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Patch is asking candidates to share their views on issues in Long Valley. Here are candidate Laura Wengel's answers:

Vianella Burns, Patch Staff

LONG VALLEY, NJ — Election Day is nearing, and Long Valley voters will soon head to the polls to cast their votes for three seats on the local school board.

Patch sent questionnaires to all candidates, seeking their responses. Here is the response from candidate Laura Wengel.

Editor's Note: Patch emailed all candidates at the email addresses listed for their campaigns in the clerk's office. The responses will be revealed between now and the general election on November 7. These comments will be published with just minor stylistic changes. Candidates who wish to participate but did not receive an invitation should email [email protected].

Name: Laura Wengel

Find out what's happening in Long Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Age: 57

Town of residence: Washington Township

Family: I live with my husband. Our daughter went through the Washington Twp. and West Morris school systems.

Education: BA English – Hobart and William Smith Colleges; MA English Education – Seton Hall University; Special Education Certification – Rutgers University

Occupation: Teacher

Previous or current elected appointed office: None

Why are you seeking to run for school board?

I am running for a position on the Washington Township School Board because I am a strong advocate of quality public education where students are free to engage in meaningful discussion to enhance their critical thinking skills on all levels.

My family and I made our home in Long Valley in 2007 because we were impressed by the school system and the unique community bonds we shared with our neighbors.

My daughter is a product of the Washington Township Schools and a graduate of West Morris Central Regional High School. I firmly believe that she would not be a successful college graduate without the balanced academic rigor she received at WMC. I am also a proud public school graduate, where I learned to question my assumptions and think critically about my world.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in English from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, a master’s degree in English education from Seton Hall University, and a special education certificate from Rutgers University.

For the past 23 years, I have worked in both public and private education, teaching English and special education. The diversity and level of empathy I have encountered while teaching at public schools in New Jersey have given me a unique insight into the state of public education and how best to collaborate toward a common goal.

As board members, I am hoping that my running mates and I can successfully create a consensus on what our children need and make mindful, balanced decisions regarding their education.

What, according to you, is the biggest issue facing the school district currently? How do you plan to tackle it?

The amount of politics that has made its way into local school boards and schools has essentially hamstrung any substantive discussion regarding the education of our children. There also seems to be a lack of understanding in general about how public schools run. I hope to demystify this.

What special qualifications do you bring to help meet the challenge?

Since I am a teacher, I am uniquely qualified to provide accurate insight into what is actually happening in our classrooms and schools.

Patch is asking candidates to share their views on issues in Long Valley. Here are candidate Marisa Baker's answers:

Vianella Burns, Patch Staff

LONG VALLEY, NJ — Election Day is nearing, and Long Valley voters will soon head to the polls to cast their votes for three seats on the local school board.

Patch sent questionnaires to all candidates, seeking their responses. Here is the response from candidate Marisa Baker.

Editor's Note: Patch emailed all candidates at the email addresses listed for their campaigns in the clerk's office. The responses will be revealed between now and the general election on November 7. These comments will be published with just minor stylistic changes. Candidates who wish to participate but did not receive an invitation should email [email protected].

Name: Marisa Baker

Age: 45

Find out what's happening in Long Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Town of residence: Washington Township (Morris County)

Family: My husband and I have a blended family of 6 boys all under the age of 14.

Education: Yale University, B.A.; Seton Hall Law School, J.D.

Occupation: lawyer- owner of a 4-attorney law firm in Califon, NJ

Why are you seeking to run for school board?

I have become increasingly concerned that our current school board is getting distracted by political and culture war issues while neglecting the actual education of our children. I am running to ensure that our schools continue to provide the same high-quality education for all children.

I am also running to ensure that our school board does not make the same mistakes seen in some other local communities where close to $100,000 of already limited school funding is being used to pay for completely avoidable litigation costs simply because school boards fail to follow existing laws and regulations, which should be addressed at the state level.

What according to you is the biggest issue facing the school district currently? How do you plan to tackle it?

I am concerned about our children's overall educational readiness when compared to neighboring communities. For example, only 64 percent of our current elementary school students are performing at or above proficient levels in both reading and math. There are also reports that our middle school graduates are less prepared than other sending districts when they reach high school.

To tackle the problem, we first need to find the root cause. I believe that our school board needs to make it a priority to determine the origin of these falling test scores. Based on those findings, I believe we need to resolve the issue at its source, but I also believe that we must be open-minded in considering solutions and should consider policies or programs that have proven successful in other school districts for this purpose.

What special qualifications do you bring to help meet the challenge?

As a lawyer, I believe I am uniquely qualified to help guide the school board to ensure compliance with all relevant laws and regulations. It is the failure of other local school boards to ensure their own compliance with existing laws or regulations that have resulted in expensive and unnecessary litigation.

With a specialization in high-conflict divorce and custody matters, I also bring years of experience finding common ground between people with completely opposing interests. I will bring this transferable skill to the school board where I hope to help bridge the divide between many competing interests for the benefit of all of our children.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?

