Meet the Candidates: Ron Spring

It may seem obvious, but one of Ron Spring's strengths as a candidate for the Board of Education is that he's an educator.

At least, that's one of the assets he said he can offer voters when they head to the polls on April 20 to elect two Board members.  He also thinks his background as an attorney — his career before education — will help, too.

"Everyone brings something to the table.  What I bring is credibility," said Spring when he sat down recently for an interview.  "It's not just knowing what questions to ask, but also what answers are educationally sound." 

As a vice principal in East Orange, where he works, Spring said that he sees daily the positive impact that a quality education can have on children.  He is deeply committed to teachers and to giving them support (he also outlines this in his candidate statement), along with continuing to build the strong programs for students that Livingston is noted for and that he benefitted from when he grew up in town.  Spring graduated from LHS and now he and his wife, also an educator, are raising their two children here. 

"I'm going to be invested in the school system for a long time," said Spring, who has a child enrolled at Harrison elementary school.  Among the areas that Spring has said he's committed to working on includes the district's program for children with special needs.  Many of Spring's supporters (he has close to 150 fans on his campaign's Facebook page "Ron Spring for Livingston Board of Education" ) are looking for him to do so. 

Outside of the classroom, another area that he'd like to see improve for the long-term benefit of the district, he said, are revenue sources.  

While Spring said he understands the constraints and pressure the Board was recently put under to draft a budget for next year following Gov. Christie's decision to eliminate Livingston's aid, he thinks the district can develop new strategies to avoid this fiscal squeeze in the future.

"There is money to be gotten," said Spring, who advocates that the district look into innovative ways to generate revenue.  

A few areas that he's suggested as sources of income include extending naming rights to sports facilities ( i.e. letting companies buy advertising rights at fields or allowing them to buy uniforms, scoreboards or equipment for teams), developing consortiums with other districts to gain "purchasing power," working to get more grants (especially in areas such as science, he said) and working with corporations that may want to donate to LPS (to cover stipends, trips or buy equipment, Spring said).

While Spring said he's not sure what will work and what won't — he takes a 'don't know if you don't try' approach — he's hoping that voters give him the chance to work with the Board so that he can give back to a district that he said has given him so much.

"I have a lot to offer," said Spring, "and I think it would be remiss of me not to want to give back.  It's given me so much."