Ask What You Can Do, For The Sake Of Our Children!

President John F. Kennedy once said “Ask not what the country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” If there ever was an important time to ask what you can do to help our town and our children, that time is now.

In the last 10 years, our Holmdel school ranking has dropped precipitously. In 2012, US News ranked Holmdel High School 24th in NJ. In 2021, the same entity ranked us at 74. While the ranking dropped, spend per student has increased. In fact, when we compare Holmdel with five other peer schools, we find that we are in the top spend category while ranking at the bottom. Please see my earlier analysis on this:(What's Up With Your Holmdel Property Taxes? By Prakash Santhana | Holmdel, NJ Patch)

Now, there may be legitimate reasons why we increase student spend but increased spending must correlate with improved school performance. The inversion to this logic appears to be unique to Holmdel – with significant consequences.

First, our children do not receive the quality education that they once received in Holmdel. Second, our property values are heavily influenced by our school ranking and any deterioration in our ranking will negatively affect our home prices.

It is therefore imperative that each of us takes a stand to reverse this downward trend. That starts with changing the current BOE (Board of Education) whose misplaced priorities have led us to where we are today!

You now have a great opportunity to get the right people on the BOE who will truly care for our children and raise the bar on academic excellence.

I implore you to take immediate action and consider voting for Surekha Collur, Weiping Wang, and Kimberly Tuccillo for the BOE in this election.

Surekha Collur is a Holmdel resident and a physician who has directed Bayshore Ophthalmology for the past 20 years. She has extensive business and leadership experience from managing her own medical practice as well as training ophthalmology residents as an assistant professor at SUNY Downstate. She is currently a member of the Holmdel Green Team and the Holmdel Zoning Board and believes that a good educational system requires the right balance of STEM education, the liberal arts, sports, and the fine arts.

Kimberly Tuccillo has been a Holmdel resident for 35 years, raising 4 children who attend Holmdel schools. She holds an MA in Education and has worked for 21 years in speech pathology and special education. She has been a union representative for the last 10 years and has served as the softball commissioner on the HYAA for the past 2 years. She is also an active member of St. Catharine's church. She believes that the quality of our schools impacts our children, their college options, future job opportunities, and the value of our homes.

Weiping Wang has been a Holmdel resident for almost 20 years. He is a parent of 3 children who are in Holmdel and Monmouth County school systems. Weiping holds a graduate degree in Computer Engineering, worked at Bell Labs in Holmdel, and has spent over 20 years designing and delivering innovative solutions for network planning and management. He believes in improving transparency and communication by the board and advocating the importance of STEM education.

Prakash Santhana

Holmdel Township Committeeman (2020-2022)