Another motivation for me to run for school board is that I also want to ensure that the very vocal voices and opinions of a few individuals are not forced upon the majority of children and families in our community.

I strongly believe that every taxpayer should have their concerns taken seriously by the school board, no matter the issue, and that every parent should be involved in their child's education. I also believe that part of the job of any school board member is to be accessible and willing to listen to any and all concerns from the community.

However, the school board also has a responsibility to ensure that all interests are considered and that results truly represent the majority.

Patch is asking candidates to share their views on issues in Long Valley. Here are candidate John R. Oldmixon's answers:

Vianella Burns, Patch Staff

LONG VALLEY, NJ — Election Day is nearing, and Long Valley voters will soon head to the polls to cast their votes for three seats on the local school board.

Patch sent questionnaires to all candidates, seeking their responses. Here is the response from candidate John R. Oldmixon.

Editor's Note: Patch emailed all candidates at the email addresses listed for their campaigns in the clerk's office. The responses will be revealed between now and the general election on Nov. 7. These comments will be published with just minor stylistic changes. Candidates who wish to participate but did not receive an invitation should email [email protected].

Name: John R. Oldmixon

Age: 35

Find out what's happening in Long Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Town of residence: Long Valley

Family: Happily married to my high school sweetheart, Emily. We are now blessed with three beautiful children.

Education: Flocktown-Kossmann, LVMS, WMC. BA in Business Finance from Centenary University.

Occupation: Private Credit Associate with MetLife Investment Management

Why are you seeking to run for school board?

Our school district and teachers are incredible, but I have concerns about what is happening at the state level. We can’t be a rubber stamp for Trenton. I am 100% for parental rights, no matter the circumstances. We always need to encourage the teacher-student-parent role. I believe in keeping politics out of school and maintaining fiscal responsibility. Given my background and deep understanding of our school issues, I believe I am the perfect fit.

What, according to you, is the biggest issue facing the school district currently? How do you plan to tackle it?

From an education standpoint, I am concerned about our test scores as it relates to student progress. For example, our middle school test score ranking is quite well, but our progress compared to neighboring districts is trending below average. I think it is important to focus on the fundamentals of education and our core classes.

We should be engaged with the teachers about what is working well, and what isn’t. This conversation should also expand to other higher-ranking schools in our area and keep an open dialogue on what has been successful for them.

From a fiscal standpoint, we have a current year budget of ~$46.4mm we have to maintain. Meanwhile, our state aid has been progressively cut in the last six years by over 50 percent.

Before thinking about cuts, my running mates and I want to find additional revenue streams for our district and be conservative on our bottom line while protecting our great teachers financially. We will keep the budget under the two percent increase cap and maintain our promise of fiscal responsibility.

What special qualifications do you bring to help meet the challenge?

I have been attending almost every board of education meeting for the past 3+ years, often speaking during public comment. I know how it operates and the issues our district faces. As a private credit investment analyst, I can leverage my financial modeling background to help keep us fiscally responsible.

Lastly, I know what it is like to walk the halls of these schools as a student and now as a father. Long Valley is a place my wife and I have called home for 34 years and I will always do what is right for the student, teacher, parent, and taxpayer.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?

Jennifer Ryan, Isabel Vieira, and I are running on the “Excellence In Education” ticket. Please visit our website at www.WTBOE23.com to learn a lot more about our campaign. Vote 4-5-6 on November 7th!

Patch is asking candidates to share their views on issues in Long Valley. Here are candidate Cynthia McConnell's answers:

Vianella Burns, Patch Staff

LONG VALLEY, NJ — Election Day is nearing, and Long Valley voters will soon head to the polls to cast their votes for three seats on the local school board.

Patch sent questionnaires to all candidates, seeking their responses. Here is the response from candidate Cynthia McConnell.

Editor's Note: Patch emailed all candidates at the email addresses listed for their campaigns in the clerk's office. The responses will be revealed between now and the general election on Nov. 7. These comments will be published with just minor stylistic changes. Candidates who wish to participate but did not receive an invitation should email [email protected].

Name: Cynthia McConnell

Age: 41

Find out what's happening in Long Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Town of residence: My husband and I both grew up in Chester and had a bunch of friends from Long Valley as kids. When we got married, we knew we wanted to settle down in Long Valley.

Family: My husband, Matt McConnell and I have two kids, Jessica and Brian McConnell, along with a dog and cats.

Education: I got my BS in Accounting Systems from Virginia Tech and my masters in IT Project Management from George Washington University.

Occupation: I'm an IT project manager and software designer. I take the details from our business partners and help them understand their needs so we can create websites to gather insurance applications easily from our customers (insurance agents and direct consumers). I then work with multiple teams of developers to break down the work and align everyone's efforts. I track the completion of the multiple teams and raise risks or dependencies as we identify them, and then find solutions to limit the risk or fully remove it.

Why are you seeking to run for school board?

