Candidate Profile: Forward Thinking Must Continue for Success, Incumbent Says

Just a few months after being appointed to his position on the Washington Township Schools Board of Education, Al DiGabriele is now an incumbent running for one of three available seats in the Nov. 4 Election.

DiGabriele, a married father of two who moved to Long Valley 11 years ago, is vice president of marketing for a national telecommunications provider.

His volunteer efforts, outside the board of education, include coaching in Washington Township’s baseball, basketball, and soccer programs, as well as CYO boys basketball.

DiGabriele is one of four candidates seeking votes for a three-year term on the board. Patch asked each candidate a series of questions for this profile piece heading into the election.

DiGabriele’s answers are below, unedited.

Patch: Why are you running for the board of education?
Al DiGabriele: I stepped up and volunteered to fill a BOE vacancy earlier in 2014 for the same reasons I am running for re-election. This is an opportunity to make an impact on a large portion of our community, in an area that is so important to my family and many others. We moved to Washington Township, even before we had a family, in large part because of the strength of the schools. I want to be able to help shape and impact the future direction of the district, insuring that we maintain our high standards and performance.

Patch: In 2016 the board of education will have the ability to change the district’s vote for members and budget back to April after it was switched in 2012. How would you vote, and why?
AD: Conducting Board elections in November makes the most sense, primarily because it is more cost effective and can generate greater voter turnout when aligned with other, larger government races. The issue on the budget is not as straight forward. As a taxpayer, while I understand the desire for public vote on the budget, I also recognize that it could delay forward progress. The worst case scenario will be if the budget gets hung up in limbo as a result of public vote, which will be detrimental to our students. We cannot lose site on our most valuable assets…our students and educators. Any change to the current process must consider rules/parameters that will enable balance between a public voice and driving forward progress.

Patch: What changes, if any, would you hope to implement over the next three years as a member of the board?
AD: I look at what lies ahead for us as a Board and I think about it in 3 main areas:

• Continue operating effectively and financially responsible day to day...and we need to consistently look at how we can drive more efficiency (eg, through technology). “Do the basics well and do them efficiently.”
• Continue to focus on a handful of the key issues. For example, we have made tremendous progress on school security in the past 12 months, but it is not a “one and done”. We need to continue to evolve our broader security plan. A second key goal would be to build a stronger bridge between the 3 levels of schooling, elementary, middle and high school to insure there is a consistent and natural progression. A third example is enrollment and the impact on facilities. We are in a good place today, but that will continue to change in the upcoming years.
• Stay laser focus on forward-thinking initiatives. What will keep Washington Township Schools so highly recognized and regarded is our ability to think ahead, stay ahead, and execute beyond the current school year.

Each of these 3 areas is very important.

Patch: What is the biggest misstep the board has made in the last one to two years? What vote did it make – or not make – that negatively impacted the district?
AD: Every organization faces challenges and difficult decisions, but the real measure of effectiveness is how organizations handle and respond to those situations. In my short tenure as a Board member, my observation is the BOE is highly collaborative, never loses focus on our students and educators, and simply does what’s right, not what’s easy.

Patch: Over the next half decade, enrollment is projected to decline at a consistent rate. What should the district do, if anything, to accommodate this situation by not leaving classrooms or school buses empty?
AD: The topic of enrollment and the impact to our district facilities is clearly very important. As we have seen some decline already, the district has done a good job of insuring we are maximizing our physical assets: special education needs have utilized the facilities in BAC, we moved to full day kindergarten which keeps us competitive with other towns, and we sub-contract our busing services to other schools/towns. In the future, there may be options for growing neighboring towns to utilize our educational facilities and resources for a fee, as well. Closing a school is not a decision to be made lightly, and we need to critically evaluate that decision, and alternatives/options, to insure we come to the best decision for the township.

Patch: Faced with the 2-percent tax cap in the state of New Jersey, what ways will you, as a board member, be sure to keep taxpayers’ funds used properly, especially in the light of declining enrollment?
AD: I have spent many years in the corporate environment building and managing budgets. And a common theme, from my experience, is “doing more with less”. Fiscal responsibility has been, and continues to be, a key goal for the BOE. Every dollar of our districts school budget is extremely valuable. We need to continue to find ways to become more efficient through technology, enabling productivity gains and lower unit costs. We also need to insure we have the right budget allocation across the three areas I mentioned above…day to day operations, key goals, and forward looking initiatives.