Brick School Board Election 2022: Maureen Molz

BRICK, NJ — When voters go to the polls Nov. 8, they will be asked to choose people to serve on the Brick Township Board of Education.

There are two seats open this year, each of them three-year terms. The Board of Education is an unpaid elected position.

Four people are seeking election to the board: Frances DiBenedictis, Madeline Iannarone, Erin Wheeler and Maureen Molz.

Patch asked each candidate to answer questions to give voters information about who they are and their stances on various issues. We are printing their responses in full, unedited except for spelling or punctuation.

Here are the answers for Maureen Molz, who is 59 years old.

Tell voters about yourself: I am a married retiree who has lived in Brick for over 30 years.

Tell voters about your education:

I hold a bachelor's and master’s of science in engineering and a master’s of strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.

What is your occupation? Present: Retired. Past: Engineer/program manager of multimillion-dollar technical programs. My 32-year career was with the U.S. Army (22 years) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (10 years), from journeyman to senior management. I have been a technical program manager of research and development, productization and fielding systems in the areas of command and control (decision making), information technology, sensors, test and evaluation for multimillion-dollar acquisition programs. I have 20 years of supervisory management experience including strategic management at the division and associate director level. During the time I worked for the Army, I was passionate about doing all I could to develop technologies that would help ensure our warfighters stayed safe on the battlefield and always have the advantage.

Previous elective office, if any: None.

Do you or anyone in your family work for the state, county or local governments? No.

Why are you running for the Board of Education? I think the children of Brick deserve the best education we can provide to prepare them for the future.

As a retired engineer, program manager and strategic leader for 32 years, I have successfully worked on various complex issues facing our warfighters and with the aviation community. I have managed a budget in excess of $100M and have led successful programs under austere and declining budgets with success. I have the experience, skill set, time and talent to achieve solutions. This district has a large budget and infrastructure which requires school board members to be able to make decisions on policy and budget involving many competing factors, most importantly academics and value for the Brick taxpayer. My ability to see compromises among complex and sometimes-competing needs will allow me to find balanced solutions while maintaining the current positive relationships between the board and its stakeholders (superintendent, parents, teachers, staff, taxpayers and students). I offer my experience to provide valuable help where ever I can be of use to the Board.

Although I am retired, I have not retired from problem-solving. That is what I was trained to do, from DoD to the Army War College to the FAA. I helped them solve problems, and I can do the same for Brick, if elected.

I have no specific agenda, which will allow me to assess each issue, understand the varying points of view, digest information and data involved, in order to make the best decisions I can for the students, staff and taxpayers of Brick.

What do you feel is the most pressing issue facing the Brick Township schools and what do you want to do about it?

Some of the most pressing challenges facing our district are: loss of state funding, post Covid academic and mental health challenges, infrastructure, safety, and test scores.

These challenges require listening to stakeholders, analyzing pertinent data and information, and compromise to form reasonable solutions and remedies. Though I don’t have answers to all of these challenges I do know I have skills that will help the board deal with these issues. My current perception is that the loss of state funding aggravates all of our challenges and it will require creativity to develop solutions that will improve our school’s performance while creatively looking to fill funding gaps. Though we have achieved a budget agreement there is more work to do to ensure we can keep a lid on the budget and improve our school’s performance.

I bring to these challenges the ability to understand the underlying causes, identify possible solutions and determine policies that will enable them to be addressed and improved all while maintaining positive relationships with all the interested stakeholders including the superintendent, teachers, school staff, parents and students.

The Brick Township schools continue to suffer cuts under S2. What do you think the district should do to address the financial crush the cuts are creating?

We need to search for creative funding solutions to supplement our budget, continue to make the case to the state for the funding we require and look for ways to improve efficiencies without losing valuable services. We need to maintain the good relationships between the board and the Superintendent and solve these challenges together with the Brick community and parents.

The school district – like districts all over – has dealt with vocal criticism of curriculum, including social-emotional learning, which has been part of education for years. As mental health concerns and bullying continue to skyrocket, do you feel efforts to address kindness and empathy in school are misplaced?

I feel that kindness and empathy are bedrock principles for a civilized society and emphasizing these qualities is never misplaced. Bullying has no place in our schools or our society. I am deeply concerned about the mental health challenges some of our children are experiencing themselves or in their relationships. We need to ensure every child has a safe place to learn and develop interpersonal skills that prepare them for success in a diverse and changing world. I believe ultimately parents have the most important role to play in ensuring the children are prepared for their future while schools play a key role as students learn and practice how to successfully interact with others. The school district and parents must work collaboratively in the best interests of our students to achieve successful outcomes for the students and our community.

I am new to this discussion. Although SEL has been around since the 1990s, I am sure it has evolved. I believe emotional intelligence depends on understanding how to generate and maintain positive relationships, self-understanding, emotional understanding and the ability to see another person’s perspective without feeling threatened or defensive. If this is what is being taught, then it's valuable, because as we know conflict and disagreements happen throughout a person’s life and the ability to navigate this is critical to leading a happy and fulfilled life.

If you could change one thing about how the Brick Township schools are being operated right now, what would it be?

I think we need to understand why test scores are where they are. Identify the driving factors and determine where the educational gaps are and effectively deal with them. Ultimately, the academics should help lead students to become lifetime learners, critical thinkers and effective decision-makers whatever path they choose in life.