Middletown BOE Race: Q&A With Kate Farley And Jaime Sanacore

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — In this fall's Middletown school board race, Kate Farley and Jaime Sanacore are running on a very similar, if not identical, platform as the 1-2-3 slate of Jackie Tobacco, Frank Capone and Harmony Heffernan last year — and they're not afraid to admit it.

"I supported them 100 percent last year and yes, I consider them allies," Farley told Patch Wednesday. "Do I agree with what Jackie, Frank and Barry stand for and currently seem to be doing on the Board of Education? Yes, absolutely."

Farley, a Middletown mom of three and a lawyer, and Sanacore, a mother of two who works in business, are running on a platform of:

• Keeping children in school full time
• Fighting as much as possible any return to virtual or hybrid learning
• Reducing the amount of time students currently have to quarantine
• Making masks optional
• They also support the current policy of holding Middletown school board meetings at the VFW hall, to circumvent Gov. Phil Murphy's mask mandate. The meetings-at-the-VFW idea was spearheaded by Capone, and has been met with much controversy in Middletown.

"What they stand for and what we stand for — we stand for the same thing," said Farley. "Our slogan is Putting Children First, the same as their's was. I supported them last year and a big part of that they ran on was hyper focused on getting children back in school. This year, thankfully all the children are back in school, so now our focus is keeping them in school."

There are three open seats on the BOE this fall, as Tom Giaimo is not seeking re-election. Joan Minnuies is running to keep her seat, as is Deborah Wright. Lauren Anderson is a write-in candidate.

In fact, Farley said she is hopeful herself, running mate Sanacore and Minnuies win the election, with Wright being voted off the board.

Farley/Sanacore's alliance with Tobacco, Capone et al should come as no surprise, as Farley first made headlines last winter when she organized a Facebook group and protest movement to reopen Middletown schools. This was in late January 2021. At the time, Farley criticized the district's "reopening subcommittees" as overly bureaucratic and also said the district was failing to abide by its promised Feb. 16 reopening date. Farley is not afraid to take aim at Middletown school superintendent Mary Ellen Walker, as she launched this "no confidence" petition against Walker earlier this year.

"People in Middletown have reached a boiling point," Farley told Patch last January.

It was through her reopening activism that Farley said she met Sanacore, another working mother equally frustrated with remote learning. In August, Sanacore started another petition to make masks optional in Middletown schools.

Capone endorsed the 2-3 slate of Farley-Sanacore, plus Minnuies this week, writing on his Facebook page:

"Many people have reached out to me about the upcoming election and what my thoughts are," wrote Capone. "I have told all the following. Joan Minnuies, Kate Farley, and Jaime Sanacore need our support ... This is a critical year with many more great things to take place next year. I ask you all to join me in my support for Joan Minnuies, along with the PUTTING CHILDREN FIRST team of Kate Farley and Jaime Sanacore. Middletown will continue to strive in the right direction. We cannot afford to go back."

Tobacco said she "happily" backs them as well:

"Kate Farley and I became acquainted during lockdown when we both were parent advocates for a return to full time in-person learning," she said. "I am impressed with Kate’s commitment to our students and her legal prowess, which allows her to engage in logical decision making and deep dive into the processes of making effective change. She will be an asset to the board. Jaime is a fierce advocate for the children and has a business background that will serve our district extremely well. We are in a period of extreme transition and I look forward to continuing the work we have done to date with the addition of both of these women! Joan has served this district and our students for over 20 years and she deserves to have a seat on this board for as long as she’s willing to continue to volunteer her time, energy and heart."

While Farley did not have any specific criticism of Wright, here are her and Sanacore's views on a range of "lightning rod" topics currently in Middletown schools:

(There will be follow-up interviews with Minnuie and Wright, where they will be asked the same questions.)

1. Do you agree with Middletown's current school quarantine policy? The New Jersey Dept. of Education left it up to individual school districts to make their own rules on quarantining. Right now, if a student in the Middletown district is exposed to a known COVID positive case, they have to stay home for seven days, and then return with a negative test, or stay home for 10 days and return on day 11 without a test.

Farley said she and Sanacore think this quarantine is too long, and vowed it is one of the first things she will change should they be elected to the board. Middletown's Republican state Senator Declan O'Scanlon is currently floating a bill to also reduce the amount of time students have to quarantine.

"We've had issues with quarantine and keeping healthy children home for weeks at a time," she said. "My feeling is healthy children should be allowed in school and sick children should stay home."

She said Middletown should move to a policy like New York City schools have implemented, where if a child is not showing any symptoms, they can come to school and remain in isolation while they are rapid tested for up to five days. If their rapid tests are negative, they can remain in school each day. If it comes back positive, they are sent home.

"Of course parents should be made aware of any exposure, but healthy children are being made to sit home because they supposedly were in close contact with a COVID case," said Farley. "Yet they are not testing positive themselves. It's difficult for everyone because they are not getting any consistency with their learning and it's difficult for parents, because everyone is back to work now."

2. What are your thoughts on masks in school?

"It should 100 percent masks optional — it's up to the parent," said Farley. But she acknowledged that the mask mandate is enforced statewide by Gov. Murphy and said "it's impossible to fight it" currently.

"The mandate is the mandate; it is what it is," she said.

