Licia Gaber-Baylis: Hillsborough School Board Write-In Candidate

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ —The Hillsborough Township School Board has four candidates vying for three seats in the upcoming election on Nov. 2.

Licia Gaber-Baylis is running as a write-in candidate running. The other candidates on the ballot include:

• Allison Laning-Beder
• Krzysztof Golas
• Jason R. Albanese
• Krzysztof "Chris" Golas
• Elaine Jackson

All of the candidates are running for the three, three-year seats on the board.

Are you running for office in Hillsborough? Contact Alexis Tarrazi at alexis.tarrazi@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Hillsborough Patch.

Licia Gaber-Baylis

Name: Licia Gaber-Baylis

Town of residence: Hillsborough

Position sought: Member of the Hillsborough Board of Education as a write-in/type-in candidate

Family: Married with two young children

Education:

• Lean Business Planning Workshop, Rutgers University
• SAS Base and Advanced Programmer Certificates, SAS Institute
• Mini MBA Business Essentials Certificate, Rutgers University
• American Management Association Certificate in Project Management, Mercer County Community College (MCCC)
• American Management Association Certificate in Human Resources, MCCC
• B.A., Franklin and Marshall College
• Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, a math/science/engineering public magnet high school

Occupation: I have been a senior programmer/analyst for years and worked in the public policy/pharma/medical sectors. Since last summer, I have taken time off to be with family and volunteer more.

Previous or current elected appointed office: Hillsborough Township Library Advisory Board; see further below for other volunteer work.

Why are you seeking to run for school board? I have followed Hillsborough’s Board of Education for about a decade and am passionate about providing a superior education for our students as well as favorable working conditions for them, teachers, and staff. I have enjoyed trying to increase communication — keeping the public informed of BOE meetings and notable changes and events. Finally, the three incumbents who could have run this year decided to not run again, the original fifth candidate removed her name from the race, and I feel my background and overall knowledge would be beneficial to the district.

What is your stance on masks in schools? We should follow the district’s guidance on when they should be worn and when we should be able to return to school without a mask mandate. Medical professionals wear masks to protect themselves and their patients; most children and staff members have been able to adapt to this new norm. Because we largely do not have facilities that allow students to stay six feet apart, masks have helped us return to school in-person. They are especially useful for the younger population of students who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated. What we are doing seems to be working.

Should schools offer a virtual option? While I was impressed with what the students were able to learn virtually last year, it seems many feel students learn best in the schools. I agree with them, plus it is easier for guardians who work during school hours and in-person lends itself to having less screen time as well as easier interactions with teachers and students. If we had enough interested students, teachers, and staff to hold virtual classes, I feel virtual classes would be most easily offered for grades K-4 because they do not change classes as much as higher grades do. However, teachers who teach specials (eg: gym, art, music, language, library) would need to prepare two ways of teaching the same material and that puts a great deal of stress on them.

It is comforting to know that if a classroom or school did need to close completely, we have the ability to pivot to virtual learning.

What other issues do you feel must be tackled in the school district?

• We are scheduled to face further reductions in state aid over the next few years. The loss of staff we experienced a few years ago is still felt today. I hope that our district is able to retain our existing excellent employees, continue to attract the best talent, keep staff/teacher/student/parent morale up, avoid increasing class sizes, and bring back programs that were reduced while implementing new ones that would benefit our district.
• It is time for the state to mandate full day kindergarten (FDK). The state is providing funds for some areas to have full day pre-K but has not yet provided funds for districts such as ours to implement FDK. Young children’s brains are sponges and we should have similar opportunities to those in other districts that have FDK.
• We need to make sure that all levels of students are being challenged and given the tools they need, per one of the district’s mission statements "to lead us successfully and responsibly into the future."
• Each child should be comfortable going to school. If you have not heard the students’ testimonials from earlier this year, please reach out and I can share where to find these BOE YouTube clips.
• We need to evaluate the size of our schools, given the increasing size of our town, and determine if changes need to be made.
• Because my family has not yet experienced all grade levels, I hope that the high school offers a diverse set of classes that includes vo-tech electives. It is my understanding that students can only split time with a local vo-tech school if their grades are high enough. All students should have access to classes such as wood and metal shop, cooking, and car maintenance. In addition, there seem to be low-cost options for creating certain academies at the high school level as well as grants for which the district can apply.
• I would like to investigate later school start times for our teens, but realize busing, after-school activities, and jobs need to be considered. Other towns have managed this successfully.
• The district should continue to make strides in improving communication with all stakeholders.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates? I hope that all who win have and take the time to learn as much as they can to best help our school district. If elected, I will work with all on the board. I think it is good to have board members from diverse backgrounds who bring different skillsets to the board. I have followed BOE meetings for about ten years and am familiar with much of the history and many of the decisions that have been shared at public meetings. I have tried to keep the public informed about big decisions via Facebook posts and seek to explain things so they are more easily understood. For example, I sought to fully understand the numbers behind the past two referendums and make the community aware of the more recent changes to the advanced classes at ARIS. I tend to ask a lot of questions, listen to all suggestions, keep an open mind, think outside of the box after studying the box thoroughly, and ultimately find workable solutions.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign? If you choose to vote for me, I thank you. You will need to write in my name (Licia Gaber-Baylis) on the back of your mail-in ballot or type it in at the booth. My BOE Facebook page is facebook.com/LiciaGB and you can follow my compilation of Q&A for all candidates via this public Facebook post: https://bit.ly/BOE_Articles_2021.

I consider myself to be pretty down-to-earth and I love getting to know new people. I grew up in
Baltimore where I was a "minority" in grade school and have enjoyed traveling around the
world. I enjoy learning about different cultures and have a diverse set of interests.

In addition, I love numbers, enjoy finding multiple ways to solve a problem, and like to work
with people of all backgrounds and beliefs to come to joint solutions.

I grew up volunteering (eg: SPCA, library helper) and have continued this in adulthood, such as
organizing our school’s science/STEM/STREAM fair, and in the past: volunteering on the
library’s 501c3 board and then under the township’s library advisory board, spearheading the
2014 children’s book festival, being the Central Jersey Dance Society’s treasurer, and managing
dances & lesson series.

Thank you again for your consideration. As a reminder, please take a screenshot or write down
my name so that you can write/type in "Licia Gaber-Baylis".