New Candidate Selected To Fill Open Hillsborough Board Of Education Seat

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — James Ruh was selected out of 12 candidates to fill an open seat on the Hillsborough Township Board of Education.

"I want to thank everybody. Getting 12 people who want to serve the community is fantastic and we are super excited we got all of you to apply," said Board President Paul Marini during the Monday night meeting.

The school board initially had 10 residents who threw their hats into the ring but two more residents applied just before the midnight deadline on March 28.

Each candidate was given three minutes to speak before the Board voted.

The vote was not unanimous and came down to a one-vote difference between Ruh and Jane Staats, who previously ran and lost for township committee in 2017 and board of education in 2018.

Here is the breakdown of the board members and who they voted for (Benjamin Kidd was not present):

• Gregory Gillette - Ruh
• Elaine Jackson - Ruh
• Allison Laning-Beder - Staats
• Cynthia Nurse - Staats
• John Oliver - Ruh
• Jean Trujillo - Staats
• Pail Marini - Ruh

Ruh, who has lived in Hillsborough for the past 33 years, graduated from Hillsborough High School in 1992 where he served as Class President.

"I have three children going through the district grades 10, 7 and 4. I think we are at a very important time the activities that are going on and the openings that are available to make it a decision to set them up for the future. And let them benefit the way we did going through the district," said Ruh during the meeting.

Ruh will go through a background check, fingerprinting and other steps prior to sitting on the board at the next meeting on April 25.

Ruh is filling the seat that was left open after newly appointed Hillsborough school board member Jason Albanese resigned abruptly on Feb. 17 after serving less than two months. Read More: Newly Appointed Hillsborough School Board Member Abruptly Resigns

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