3. Do you support BOE meetings being held at the VFW Hall?

"Yes, and holding the meetings there 'to avoid the mask mandate' is the wrong way to phrase it," said Farley. "The office of the governor or the AG or whomever directed the county sheriff to enforce the mask mandate in schools. And there are groups of people, who may not be from Middletown, who want to get arrested and get a summonses for not wearing a mask. They want that. So the Board is moving the meeting location so it becomes, quite frankly, a non issue. And we can hold a run-of-the mill BOE meeting where we can focus on the issues of running the district."

"I don't think it's because BOE members wanted to move the meeting to avoid the mask mandate themselves," she said. "I don't think that's why it happened at all."

4. Please comment on the issue of mold found in Middletown schools, which delayed the first day of school by a week:

"This is the perfect example of how parents feel shut out of the current BOE. They don't really feel like they are getting the real story from the administration or the board; they are like a black box. We had parents demanding to know, when will the schools open?"

5. Wright voted to close Port Monmouth Elementary, upsetting many parents. Minnuies was one of only two votes against closing the school; the other being Leonora Caminiti. (The district said the building was old, in dire need of safety repairs and had too few students enrolled, under 200.) How would you and Jamie have voted had you been on the board?

"We both agreed that we cannot say how we would have voted on Port Monmouth because we are not privy to the facts, information and discussion that occurred at the Board level when that decision was made," said Farley.

Election Day is Nov. 2, but mail-in ballots have already been sent to homes. Also, from Oct. 23 - Oct. 31 Monmouth County voters can vote early, by machine, at these 10 polling places: Vote Early At These 10 Monmouth County Poll Sites Oct. 23-31

From Jaime Sanacore directly:

My name is Jaime Sanacore and I am running for Middletown Board of Education. I'm the mother of two daughters who both attend Lincroft Elementary School. I am born and raised in Monmouth County and blessed to have my family close as we raise another generation here. I am an active volunteer and want to continue giving back by serving on the school board to represent parents and community stakeholders.

I believe in an education system that can provide my children and the students of Middletown a challenging academic experience, a focus on individual responsibility, civic awareness and the skills critical to thrive in a global society.

I am grateful for my public school education. I attribute my success to the teachers and staff that supported me, not only academically, but emotionally at times. I am a general manager working in transportation, supply chain and distribution. Throughout my career I have developed skills that will allow me to effectively serve as a member of Middletown’s BOE. I am proficient at strategic planning, budgeting, capital distribution and management of large-scale projects. I have also been responsible for the safety and engagement of teams of over 5,000 employees spread across multiple campuses. This means I know how to communicate with diverse groups of people who may have competing interests and successfully find common ground to create a vision that inspires innovation and efficient work flow.

My primary goal is to make sure that children and parents have a voice. This past school year, our children made incredible sacrifices and their learning experience took a back seat to a global pandemic. I want to ensure we are making up for lost time and children do not lose time in the classroom going forward. We need to pay attention to our school buildings through appropriate oversight and maintenance. We must carefully evaluate capital improvements and technology investments that can provide the best environment for student learning. I believe we must have transparency along with consistency in our policies from the Board of Education and the administration. This district must encourage a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for all students and focus on academic excellence as cornerstone of the curriculum. A locally crafted curriculum must include the state standards, but as a member of the school board I will ensure parents stay informed on what is being taught and when.

As a Board of Education member, I will always put children first when making decisions. We need to get back to basics and focus on providing the best possible education to the students of Middletown.

From Kate Farley directly:

My name is Kate Farley and I am running for Middletown Board of Education. I'm the mother of three children - a 2nd grader and Kindergartner who attend Nut Swamp Elementary, and a very busy 1.5 year old. My husband and I love Middletown and we are committed to sending our children to public school here, which is part of the reason I am so passionate about working to make the schools as good as they can be. I am a practicing litigation attorney, and my skills in that arena will translate well into a position on the Board of Education. I know how to conduct fact-based, reasonable and logical analysis of a problem or concern, considering all positions. And I thrive on zealous advocacy for those counting on me.

I demonstrated my ability to advocate for the children of Middletown during the pandemic. I founded the Middletown Parents for Full Time In Person School group, which grew to 1,500 members. I drafted letters and petitions, organized rallies and spoke at nearly every school board meeting. I did not rest until all children were afforded the opportunity to attend school full time, in person, five days per week.

During the pandemic, the interests of school children were frequently put on the back burner. As a BOE member, I will ensure that the interests of children are always prioritized, regardless of what is going on in the world. Children need to be in school, consistently, in person, to truly learn. I believe it is the district's duty to make every effort to deliver a normal, safe, and reliable school experience for children. As a Board of Education member, I will always put children first when making decisions.

Middletown is a very large district with nearly 10,000 students and 16 school buildings. The key to successfully running a district of this size is adopting strategic, long-range planning for things like capital improvements, building maintenance and technology. There must also be transparency between the administration, BOE and the public. More attention needs to be given to ensuring parents are informed about important developments in the district. Further, we must ensure that the curriculum being delivered to our children is academically enriching and competitive, and not influenced by politics. After the trauma we have all endured for the past 18+ months, I want to get back to basics and focus on providing the best possible education to the students of Middletown.

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