Election 2023: Stafford School Board Candidate Gina Jorge

STAFFORD, NJ — Election Day is nearing, and Stafford voters will head to the polls to cast their votes for three Township Board of Education seats.

Patch sent questionnaires to all candidates seeking their responses. Here is the response from candidate Gina Jorge.

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. 7 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: Gina Jorge

Age: 37

Education: Master's Degree English Writing Studies, Bachelor's Degree English both degrees
from Kean University, graduate from Southern Regional High School

Occupation: I teach Writing courses for Rutgers University

Family: My husband and I met while attending Southern Regional, he works as a Police Officer.
We have two daughters.

Previous public office experience?
While I do not have public office experience I am a Mom and Teacher and I have an interest in
getting involved with my community. I believe education is fundamental in shaping productive
young people, and I feel that parents should be involved in that process.

Why are you running for this position?
I’m running for this position because I want to contribute to the school district my children
attend.

What separates you from the other candidates?
As an educator all of my professional experiences are working with students and administration.
I started at Ocean County College in 2012 and have worked mostly with freshmen and
sophomores since. My voting interest will be with the students, I always side with the students. I
have no voting conflicts, I have no family members working for the district.
What do you think is the most pressing issue in the district and how do you intend to address it?
It always comes down to money and the state budget cuts are a pressing issue. How do we
effectively spend the money we have and how do we get back the money we lost, will be one of
my objectives. While the budget is the most pressing issue it’s not the only one, the trickle-down
of the budget will affect the students in different ways. I’ve worked with a wide range of students
with disabilities in and outside the classroom, teaching, tutoring, and student advising. I have
undergraduate credits in Special Education and I know from experience that their needs extend
beyond what the IEP says. One contributing factor for equity within education is accessibility
and recognizing cognitive diversity. I know how important it is for their future successes that we
invest in them with our funding, time and encouragement - it goes a long way. I strongly believe their needs have to be met in K-6 schooling to better prepare them for middle school, high school, college, and the workforce.

If elected, what do you hope to accomplish?
I hope to help in creating an environment that is evolving for the better and meeting the needs of
students in our community. Throughout that process I’ll be fiscally transparent and communicate
with community members.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know?
Like everyone else I’m busy. I have young children, a job, a household to maintain and other
responsibilities but I’m a multitasker. If elected I will commit to attending both board and
committee meetings. I wouldn’t be running for this position if I wasn’t ready to commit to
serving the district and community. If elected I will be transparent with community members and
commit to being fiscally responsible. Three years from now if elected and running for re-election
I’ll explain in detail how I’ve contributed to improve the district and how your tax dollars were
spent. I understand the social capital of being a board member and I’ll do this job with
accountability.