Brick School Board Election Enters Final Days

BRICK, NJ — As the final days of the 2020 election campaign wind down, most people have likely decided who they're voting for at the national level. But if you haven't decided who to choose for the Brick Township Board of Education, here's a last look at the candidates.

There are two, three-year terms up for election on the school board, and five candidates seeking those seats, which are unpaid positions.

Micah Bender and Melissa Parker are running under the Transparency and Community slogan. Michael Blandina is running under the Brick First slogan. Melissa Lozada is running under the Time for Change slogan, and Jessica Clayton is seeking a second term under the Fight for Funding slogan.

Four of the five candidates — Clayton, Blandina, Bender and Parker — spoke during a candidates forum conducted by the League of Women Voters of Southern Monmouth County and sponsored by the PTAs at Veterans Memorial Elementary and Middle schools. You can watch a replay of the forum here.

You can read their candidate questionnaires here: Brick Township School Board Election 2020: Meet The Candidates

The most difficult issue facing the district is the continuing cuts in state aid under S2, which will strip a cumulative $42 million from Brick's schools over seven years. S2 also requires the district to increase its property tax levy by 2 percent each year because Brick is under adequacy, meaning it does not spend what the state says is necessary for a thorough and efficient education.

The 2021-22 school year will be the fifth year of the cuts and will be one of the deepest cuts so far. In the 2020-21 school year, the aid cut led to the school district laying off 70 teachers and transforming Herbertsville Elementary School to fully preschool as part of its participation in the New Jersey's preschool expansion program.

Bender said there needs to be increasing discussion of career training options for students, instead of pushing college as the primary option. Clayton said students should be encouraged to pursue a career path that fits them. She said the district is hamstrung by the state rating system, which places great emphasis on how many students go to four-year and two-year colleges, which puts pressure on schools to encourage college educations.

Parker said communication is the key and making sure parents feel they are being heard and their input matters, which she said parents in Brick don't always feel they are being heard.

Blandina, a 1982 Brick Township High School graduate, said the district needs to search for as many ways as possible to search for opportunites to help fill the funding gaps that are being created by the S2 cuts.

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