Middletown BOE Race: Q&A With Deborah Wright

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Patch ran Q&A interviews with Middletown BOE candidates Kate Farley/Jaime Sanacore and Joan Minnuies.

Now on Thursday, here is our Q&A with Deborah Wright, who is seeking re-election to the Board. She's been on the Middletown Board of Ed. since 2018.

Patch asked all the candidates running the same set of questions and asked them to provide a statement why they are running and their platform. The Middletown school board election will be Nov. 2, but voters can vote early by mail and vote early by machine from Oct. 23 - Oct. 31 at these locations: https://patch.com/new-jersey/m...

From Deborah Wright, seeking re-election to the Middletown Board of Education:

1. Do you agree with Middletown's current school quarantine policy?

"I continue to advocate to get students back into school in the quickest and safest way. At the last Board meeting, I voted to support the new quarantine policy for the district that reduced the time that students are spending in quarantine," said Wright. "As guidelines continue to change, I will support further refinement of the policy to ensure that students are learning in school safely."

Middletown schools' current quarantine policy that Wright supports is if a student 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.

2. What are your thoughts on masks in school?

"As the question regarding mask mandates implies, masks are mandated to be worn in schools," said Wright. "As a currently elected board of education member, I swore an oath to uphold the law. I take this oath and your children’s right to a safe and healthy learning environment seriously."

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

"Board of Education meetings should be held in the schools that our students attend," said Wright. "By moving the meetings out of our schools and eliminating Zoom, the Board has limited access for our entire community to fully engage with the BOE. The Township Committee continues to provide an interactive virtual option for everyone to voice their opinions and concerns. I will fight to make this part of our district policy and not just a reaction to a pandemic or crisis."

4. Please comment on the issue of mold found in Middletown schools, which delayed the first day of school by a week, and 5. Please explain why you voted to close Port Monmouth Elementary (the school district said the building needed safety upgrades and had too few students):

"You asked me to address the issue of mold in our schools and the vote to close Port Monmouth Elementary. These two issues highlight the lack of a strategic plan that focuses on our aging schools," said Wright. "Closing Port Monmouth Elementary was an extremely hard decision for me to make because of the students and families it affected. One factor that was important to me was that we were able to move the entire student population when relocated to New Monmouth Elementary. My vote was cast in favor of the overall general health of the district. We must refocus our attention on the many, long-standing infrastructure issues facing the 16 schools within our district amidst drastic cuts to state funding."

Note from Patch: For the past five years, the Middletown school district, like other large suburban school districts in New Jersey, has received significant funding cuts from the state. For the 21-22 school year, Middletown schools received $14.5 million from the state Department of Education, which is seven percent less than it received the year before. Ever since 2018, suburban school districts like Middletown, Brick and Toms River have gotten cuts in state aid, while urban school districts like Newark have received more money. This is part of a controversial change in how New Jersey school funding formula is decided, under a deal worked out under Senate President Steve Sweeney (D) a few years ago.

From Wright:

It has been a privilege to serve our school district these past three years. Helping students facilitate their educational journey is what motivates me every day. I will continue to steer the conversation towards the real issues that need our attention. Aging and overcrowded schools, the highest standards for quality curriculum, monitoring your tax dollars, and keeping your children safe while preparing them for their future.

I was elected to the Middletown Township Board of Education in November 2018. I have been chair of the Student Services Committee and liaison to the Middletown Township Friends of Diverse Learners (“MTFODL”) for three years. I am also a member of the Policy Committee this year. In 2019 and 2020, I was a member of the Strategic Planning Committee, and a member of the Negotiations Committee in 2020.

I was born and raised in Middletown and attended Harmony Elementary, Thorne Middle School and High School North. I live in Belford along with my husband and our son who is in fourth grade at Bayview Elementary. I serve as Committee Chair to Cub Scout Pack 141. I’m a member of the Bayview PTA and have volunteered to be class captain of my son’s class several times.

I’m a graduate of Douglass College and New York Law School. For 21 years, I proudly served as a public defender with The Legal Aid Society, specializing in Mental Health Law. I am past president of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, UAW Local 2325. I am an experienced lobbyist at the federal, state, and local levels of government with sharp advocacy skills. I am also an experienced negotiator that understands operating budgets of non-profits. In April of 2019, I joined the UAW International’s staff as the Community Action Program Representative for Region 9A, which encompasses the Northeast and Puerto Rico.

If re-elected, the following will be my top priorities:

• Keeping our students learning in-person in a safe environment.
• Conclude the Strategic Planning process that board leadership unilaterally stopped at the beginning of this year. Using $55,000 and spending countless hours in 2019 and 2020, I was on the team that hired a demographer that produced a new population study and met with the community. The results of this effort yielded overwhelming support for redistricting. The pandemic is being used as a convenient excuse to stop this process. I will partner with the community to finally solve this long-standing problem. Read: Middletown School District Considering Redistricting (Sept. 2020)
• Develop a real and sustainable long-range facilities plan that deals with our aging schools.
• I will advocate to bring back Zoom for the community to have the option to attend meetings virtually and fully engage with the Board. I want to make this policy.
• I will continue to be a champion of inclusion of our neuro-diverse learners in the general education setting and expanding educational opportunities for all students. I will continue to push for Wilson, and other multi-sensory reading platforms, for our growing number of students diagnosed with dyslexia.
• I will continue to lobby on behalf of the district for more educational funding, as I did with Dr. George. As a result, Middletown’s allocation of Extraordinary Special Education Aid was increased by $800,000 this year.
• I will continue to push for expanded career and technical alternatives for students so they can fully prepare for successful careers upon graduation.

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

Middletown BOE Race: Q&A With Candidate Joan Minnuies

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