stafford Township Board Of Education Gregory Gioe III

STAFFORD, NJ — Next month, Stafford voters will head to the polls to elect local and state officials. Patch has reached out to candidates to answer profiles on their campaigns. Here is a profile from a Stafford Township Board of Education candidate.

Editor's Note: Patch sent out emails to all candidates to the email addresses listed for their campaign provided to the office of the clerk. The responses received will be published between now and the Nov. 8 general election. These responses will be published edited only for style. Candidates who would like to participate but did not receive one (for whatever reason) can contact veronica.flesher@patch.com.

Name: Gregory Gioe III
Age: 50

Education: Bachelor’s History and Bachelor’s Political Science University of Pennsylvania

Family: Wife-Caitlin, Daughter- Melinda, Daughter-Emily, Son-Gregory IV

No previous public office experience

Work: Prevention Specialist with the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, a non-profit
organization providing education and treatment around disordered gambling. Previous to this I am a 21-year veteran of the casino industry, working in five different casinos with jobs ranging from Director of Customer Service to Regulatory Compliance Officer.

Why am I running: I want to give back to the community and the school district that has given my family so much. As a father of three (now grown) children I only want what is best for the children, teachers and taxpayers of the township.

What separates me from other candidates: I have an extensive background in private industry of
working closely with unions toward common goals. Both as a department head and as a human resource manager I worked hard to find common ground with the union staff, in an environment of open communication and mutual trust and respect.

Most Pressing Issue: I have been observing board meetings through the live stream that is available and have noticed tension between the administration and the teacher’s union. I propose bringing in the FMCS (Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service) to conduct training for both the union and their representatives and the board and administration on how to communicate and collaborate to achieve common goals. I attended their training as part of the Showboat and Harrah’s management team back in 2005 and we reduced union grievances by 60% in the three months following the training, while increasing productivity. The FMCS website address is WWW.FMCS.GOV if you would like to check it out for yourself.

My stance on the sex ed curriculum: The curriculum has an opt out, is abstinence based, and medically accurate. While I recognize that some parents are concerned about exposing their children to discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation, it must be stressed that these topics are not being taught to elementary school children (K-6).

What other issues do you see: There are numerous challenges that we face as a district I will list a few here.
1. Student and staff safety- With a new mass shooting happening all too regularly in this country
how do we continue to create a safe environment for children to learn in and staff to teach in
without turning the school system into an armed encampment. I think Stafford is already doing
an excellent job with this, and I would encourage them to continue their work with local,
county, state and federal resources to ensure our children and staff are not victims.

2. How do we continue to deliver a solid education and first- rate experience with dwindling state
aid? Our districts aid from the state of New Jersey has fallen an average of 5% a year for the last four fiscal years. We need to take a hard look at expenditures, and other opportunities for revenue to offset this lack of state aid.

3. School district consolidation: New Jersey has 599 school districts, and as aid continues to decline looking to find synergies with other districts may provide relief through shared services. I
support looking at consolidation as a potential way to continue to provide quality education and
services in a fiscally responsible manner.

What else do I want people to know about me? I am a lifelong resident of Ocean County, growing up in Barnegat, graduating from Southern Regional High School and settling in Stafford Township in 2005. I have long and deep roots in the area.