Jean Trujillo: Hillsborough Board Of Education Candidate Profile

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ —There is a contested race for the Hillsborough Board of Education election this upcoming November election with five candidates vying for the three open seats.

Incumbent Jean Trujillo is among the five candidates running for the three, three-year seats in the election being held on Tuesday, Nov. 5. The other four candidates include: John Oliver, Paul Marini, Gregory Gillette, and Joyce Eldridge-Howard.

Here is a look at who Trujillo is and why she is running. Candidates were asked to answer the same questions and each candidate profile will be posted on Patch's site as it gets closer to the election.

Jean Trujillo

Describe yourself:

I am a 17 year Hillsborough resident, 48 years old and married with three children who attend district schools - Hillsborough High School (11th grade), Hillsborough Middle School (8th grade) and Auten Road Intermediate School (5th grade).

I am an engineer by training and have dedicated the past 17 years to raising my children full time. In addition to volunteering on the Hillsborough Township Board of Education, I have varied volunteer interests, such as secretary of the Hillsborough / Millstone Municipal Alliance, co-chair of AlumniCorps, project lead of the Leadership Somerset Class of 2017 project benefiting The Arc of Somerset County Jerry Davis Center and I was a member of the FBI Newark Citizens Academy Class of 2018.

Why are you running for school board again?

I am running for re-election for a second term because I care about kids and I want to develop solutions for the school district (do something good). I have the interest, and more importantly, the bandwidth (time) to educate myself on educational policy. Finally, I am practical. Specifically, this district cannot spend money it doesn't have so how does the Board of Education reconcile this reality?

Although the district went through a devastating budget reduction cycle for the 2019-2020 school year, I feel I helped improve the school district in my first two years on the board. For example, I was part of the board's decision in 2017 to add three elementary school counselors so that each of the six elementary schools now has its own dedicated guidance counselor (previously the guidance counselors were shared one for two elementary schools) and in 2018 to add a student assistance counselor at HHS, approve varsity letters for academic teams and strengthen the vaping policy.

However, many of the issues I identified when I first ran in 2016, such as improve communication, have more transparency in decision-making and engage the public in a conversation of its priorities still stand. Therefore, I am asking for the community's vote so that I may continue working for the best educational outcome for Hillsborough's children.

Why do you feel you are qualified for this position?

I do my homework and then I do the needed work. I have invested time and energy to educate myself so that I am able to make decisions in the best interest of all children. Further, I listen to residents, am accessible and try to keep the community informed.

After my first full year on the board, I achieved "New Board Member Boardsmanship Certification," the first tier of the NJSBA Board Member Academy certification program and after my second full year on the board, I was recognized as a "Certified Board Member," the second tier of the NJSBA Board Member Academy certification program.

I have also fulfilled the credit requirements for the third level of certification, "Master Board Member" and the highest level of certification "Certified Board Leader" but there are associated length of service requirements for these certification levels.

I actively represent the Hillsborough Township School District at the state level as a vice president of the Somerset County School Boards Association. I was a member of the NJSBA strategic planning committee, am the voting delegate at the biannual Delegate Assembly (NJSBA policy setting body), and a member of the NJSBA Legislative and Finance Committees.

What are some issues you would like to address if elected?

At the July 29 special meeting of the Hillsborough Board of Education, the NJSBA field representative asked board members to list their top 3 short term and top 3 long term priorities. These were mine, in the order I wrote them down (see attached photo):

My Priority Focus Card - short term:

1. Budget '20-'21: decide on priority programs to keep (math, English, social studies, science and gym) and temporarily discontinue non-mandated programs to get the budget back on track and build fund balance. Fund some infrastructure improvements via the budget.
2. Build community trust in the Board of Education. This is important because we won't pass any referendum without it.
3. Settle the contract, knowing this is going to result in layoffs in '20-'21. This is important for student and teacher morale.

My Priority Focus Card - long term:

1. Change our thinking about the purpose of the school district. This is important because schools can't do it all; parent education.
2. Later high school start times, for example: elementary K-4 7:50 a.m., Gr 5-8 8:30 a.m., HHS 9:10 a.m. (40 minutes between each school start time for bus tiering). This is important for student well being.
3. Long term job stability. This is important for student and teacher morale.

— (If you are a candidate and would like to participate in the election profile, email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com)

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