Candidate Profile: BOE Should Emulate Private Sector on Enrollment Issue, Incumbent Says

Seeking her second consecutive three-year term on the West Morris Regional High School Board of Education, Marcia Asdal is one of two representatives to Chester Township on the nine-member body.

Asdal, who has lived with her family in Chester Township since 1986, raised five daughters, all alumnae of Mendham High School. She and her husband own several small businesses, including the Raritan Inn Bed & Breakfast in Califon.

Prior to volunteering as a board member, Asdal helped coordinate the Chester Science Fair for 15 years, which annually saw more than 500 participants.

Asdal, 53, won a seat on the board in 2011 against opponent Gary Lakritz, who is now the regional board’s president (Lakritz was elected in 2013). Asdal is opposed by former board member James Johnston.

Patch asked Asdal a series of questions for this profile piece as the campaign winds into the Nov. 4 Election. Her answers are below, unedited.

Patch: Why are you running for the board of education?
Marcia Asdal: I believe my enthusiasm for education and my work ethic are still needed on the board and I am excited to be a part of an excellent school system.

Patch: What changes, if any, would you hope to implement over the next three years as a member of the board?
MA:

• I would like to see the results of our annual teacher evaluations be used in their compensation – a small step towards merit pay.
• I would like to institute internal data collection and outsource its analysis to an independent third party. This approach is similar to how we gather demographic information on which to base our decisions – internally we count heads, but then we hand the analysis off to experts.

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?
MA: The vote in 2012 not only moved the elections for board members to November, but it also included a provision that eliminated the vote on the annual school budget, if it came in at or below the state-mandated cap, currently set at 2%. In 2012 I voted against this resolution and in 2016 I would vote to restore the vote to the taxpayers.

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?
MA:

• One misstep was eliminating the right for taxpayers to approve or reject annual school budgets.
• Another misstep was rejecting the opportunity to place a referendum on the ballot in April 2011 that would have allowed the residents a vote on changing the district funding formula to a per pupil basis from one based on property values. Instead the initiative has been remanded to the control of the mayors rather than being driven by the consensus of the voting public.

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?
MA: The magnitude of this projected decline in enrollment will require innovation, right-sized staff and expert facilities management – in other words, solid management. It’s easy to manage growth with money; stability is far more difficult and managing decline is imperative to maintaining quality in education and value for taxes paid. We know that businesses, who are more nimble and flexible than a school district governed by union contracts and obligations, are reluctant to add employees in a world of unknown and uncertain economic forecasts. We should take the lead from them and begin to seriously look at our future staffing needs so as to intersect supply with demand.

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?
MA: The 2% cap was an important restraint when enrollment was increasing at 3% or more. In declining enrollments, budgets should provide quality education at the right price, irrespective of state-mandated guidelines.