Election 2022: Gloucester Township School Board Candidate Jarod Thomas

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — In the 2022 general election, residents of South Jersey will be voting for state and local officials. Patch has asked candidates in contested races to answer profiles about their campaigns.

Here is the candidate profile of Jarod Thomas, running for the Gloucester Township Board of Education.

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 Nov. 8 general election. Local candidates who would like to participate but did not receive one (for whatever reason) can contact Michelle.Rotuno-Johnson@patch.com.

Name: Jarod Thomas

Age: 38

Town of residence: Blackwood

Position sought: Gloucester Township Board of Education

Family: I have a wife and two children, ages 3 and 5.

Education: Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering

Occupation: Civil engineer

What previous or current elected/appointed offices have you held? I have been elected to County Committee

Why are you seeking to run for the school board? I want to help ensure that the voices of parents with children in the district are heard.

What sets you apart from the other candidates? I am a civil engineer whom is experienced in the development of asset management plans for infrastructure.

What is your stance on the sexual education curriculum that Gov. Murphy put forth earlier this year? The actual curriculum is somewhat difficult to find. After some searching, I was able to locate a dropbox link provided by Representative Schepisi's page which she attests are sample lesson plans: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dge...

Overall, some of these topics are uncomfortable, but these issues are important. As parents and caregivers, it is our responsibility to not shy away from these uncomfortable topics. Fortunately, the curriculum begins with establishing trusted adults whom children can talk about these things with further, so these conversations can continue beyond the classroom and promote parents' input.

• By the end of grade 2:
  
  • Children will learn how to identify and express their boundaries (i.e. not everyone likes to be hugged, so how can they express that);
  • What types of touch are not ok; and
  • Helping them to identify who their trusted adults are that they can turn to in the event that they need help.
• By the end of grade 5
  
  • Children will learn the importance of respecting others' boundaries;
  • They will learn about what HIV is and what it is not (without discussing sexually explicity situations); and
  • They will learn about the concept of sexual abuse and how to get help if they should need it themselves.
• By the end of grade 8
  
  • Children will be able to identify and attempt to safely intervene to stop sexual harassment (i.e. snapping someone's bra strap, unwanted sexual jokes, etc.);
  • They will advance their knowledge regarding preventing HIV and STDs;
  • They will learn about trafficking;
  • They will learn about healthy relationships with consideration for social media;
  • They will learn about the consequences of their decisions;
  • They will learn about how to use condoms;
  • They will learn about how to be online in a safe manner;
  • They will learn about texting in their relationships and the associated pros and cons of texting; and
  • They will learn again about boundaries in their relationships.

I have excluded elements for Grade 12 as that's beyond the scope of this position.

What is the most important issue in your district and how do you intend to address it?

Our district, like many others, has had difficulty hiring and retaining some of the critical support staff that are necessary to facilitate our education programs. To exemplify, I consider our paraprofessionals' pay scale to be disconcertingly low given the cost of living in our area and the position's broad responsibilities (i.e. current job listings only propose $17.50/hour for paraprofessionals holding a bachelor's degrees). Failing to provide a living wage to our schools' support staff undermines our administration's ability to continue providing an effective learning environment over the long-term.

My plan to help improve this situation would be to coordinate with the other members of the Board, the superintendent, and the business administrator to determine an appropriate pay floor for support staff so that we can ensure they are paid a living wage and we may benefit from hopefully long careers with the district.

What other issues do you feel must be tackled in your school district that have not been discussed already and how would you tackle these?

At current, seats for the pre-school program are limited. Given the substantial benefits to both children and parents this program provides, I would like see this program expanded so that any children in the district who meets the age requirements can participate. Funding for this program is primarily drawn from sources provided by the State. I would plan to coordinate with the Board to find additional funding sources to expand these seats to a level sufficient to cover all children in the district who might benefit.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?

The past two years have been my first experience with our Township's school system and I am absolutely amazed at the compassion and competence exhibited by my child's teachers and support staff in the face of substantial adversity. It is my hope to have the opportunity to add my voice to the Board that reflects the experiences of parents whose children are in the district.