Kirsten Light: 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.

Kirsten Light 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
• Carl Bird
• 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.

Kirsten Light

Name: Kirsten Light

Age: 48

Town of residence: Basking Ridge

Position sought: Bernards Township Board of Education

Family: Husband, Frank; Daughter, Caeli (17); Son, Jaxon (6)

Education: Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey – New Brunswick, Masters Certificate in Business Intelligence, Villanova University

Occupation: Senior Manager, Tax Technology and Transformation at Ernst & Young US LLP, Iselin, New Jersey

Previous or current elected appointed office: N/A – Previous volunteer positions include the Board of the New Jersey Chapter of the Tax Executive Institute and Trustee on the Board of FC Berna soccer club.

Why are you seeking to run for school board? I feel that children need a sense of belonging to a community to thrive where the curriculum and messaging are free from politics and the focus is on developing life skills that will help them be successful adults. I believe in fiscal responsibility, in-person learning, flexibility to allow the parents to make decisions for their own children while keeping the community safe and creating a culture that supports inclusivity.

What is your stance on masks in schools? I believe that it is up to the parents to decide what is best for their own children’s health and they should have that flexibility.

Should schools offer a virtual option? I have mixed views on this. As I mentioned above, I believe that parents should be allowed to decide what is best for their children. However, I also believe that virtual learning does not provide an environment for the high quality education that Bernards Township Schools are known for. In addition, there are multiple studies indicating that isolation is not good for our children’s mental health and development. So I would have to listen to the community needs and weigh what is best for the community, the school district and the children.

What other issues do you feel must be tackled in the school district? There are main issues I’m focusing on during my campaign.

1. Responsible financial management/investment: As our student enrollment decreases, our school budget has been increasing year over year resulting in a situation where we spend approximately $1,300 per student more than the average of similarly rated schools in the area. We should improve the use of funds to invest in technologies and innovative solutions that can reduce the cost of services, improve the quality of our children’s education, increase opportunities for the community and elevate our standing in the school district ratings even further.
2. Addressing the Board of Education’s "Mission Statement" for the school district and the community: We need to take political ideology out of operating the school board. This is a non-partisan role that should help develop a mission statement for the community and to defend that against intrusions from political motivations. Sometimes that may mean challenging the mandates by sitting State, County and Local leadership and sometimes that means being a leader in bringing proactive solutions to the table.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates? As part of the East Region’s Tax Technology and Transformation Practice, I focus on transforming organizations to be ‘right-sized', efficient and cost-effective by implementing innovative solutions, including technology to facilitate those changes. I have worked in accounting/auditing roles for 15 years and have been working in finance transformation roles for 11 years. Additionally, I served three years as part of EY’s America’s Tax Innovation Council that leverages Design Thinking and Lean Six Sigma methodologies to determine the root causes of the challenge being presented and help jointly, with the organization, create, implement and perform change management for the solution. I am a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the State of New Jersey and a member of the AICPA and NJ CPA.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign? Bernards Township attracts a diverse community of residents with a variety of different views on the education of our children. This benefits all of the Township residents by allowing our children to interact and learn from different cultures, races, religions and backgrounds. It keeps the property values high and keeps funding coming into the town in order to keep the community beautiful, safe and desirable. In order for the Board of Education to be successful, the members need to put aside personal political ideologies and find common ground that may require compromise and some “give and take” to benefit ALL residents of our town with a focus on what is good for our children. I intend to be a voice for all residents for Bernards' children.