Hopefuls bid for right to serve school district

Six candidates are vying to capture two seats on the Jackson Board of Education in the April 17 school election. Polls will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The candidates are Gus Acevedo, Nicolas Antonoff Jr., Sharon Dey, Sal Duscio, Linda Lackay and Scott Sargent.

Acevedo and Lackay are current members of the board.

Acevedo, 58, has lived in Jackson since 1959. A graduate of the Switlik School and Jackson Memorial High School, Acevedo was a member of the first graduating class at JMHS in 1966. Both of his children graduated from JMHS.

Acevedo has served as vice president and president of the board and has chaired the athletic and curriculum committees.

"I am running for the school board because I feel I owe a debt to my community to make certain that its schools are ones about which they can be proud," Acevedo said. "My years of experience in education as an Ocean County Vocational Technical School board member, a Jackson school board member, an educator, a parent and a small business [operator] allow me to make the sound decisions that improve our district."

He said he believes everyone should be concerned about all of the students at all levels in every school.

"We must always remember the important fact that academics come before athletics and that athletics enhance the educational experience," said Acevedo. "Another very important fact should be that people running for the board should not be enemies of the district. Partisan politics should never take over non-partisan school boards. Imagine if a political group controlled both budgets."

He said the district has made great strides forward and needs to keep getting better.

"Experience does matter," he said. "We cannot return to the past. Our eyes must be on the prize, a better-educated student being educated without misspending our tax dollars."

Antonoff, 73, a resident for eight years, has spent the last 30 years in project/program management and business development, overseeing the design, development, integration testing and fielding of secure, complex computer systems for applications in aerospace and the armed forces.

"I firmly believe it is time to redirect our public secondary education system to its primary mission, to prepare its graduates for successful competitive careers in the college and/or global economy workplace of their choosing," said Antonoff. "We must stop the manipulation of test scores and exploitation of students to increase state and federal funding, and bureaucratic bragging rights. We must rein in, freeze, galloping tax increases to stop creeping eminent domain abuse by home equity erosion."

Antonoff said he earned bachelors and master's degrees in physical chemistry.

"Effective business development/contract management requires conforming to, generating, evaluating well written, testable performance specifications, and adhering to cost realism, a practice the education system would be smart to adopt, along with zero base budgeting," said Antonoff.

If elected to the board, Antonoff said he would focus on "significant improvement of abysmal Jackson students' performance on national standardized tests."

Dey, 35, who has lived in Jackson for nine years, has a son in the first grade at the Johnson School and a daughter in preschool at the Crawford Rodriguez School. She works as a part-time accountant.

Dey said she is a member of the Special Education Advisory Council, the Parent to Parent Support Group and Parents for Educational Progress (PEP). She said she is also an advocate for autism awareness.

"I am running for the board because I am a parent and a taxpayer who cares about the future and quality of education for our children," Dey said, adding that there needs to be a more positive return on tax dollars. "Being an accountant, I am good at cost saving and working within a budget. We need to make changes and improvements to control spending, while providing the education our children deserve."

Taxpayer dollars must be spent in a student focused manner, she said.

"Construction costs, administrative costs and other expenses seem to rise faster than we can keep up. Yet, there's no measurable positive outcome in student performance," said Dey.

The candidate said she knows the formula that provides state aid to local schools is unfair and said there is a need to work together to help better a bad situation. But, she said, the average person is not receiving the same increase in salary that he is expected to pay in taxes.

"We cannot keep blaming others for our own lack of commitment to saving money while improving education," Dey said. "More community members need to be included in the decision making process. As a member of PEP, I want to challenge the Jackson School District to change."

Duscio, 78, said he is running for Jackson school board "because the problems that existed 12 years ago when I first started running for the board are still present: no accountability, no effort to economize, overpaid personnel, too much personnel and too many costly programs not related to education. Give our students the best education possible."

Duscio, who has been a Jackson resident since 1950, said being a taxpayer alone qualifies him and other citizens to get involved. He said he knows how the system works and said there is much to be corrected.

"The board should be composed with all kinds of citizens: housewives, blue collar workers, retired citizens, anyone but school teachers," said Duscio. "Board teachers think only one way. They understand three things, spend, spend and more spend.

"I'm very concerned about the senior citizen developments we have in Jackson. Ninety percent or better are immigrants from other states. They have paid their dues a long time ago. Thank goodness they are here in Jackson paying these crazy taxes. Without them, Jackson would be in one heck of a mess," he said.

He said it is not fair to ask these seniors or any seniors to pay for something they or their families are not enjoying.

"Living in Jackson is not very affordable," Duscio said.

A different view about who should pay for schools was expressed by Lackay, 45, who said "the education of our children is a responsibility every member of the Jackson community shares. This obligation exists regardless of one's stage in the family life cycle or economic circumstances."

Lackay said she is seeking a second term on the board because she recognizes the significant impact of providing a quality education for every child within the financial constraints of Jackson's community.

"As a 22-year resident of Jackson I have experienced the tremendous growth in town," she said. "In an effort to meet the variety of needs demanded by our swelling community, I have been an active member of numerous organizations including president and trustee of the Oakley Hill Association, president and treasurer of the Rosenauer PTA, active volunteer with the Jackson Soccer Club, Holbrook Little League, Jackson Jungle playground and Jackson Day."

Lackay has served on the school board as chair of the legislative committee and said she has established a positive working relationship with past and present local government officials, as well as state legislators on issues directly beneficial to Jackson.

"Equitable state funding based on current student population is the greatest issue facing Jackson," said Lackay. "As an experienced leader, I will continue to lobby local, state and federal legislators for fair educational support of our growing community."

Sargent, 43, a parent of two children who is employed at the Jackson Public Works Department as a laborer, said he thinks the school board needs a reality check.

"I am a taxpayer," said Sargent, a 17-year resident of the community. "There is an alarming trend of continual tax increases. The message is clear and concise, stabilize taxes and ensure more tax dollars are spent on our children."

He said that as a member of the Parents for Educational Progress team, he is asking for a chance to make some positive changes for Jackson.

"As a former manager at a firm which services retail and restaurant businesses, my strengths are in leadership, accountability and follow-up procedures," Sargent said. "I have the ability to listen to ideas and move forward with plans that would be helpful for the district."

Creating an atmosphere of open dialog for all parties is one area he said he had been aggressive in as a manager.

Sargent said the term "shared services" is a popular political phrase right now, but said the logic behind it concerns him.

"I believe if we had quality management in place there wouldn't be a need for shared services," he said. "The idea of shared services creates the ability to blame another for the shortcomings of the people, agency, or institution who should be liable to begin with."

He said that as a member of the board he would lobby his fellow board members to be accountable for their own decisions.

"Fault should never be lumped on any entity other than the school board itself," he said. "Otherwise no progress can be made."

Sargent said he will foster a plan where the school board will be accountable and responsible.