Get To Know New Providence School Candidate: Robert Dinerman

NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ — Robert S. Dinerman is one of the four candidates running for election in the contested New Providence School Board election being held on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

There are four candidates vying for three three-year seats on the board with candidates including: Robert S. Dinerman, Rebecca P. Coniglio, Adam Smith and William H. Dibble.

Rob Dinerman

Description:

I am Rob Dinerman, and I am running for a third term for the New Providence Board of Education. In January of 2017, I stood in front of six children, 9-12-year-olds, in L'viv, Ukraine and began a two-hour teaching lesson in leadership and communication. I had just finished a week of training for the leadership team of my client, a large data science firm built from the vestiges of the former Soviet Union.

At 61, I administer leadership, personality, and communication assessments. After I get the results, I craft training and coaching programs which lead to team synergy, low staff turnovers, and increased lifetime customer value. Teaching the basics of leadership and communication to children in the US and elsewhere is a voluntary service I commit to as a member of my certification organization known as The John Maxwell Team. I am on the Maxwell Team Board of Directors as well as the Executive Board of the Wharton Alumni Association. Both organizations have more than 20,000 members

I was born and raised in New Jersey, received a business degree from Wharton in Philadelphia, and then went to work on Wall Street at Salomon Brothers on the government and mortgaged-backed trading desks. In the mid ’80. I took the skills I learned developing trading technology and started another career. One that did not
keep me awake at night. In the technology world, I worked for companies like Oracle, Sun and Gartner as well as several smaller tech firms. Frankly, that career became more volatile then I wanted. I took the skills I learned as a manager and negotiator, and became a certified teacher and coach in the areas of leadership, communication, and public speaking, which is my full-time profession now.

Why are you running for the school board?

When I first ran for the Board, I met with Adam Smith and John Wolak both Board presidents. I thought I knew the role the Board of Education, but I was looking for clarification to see if it was a fit for me. I will confess that six years later, I finally do know the responsibilities, authority, and limitations the Board.

Experience is critical in learning to work within the government policies mandated in NJ. I am asking to serve again because I know of no greater legacy we can give our children then great family values and an education that can teach them how to thrive in college or in a trade. The New Providence Community is a values-based
community. As we have gratefully witnessed some diversification in the community and school system, it is obvious that people who move into this community cherish their family values and culture which share the common thread of goodness, decency, and excellence.

To support our families, I look to improve all aspects of education knowing that the burden of government control at the county and the state level may alter our curriculum and budget at any time. As changing and expensive state policies squeeze our budget I want to continue to help innovate with the community, administration, and faculty to provide the “best in class” education people in this community expect.

What experience do you have that would help you serving on the school board?

I mentioned the synergy of faculty, administration, and community above because success in our district is a team effort. It is why my photo is a group picture from the Character.org award ceremony last year. I view my experience as a leadership and teacher central to being part of this team, which encourages all stakeholders; students, parents, teachers and Dr. Miceli’s team.

As Chair of the Curriculum committee and a member of Finance I add value to the district by understanding the State and Local policies. Many times this enables me to ask questions which help us explore the best solution for the amount of time, talent and tax dollars available to us. As an elected official I am available to
people who want to talk about school issues and then discuss these with my Board members and administration.

What issues would you like to see addressed if elected?

The Board Goals are public and available to anyone who visits the NPSD web-site. Two of our key goals this year are:

1. Become certified as a “Future Ready School”. A program of the Alliance for Excellent Education which focus’ on personalized learning.
2. Develop more programs and services for students identified as having mental health needs

However, I also want to explore two items that we should get better at executing.

1. Awareness of the quality of extra and co-curricular activities. We excel at state and national competitions for music, arts, sports, STEM, and other out of classroom skills. We need to raise the community’s awareness of these achievements. Not everyone in town has a child in the school system.
2. Public visibility into the information that the Board uses to make decisions. All of our information is available on the web site. The public at times has requested greater visibility. They have the access, we just need to show them where to look so we appear more transparent.

We are going to continue to monitor the effectiveness of programs that have been instituted over the past few years. It takes time tomake s ure we are managing the resources well. We have an incredible Superintendent in Dr. David Miceli and great Board leadership with Mr. Smith and Mr. Dibble.

— (If you are a candidate and would like to participate in the profile, please email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com)

(Image provided: Robert Dinerman)

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.

Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.