Candidate Recruitment Lacks Transparency in Pending Trenton School Board Election
- Tyrone Gaskins
- Jan 4, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 5, 2023
Currently, the infamous Trenton NJ rumor mill has Kathy McBride, Robyn Vaughn and Sonya Wilkins running for school board on the heels of a recent Trenton Referendum changing the school district from a mayorally appointed board to an elected school board - approved by the voters in November 2022. While the changing of the Municipal election made sense in terms of voter encouragement and city costs, the school board referendum was seemingly positioned as an escape hatch for three power hungry ladies who wished to remain relevant on the local political scene - in spite of themselves.
I am hoping someone can empirically refute these assertions. Honestly, I wish I was making this up, but I'm not... their auspicious and premature authority grabs, sunk their agendas on council, and some members demonstrated socially and behaviorally dysfunctional representation toward the Mayor, on the dais and towards city residents. For my druthers, they did their best Mitch McConnell interpretation as strategic obstructionists.
And now, what are their aims at the school district? How can they serve the desperate needs of the children of Trenton, when they could not serve on Council in any appropriate and upstanding way - the citizens and administration of the City? Further, what educational teaching (elementary or secondary) experience do these supposed candidates have? What administrative and executive experiences do they bring to assist in addressing the complicated, inundated challenges, students and teachers of the District are trying to manage - daily? What were these presumptive candidates' responses to public safety crisis these last four years? How did that broadcast the tenor of their decision making and public process styles? As the District faces increasing fights and altercations on school grounds what is their plan; to curse out the Superintendent? What accomplishments can they cite from their tenure as Councilpersons? Despite developing a national reputation for participation in (and in the case of Ms. McBride - presiding over) one of the worst City Councils in Trenton's archive, they persist in wanting to be on the school board ballot and ask to have their leadership recognized by the Trenton community of parents. Any review of the NJ and local publishing houses, substantiate that this is a bad idea.
It is unnecessary to relive the debacle of Trenton Council proceedings so diligently captured via video recording or by the local political press houses over the past four years. What is necessary is to cite that each of these individuals intentionally obstructed the business of the City on numerous occasions, not on merit (often factiously trotted out during one legislative crisis or another), but rather on hubris that resulted in no budget passed for the 2023 budget year; stalling of the docket on critical department/division services and revenue for public safety equipment, contractual raises for employees, and other hard and soft infrastructure issues. And of course, there were some of the worst displays of crass and disrespectful public dialogue witnessed and recorded in Trenton's legislative history.
I want to thank past Board President Gene Bouie for his efforts at assisting the writer with understanding current priorities of the district; the pending school board's election process, and assistance in framing trajectories to identify suitable candidates - outside of our current offering of interested and perniciously infected gadflies. And thanks to the Municipal Clerk's Association and the Trenton Clerk's office for their assistance toward guidance to ensure that the public has access to information that encourages greater possibilities for a more robust ballot. With that in mind, this article includes links to the Municipal Clerk's Association publication of NJSA, Chapter 5-13 School Board Elections Rules; the 2023 Annual School Board Election Timeline; and the NJDOE 2023 -2024 Election Calendar - Change in Election Date memorandum:
The last link above is a bevy of information and tool kits any prospective school board member should consider including:
13 Things School Board Members Wish People Knew About Them
School Governance Primer (video series and additional resources)
A Guide to School Board Meetings in New Jersey
Trusting this publishing will be helpful to prospective candidates and to the community at large in the City of Trenton.
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