Carl Bird: Bernards Township School Board Candidate

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — The Bernards Township School Board has seven candidates vying for four seats in the upcoming election on Nov. 2.

Carl Bird is one of the candidates running for one of the three-year seats. The other candidates include:

• Robin McKeon - incumbent and current Board Vice President
• Kirsten Light
• Timothy Salmon - incumbent
• Herpreet "Guddia" Singh - incumbent

Those running for the unexpired two-year seat include:

• Ruchika Hira - incumbent
• Lawrence J. Nastro

Are you running for office in Basking Ridge? Contact Alexis Tarrazi at alexis.tarrazi@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Basking Ridge Patch.

Carl Bird

Name: Carl Bird

Age: 38

Town of residence: Basking Ridge (9 1/2 years). Prior to that I lived my entire life in the Stirling section of Long Hill Township

Position sought: Board of Education

Family: Married to my wife Angela, who is also an educator. Together we have a two-year-old boy, and we are expecting our 2nd child, a daughter in November. My family roots run deep in Bernards Township. My father, uncles, and grandparents lived and served the Liberty Corner section of town. There, they served for over 50 years in the Liberty Corner fire department. I too hope to serve our community — in the way I know best!

Education:

• BA, Drew University (biology).
• MS, Fairleigh Dickinson University (biology / concentration in neuropharmacology).
• MA, College of Saint Elizabeth (education / special education)
• M.Ed, College of Saint Elizabeth (educational leadership)

Occupation: Full time - high school teacher (biology & special education). Part time - adjunct professor (biology).

Previous or current elected appointed office: This is the first time I have sought public office.

Why are you seeking to run for school board? We are fortunate to have one of the best school districts in the state and in our nation. One of the core roles of the board of education is to provide a program of education that is high quality and can continue to grow. How does a school ensure that continuous growth when they are already on top? This is difficult.

Pre-pandemic, it was estimated that 65 percent of children entering grade school today will end up working in jobs that don’t even exist yet. If anything, the past two years have only accelerated this trend. As a parent of students who are not yet school age, this is deeply important for me. We owe it to the next generation to remain cutting edge.

I have dedicated my life to public education. Through my work in secondary and post-secondary education, as well as my graduate work in education, I am familiar with current matters and trends in education. Further, I have a deep understanding surrounding rigorous curriculum design, school finance, the post-secondary demands on students, aspects of school law, and more.

As a board member, I hope to use this expertise to ensure continuous growth in our education programs for years to come.

What is your stance on masks in schools? Every day I walk into the classroom, I am reminded that parents entrust our schools with their most precious treasure. When students are in our care, school employees are obligated to act as a reasonable person to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the students who are entrusted to us.

I am a biology teacher. The overwhelming science on masks is that they are effective at reducing the viral load. A reasonable person would follow the overwhelming majority of peer reviewed science in this area.

I look forward to seeing smiling faces, but we are not there yet. This past summer, I was hopeful that public health measures could once again become less restrictive - and for a while it was trending in that direction.

However, the majority of our students still cannot be vaccinated. Over the summer, we have also seen increased transmissibility due to the Delta variant(1), breakthrough cases where vaccinated individuals become symptomatic and are found to have as much active virus in their nose as the unvaccinated individuals(2), and a diminution in the vaccine’s ability to protect from serious disease(3).

Whether or not we have state leaders who believe in the science of masking, I expect school leaders to do whatever they can to ensure the safety of students.

Should schools offer a virtual option? We should try to have students in the classroom whenever it is possible.

There are times when a virtual option makes sense for a small segment of students. This includes students who may be otherwise healthy but have to be quarantined due to contact tracing.

What other issues do you feel must be tackled in the school district? School rankings may be the first thing residents see when they choose to move to our community or any other community. A successful education is more than test scores analyzed by arbitrary ranking criteria.

It is measured by how we prepare students to continue to learn after they graduate. It is measured by their social and emotional well being. It is measured by the community we make for students. It is measured by how we support students through dark times. It is measured by how we celebrate students in their triumphs.

It is measured by how we get ALL STUDENTS of ALL BACKGROUNDS AND ALL ABILITIES to maximize their potential.

My focus as a teacher and a board member is aligned. I want to provide opportunities for students to become the best version of themselves. I want to make sure that school is not only a place where they can achieve high scores, but a place where they feel safe, comfortable, and happy.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates? My background gives me a unique insight into the diverse needs of schools.

I have spent my entire professional life educating future leaders. I am married to an educator.
I eat, sleep and breath education and I continually look for ways to provide meaningful experiences for students.

Outside of the classroom, I have proven leadership in many aspects of school operation including:

• Co-curricular advisement for student clubs in [special education, music, theater, medicine],
• Standardized testing coordination
• Member of my schools Diversity equity and inclusion team
• Co-chair of mentoring new teachers
• Technology training
• As an adjunct in post-secondary education, I am familiar with multiple measurements of post-secondary readiness and the demands that our students and their families feel.
• Committees for
• Curriculum
• Educational Technology
• Strategic planning,
• School improvement
• Sustainability
• and more.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign? I plan on running a zero-budget campaign.

I don’t believe money should play a role in servant-leadership. My focus is on how I can improve upon what is already great for our current and future students.

I will be doing a fair share of local canvassing in the weeks leading up to the election.

I have enjoyed recent events hosted by the chapters of our PTO, and I look forward to even more engagement with parents, students, teachers and other community stakeholders.

Please feel free to follow my campaign at facebook.com/bird4bernards.