School Board Candidate James Button: Mendham High School Can Do Better

A 26-year resident of Mendham Township, James “Jamie” Button, 53, is seeking his second consecutive three-year term as a representative of his municipality on the West Morris Regional Board of Education. Button is running uncontested. While Washington Township residents do not vote for Button or any representatives from the Mendhams or Chesters, decisions by board members from those towns affect the board as a whole. For more information on the election, see . The following are Button’s answers to questions asked by Long Valley Patch.

Long Valley Patch: How many of your children are going through/have gone through the district?
James Button: Four Mendham High School graduates, two current Mendham High School students.

LVP: What is your educational background?
JB: Bachelors of Arts from the University of Rochester in 1979; Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1983.

LVP: What is your current occupation?
JB: Business executive specializing in management turnarounds.

LVP: Do you have any past political experience?
JB: Mendham Township Representative to the West Morris Regional High School District Board of Education since 2008.

LVP: What volunteer activities have you been involved in?
JB: Scoutmaster, Troop 1 Mendham, Boy Scouts of America; Past Head Coach, Mendham-Chester Patriots Wrestling Team; Past Chairman, Pastor Nominating Committee, Hilltop Church, Mendham.

LVP: Why should voters feel comfortable with you representing the board of education:
JB: Mendham Township voters can rest assured I will continue as I have over the past three years working towards excellence in education, efficiently delivered and fairly funded.

LVP: In your opinion, what are the most important issues facing the district, and what do you intend to do to fix them?
JB: The most important issue facing the district is the decline in the quality of education at Mendham High School, a decline that we urgently must reverse. Our high school has dropped from fourth in New Jersey in 2002 to 26 in 2010. MHS is one of the worst performers among its socioeconomic peers, “J” high schools. We can do better.

Mendham and Chester parents’ specific requests for substantive improvement at Mendham High School have been met variously with indifference, defense of the status quo, superficial lip service, political theater and vindictiveness. The West Morris Regional High School District Board of Education has the power to reverse this corrosive organizational culture; the board needs to muster the will. In the meantime, we can expect an energized citizenry to pursue better schooling as the alternative to the board’s inaction.

Another factor contributing to the decline of Mendham High School is the diversion of financial and human resources from Mendham/Chester to Washington Township and the disproportionate spending between Mendham and Central High Schools. Mendham/Chester residents pay 64 percent of all taxes supporting the district. For too long, however, greater resources have been allocated to Central High School than to Mendham. Administrative attention and spending on the two schools need to be balanced.

In addition, the school board needs to give district residents the chance to vote on changing the district’s tax allocation between its five municipalities to one where each town pays the same amount per student.  Mendham Township currently pays $22,073 per student while Washington Township pays less than half that amount, $10,483.  This is an unstable, unsustainable cost-sharing arrangement resulting from an error by our state government. The municipalities never agreed to it; taxpayers deserve the chance to fix it by referendum. Towards that end, .