I'm running for K-8 BoE in Washington Township because I want to make sure the board is focused on the education of our kids and raising our town's test scores while keeping our budget balanced. I've been seeing some on the board and running against myself who are more interested in trying to require teachers to tell parents if they find out a child mentions being LGBTQ.

This is not what our teachers need to be focusing on, and if passed, this can result in litigation for our town that will cause major financial repercussions for our budgets. It could also impact our property values if our town is seen as less than welcoming to marginalized groups. I want to make sure all our kids feel comfortable and safe in our schools and can focus on learning at school.

What according to you is the biggest issue facing the school district currently? How do you plan to tackle it?

The biggest challenge I see in our district is the need to focus on raising our student test scores rather than the noise happening in our BOE meetings around LGBTQ students. We know our test scores are dropping and while test scores are dropping in most places, that doesn't allow us to be complacent about it.

To me, it was obvious based on the number of questions we received at the BOE candidate public forum, held on October 10th. More people were focused on how many genders we believed in vs how we believed we could help get our test scores up and provide for the needs of our teachers and students. I want our BOE and teachers to work with other BOEs and teachers to understand what is working for them and where we can make some adjustments to help our students succeed.

What special qualifications do you bring to help meet the challenge?

As a project manager, I am used to asking questions, digging into the details and trying to identify the specifics of any issues. I'm very good at rephrasing things to get a point across to my coworkers, which can help everyone have a better understanding of the problem. These personality traits will be immensely helpful when we are working to break down various policies and determine the best way forward for our district.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?

I hope that everyone in this town takes the time to watch the question-and-answer session that was recorded last night and posted online. I believe it gives everyone a good sense of the two separate tickets running for the BOE, and what their supporters stand for. I'm hoping this town is ready and will vote for the school board to get back to the basics of making sure our kids get a quality education and that we are supporting our teachers and the needs of our administration within our budgets.

Patch is asking candidates to share their views on issues in Long Valley. Here are candidate Isabel Vieira's answers:

Vianella Burns, Patch Staff

LONG VALLEY, NJ — Election Day is nearing, and Long Valley voters will soon head to the polls to cast their votes for three seats on the local school board.

Patch sent questionnaires to all candidates, seeking their responses. Here is the response from candidate Isabel Vieira.

Editor's Note: Patch emailed all candidates at the email addresses listed for their campaigns in the clerk's office. The responses will be revealed between now and the general election on Nov. 7. These comments will be published with just minor stylistic changes. Candidates who wish to participate but did not receive an invitation should email [email protected].

Name: Isabel Vieira

Age: 54

Find out what's happening in Long Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Town of residence: Long Valley

Family: My husband and I have lived in Long Valley for over 20 years and have three children.

Education: I attended the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in Manhattan. I graduated with a major in international trade and marketing and a minor in buying and merchandising.

Occupation: I am a residential and commercial mortgage banker/lender. I have been in the mortgage financing industry for 30 years.

Previous or current elected appointed office: None.

Why are you seeking to run for the school board?

I am running for the Washington Township K-8 Board of Education because, as a parent, I am a firm believer that a teacher, educator, administrator or any employee of school district keeping anything from a parent (especially 5 - 13 year olds) is wrong. Nothing good ever comes of keeping parents in the dark - about anything. Parents and teachers should always work together and this collaboration will always inevitably be what is in the child's best interest.

I also want to work to ensure that our district's test scores and ranking go back to the higher numbers of prior years. Having a great school system is not only what parents want, but is the foundation of a desirable town. It ensures property values are maintained and what families seek among their top reasons when looking to move.

Being fiscally sound is also what has driven me to run for school board. Having a balanced budget amid the state's cuts is crucial to the performance of our school system and should be a concern for every taxpayer in town.

What, according to you, is the biggest issue facing the school district currently? How do you plan to tackle it?

The biggest issue is the test scores and how they've decreased over the last few years when compared to other districs. As I proposed in the Q&A session on Oct.10th, I want to explore ways to get those scores back up along with our district's rankings, without any material increase to our bottom line. For example, collaboration with Chester and Mendham school districts to discuss their successes and establish common curriculum by 8th grade, especially in ELA and math as Washington Township students in K-8 will eventually attend the same high school district. Having an alignment between school districts will help prepare our students for the next level and ensure they are not behind academically.

What special qualifications do you bring to help meet the challenge?

Working with an extremely diverse socio-economic client base for over 30 years, I am always thinking outside the box getting their loans to closing. Problem solving is part of my job, on all levels and aspects of their financing.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?

I would like to assure ALL voters that a vote for me, John Oldmixon and Jen Ryan is a vote protecting your parental rights - especially in K-8 grades where children are 5-13 years old. We did not seek public donations and our campaign is self-funded. No one tells us how to campaign, what to say, how to say it, what issues to discuss, designs our signs, etc.

Over the past few months we have been engaged with local parents and teachers to discuss their concerns and what is working well. Please visit our website at www.WTBOE23.com for more information about our campaign and remember to vote Oldmixon, Vieira, and Ryan on November 7th!