Four vie for three seats on L.B. BOE

Four vie for three seats on L.B. BOE
Need for change, test scores among issues cited
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH — Three incumbents and one newcomer are vying to secure one of the three open seats on the Long Branch Board of Education in the April 20 election.

Newcomer Tara Beams is looking to unseat one of the board’s incumbents. Avery Grant, Michele Critelli and Armand R. Zambrano Jr. are seeking re-election.

Beams explained her reasons for running for a board seat in an interview last week.

“My daughter goes to school in the district, and I just want to make sure she is getting the best education possible,” she said. “I think this is the best way to take that role and be more proactive in your child’s education.

“I think it is time for some new voices, and I want to give back to the community and build a more positive image.”

Beams explained that she thinks the district currently has a negative image.

“There is a lot of criticism and a lot of people make a lot of assumptions and they criticize, but nobody wants to step in and do anything about it,” Beams said.

With the state cutting aid to districts across the state, Beams said that important decisions will have to be made in the coming years.

“I also think it is a really important time in education,” she said. “There are a lot of changes that will be coming down the pike as far as education funding. I’d like to have a voice and monitor the decisions that are being made.”

Beams is currently a high school teacher in Sayreville, but also previously worked in the private sector and said she understands both sides of the educational funding issue.

“Being a teacher and being in a district that has had a large portion of their state funding cut, I think it is a scary time for education,” she said. “I have also worked in the private sector, so I see the arguments that are going back and forth.”

Beams explained that if cuts are going to be made, they should be made with the students in mind.

“Whatever cuts are being made need to be in the best interests of the kids and need to be from the top down,” she said. “The most important thing is that the most amount of money needs to be spent on the students.”

Beams also said that cuts being made should not be made to penalize educators.

“Do I think that the teachers and the administrators need to feel penalized in some way? Absolutely not,” she said.

Beams has lived in Long Branch for six years and was previously a teacher in the district. She has a 3-year-old daughter in the district.

Grant has served on the board for the previous 12 years and explained some of the things he would like to see happen going forward.

“I’d like to see standardized test performance continue to improve,” he said. “I am still looking to have a swimming program implemented.

“Living at the Shore, we need to learn how to swim,” he added. “I want it so the community can use the facilities.

“We need to improve how we indicate the performance of our students.”

Grant said that one of things that has improved drastically during his time on the board has been the academic performance of Long Branch student-athletes.

“That was the initial reason I got on the school board,” he said. “Our athletes were being used as athletes but not being educated as well as they should.

“That has been coming around quite a bit.”G

rant was also proud that the district was able to save more than $2 million by switching to the state’s health insurance plan.

Grant explained that the state of educational funding is somewhat uncertain, but he expects the district to be able to handle any changes.

“I don’t know what is going to happen in 2012, but right now we are able to weather the storm,” he said. “We don’t know what the governor is going to do, but he is really pushing to get wage freezes.”

Grant said he supports some of Gov. Chris Christie’s ideas.

“He pushed for having 1.5 percent contributions [by school district employees] to the health plan, and I think really we need to do that,” he said. “That is something that should be mandated immediately.”

Grant said that he recently became aware that honor roll students in Long Branch have not performed well on the state’s standardized tests.

“The thing that really concerned me was the honor roll students were not passing the state’s standardized test,” he said.

Grant is retired and has lived in the city since 1967. He is also the executive director of the Long Branch Concerned Citizens Coalition and has a granddaughter in the Long Branch school system.

Zambrano declined to comment for this article, and Critelli could not be reached for comment.

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.




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