Ryan Valentino: Warren Township School Board Candidate

WARREN, NJ — The Warren Township School Board has six candidates vying for three seats in the upcoming election on Nov. 2.

Ryan J. Valentino is one of the candidates running. The other candidates include:

• Aparna Virmani - (is running together with Desai and Croson)
• Daniel Croson, Jr. - (is running together with Desai and Virmani)
• Mehul Desai - (is running together with Croson and Virmani)
• Eric Winch
• Tambudzayi Miranda Chibwe
• William Mayerchak

All of the candidates are running for the three, three-year seats on the board.

Are you running for office in Warren? Contact Alexis Tarrazi at alexis.tarrazi@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Warren Patch.

Ryan J. Valentino

Name: Ryan J. Valentino

Age: 35

Town of residence: Warren

Position sought: Warren Township Board of Education

Family: I am married to my wonderful wife, Eva, and we have three amazing children, our son, Alesso (7), and daughters Scarlett (6), and Collins (3).

Education: I lived in Union as a baby and my family moved to Warren when I was 2 years old, in 1988. My parents and Grandparents moved to Warren and we still live in the same home today. I am fortunate to have lived in Warren for the majority of my life. I went to pre-school at Creative Preschool (Now Giving Nest Warren). As a young child I loved seeing our Volunteer Firefighters, Rescue Squad Volunteers, and Police Officers responding on calls and helping the residents daily. Going to the four fire houses, rescue squad, and police department were some of my favorite memories as a preschooler. It is through these memories that I pursued my passion of emergency services and get to live those dreams daily.

I attended Mt. Horeb Elementary School from Kindergarten through 4th Grade (Class of 1996). While attending Mt. Horeb, my classmates and I were the students who voted on choosing the school mascot! I remember the election process. There were four potential mascots to choose from. The majority voted for the Gator because we felt he was unique and different from the other schools' mascots, and 30 years later he still is! (Go Gators!) I made some life-long friends while at Mt. Horeb, who I still keep in contact with today! My 2nd Grade teacher, Ms. Haydu, is still teaching there and we get to share memories and stories from time to time, especially when I visit the schools in October to do our annual Fire Prevention Assemblies. Two of my children currently attend Mt. Horeb as well.

I attended the Warren Middle School from 1996-2000. (Millenium Class of 2000!) I was one of the few classes who attended the Warren Middle School as a 5th Grader. Due to class sizes the 5th Grade was temporarily moved to the Middle school for a few years. Being in the Middle School for four years was a great experience. It is a lot of fun to share one school with all of the students from Warren. It was a great way to get to know all of your peers before moving on to the high school. I enjoyed being part of the music department and strengthened many of my long-time friendships from Mt. Horeb with the band program. The memories, teachers and staff, events, school trips, and friendships truly helped us flourish as we graduated up to high school.

I attended Watchung Hills from 2000-2004 ("Out the Door in 2004!"). I was very involved in the Band and Choir programs while attending Watchung Hills. Most of my long-time childhood friends were part of music programs as well, which helped solidify our lifelong friendships. I consider myself very lucky that I was able to go through the Warren Township and Watchung Hills school systems from start to finish. This allowed me to have a huge network of friends and peers as a support system for the good times, and bad growing up.

Occupation: I work as a full-time, Career Lieutenant Firefighter/EMT for North Plainfield, as well as a Per-Diem EMT for Morris County OEM/EMS, and the Colonia First Aid Squad in Woodbridge. I also teach part-time at the Somerset County Emergency Services Training Academy in Hillsborough as a Fire Instructor. I have always been passionate about public service and have been involved in the emergency services since I was 16 years old. I began as a Volunteer Firefighter and EMT in Warren in 2002 and continue to volunteer to this day.

Previous or current elected appointed office: N/A

Why are you seeking to run for school board? I believe that I am the perfect candidate for the Warren Township Board of Education because I am a product of our amazing school districts. I want nothing more for our children, and future generations, than to share the wonderful experiences, world-class education, and create their own lifelong memories and friendships that I was afforded through our school system. I believe that by living that experience myself I truly understand the environment and requirements needed to make that dream a reality for our children.

What is your stance on masks in schools? Should schools offer a virtual option? I understand that the past 18 months have been truly unique and unprecedented, especially when it comes to education. I feel that I have had a unique outlook on the pandemic, as both a parent, and first responder. On average, I spend 60-80 hours a week working on fire apparatus and ambulances all over Central Jersey. I have seen all types of incidents, but I have also seen a lot of panic driven hysteria and uncertainty due to the ever-changing guidelines and restrictions being put forth by various agencies and governing bodies.

Our son attended Kindergarten at Mt. Horeb prior to the pandemic and he excelled both socially and academically. Once the pandemic began, in March of 2020, and all students were forced to attend school virtually, we watched sadly as our son lost all interest in school, and it began to take an emotional toll on both him, and us. As the beginning of school came in September of 2020, we were anxiously awaiting the time when our children could return to school. Our son and daughter were both virtual for the first few weeks, and the morale between them was saddening. Being on the "frontlines" of the pandemic I was seeing daily how the numbers of critically sick were exponentially lower than when the pandemic first began in March. We were relieved once the children were allowed to return to school in October. However, we quickly learned that due to half days, masking, and social distancing guidelines that their experience, and education was still severely being impacted.

As months go by, we are learning more and more about the pandemic and the virus. I can tell you that from last spring (2020) to now the number of patients that I have seen for Covid related illness has all but vanished. Thankfully, I did not see or treat a single patient for Coronavirus under the age of 30 to this day. I believe that the damage we are doing to our children by forcing them to conform to these constantly changing rules of half days (no lunch, recess, specials, normal social interactions, etc.), masking, and social distancing are doing much more harm, especially in the long term when it comes to social and academic development, than the risks associated with the virus. Numerous studies have shown that the illness and side effects of the virus are minimal in almost all populations of children and adolescents.

I do believe, however, that the decision to wear masks, attend school virtually, or other means should rest solely on the induvial parents and caregivers of the children. No two families or children are the same, and I understand that each family has their own unique concerns, or worries, especially if a family has a family member with special health concerns. I do not believe it is fair to subjugate the entire Warren Township School systems' students to the mandates and masking requirements if it does not fit everyone's concerns equally.

What other issues do you feel must be tackled in the school district? I believe that the school’s primary function is to provide a foundation for our children's educational futures. I believe that topics such as gender identities, racial issues, current social and political issues, and coronavirus protocols should be left up to the individual families to teach and introduce to the children at their own pace and involvement.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates? I believe I am the best choice for the position because I have spent most of my life either attending the Warren schools or serving Warren Township in one role or another. This has allowed me to understand how the schools, Township, and politics of Warren operate.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign? I would like the residents of Warren to know that since I was a young child attending preschool and grade school in Warren that I wanted nothing more than to give back to our great town and serve Warren as best as I can. I have been involved with serving Warren for the past 20 years and hope to continue to for years to come.

We have a saying in the fire service: A building is only as strong as its foundation; a weak foundation will cause the building to fail much quicker under stress, whereas a strong foundation will last.