Thomas Cox, Jr.*

Age: 39

Education: Graduate of the Carlstadt public school system and Becton Regional High School. Received an associate’s degree from Bergen County Community College and bachelor’s degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is currently enrolled at Fairleigh Dickinson University, pursuing a master’s degree.

Occupation: Police sergeant with the Carlstadt Police Department.

Family: Married with a four-year-old son and two-year-old daughter.

Background: A resident of Carlstadt for 33 years, he is seeking his second term on the board after serving for the past three years. He is a trustee at Berry Lawn Cemetery and chairman of the Carlstadt Municipal Alliance.

Donald Diorio

Age: 59

Education: Received his bachelor’s in business administration at Montclair State University.

Occupation: President/owner of Concierge Services Group, LLC in Carlstadt.

Family: Brother Dan, sister-in-law Christine and two nieces, Danielle and Ashley.

Background: A resident of Carlstadt for 10 years, he was a 2007 candidate for District 36 in the New Jersey state assembly race. He is a current member of the Carlstadt zoning board. He is a current member of the board of directors and vice president of education for the Greater New York Chapter of Meeting Professionals International. He was recently elected to the 2008-09 board of directors and vice president of finance for the same organization.

Allison Forys*

Age: 41

Education: Graduate of Becton Regional High School and of Berkeley Secretarial School in Ridgewood.

Occupation: Purchasing agent at Weir Welding Co., Inc. in Carlstadt.

Family: Married to husband Roy. Have 13-year-old daughter Erika and 11-year-old son Roy, Jr.

Background: Having served six years as a member of the board, she is seeking her third consecutive term. Currently, she is working with the eighth grade Dance Committee and is a strong supporter of her children’s sports and activities: football, cheering, softball, wrestling, theater and baseball.

Carl Hafner

Age: 82

Education: Graduate of William L. Dickinson High School in Jersey City.

Occupation: Worked for Public Service for 42 years before retiring 17 years ago.

Family: Married with two sons.

Background: Has been a resident of Carlstadt for 54 years and was a former board of education member, a tenure that lasted 36 years.

There has been a gradual increased enrollment in the district, leading to a need for a higher budget and more taxes. How do you plan to support more children while trying to ease the burden on taxpayers?

Cox: One of my plans is to work closely with the administration in order to provide the students an educational program that meets the needs of all children. These needs are to be accomplished without losing sight of the financial burden placed upon the taxpayers. New strategies including further investigation of shared services may need to be explored. Also, additional ways of funding certain programs may need to be investigated.

Diorio: That is the age-old question: How do we continue to provide for a high-quality educational experience while maintaining reasonable tax assessments to our taxpayers? This initiative can be realized if we approach the challenge by practicing simple tried and true business strategies. For example, more emphasis must be placed on investigating "shared services opportunities". This logic should cross all lines within government so we can take advantage of already available opportunities, i.e. utilizing Becton Regional's transportation service for our special education students, concentrating the buying power of school districts and municipalities so everyone can take advantage of volume discounts and soliciting the services of grant writing professionals who may be able to secure more and larger grants, which can be utilized to pay for services, special projects and equipment and supplies. Also, negotiating in good faith with our employees to identify economies in health care costs without sacrificing benefits. These are just a few of the strategies, which we may employ to remedy this challenge. This will of course require that we more or less break the mold and take the lead in designing and implementing a philosophy and a practice that will support these initiatives.

Forys: We have been fortunate to have maintained smaller class sizes so gradual increases would not necessarily require a higher budget. We can maintain the quality of education that we carry now, with rounding up our class sizes to accommodate additional students.

Hafner: I think the school should be able to handle it, they have the capacity to handle that easy. As for the budget goes, everything is going up. You name it, it’s going up. I’ve always been an advocate for the kids, but also had my eyes on the budget. I want to stay within budget. It takes a lot of work and a lot of time, but someone’s got to do it.

The new school is up and operational, having been used for one complete school year. With such a state-of-the-art facility, do you have any ideas how you would maximize its potential for optimum education?

Cox: I believe our excellent staff is fully aware of the educational potential that our new facility can provide. New and continued professional development and board of education support for programs that enhance or improve existing programs is essential. Community, school staff and board of education need to collaborate in order to maximize the educational potential of this fine facility.

Diorio: Yes, it is correct when the Carlstadt grammar school is characterized as a "State-of-the-Art Facility". We have the latest and greatest teaching and learning tools available, which are affordable for our district. Currently, we have an enrollment of approximately 580 students. We can accommodate a maximum of 625-650. This of course is contingent on class size. So, we are prepared for moderate growth. I believe that the key here is to make certain that one: we fully utilize these leading edge tools and two, that we continually improve upon all that we have in place and three, that we maintain the learning environment, our physical plant. The environment is another critical component that must be well maintained. What does this mean? Simply put, this means that our teaching staff must apply the technology that is in place as they do currently, keep pace with the latest tried and true applications as they apply to the classroom and that we always provide our teachers with all of the technical training and professional growth training they require so they have the tools that they need personally to apply these technologies. Our teachers are obviously critical to the learning process and they should be regarded as such.

Forys: We are very proud to be a state-of-the-art facility and the educational potentials are unlimited. Each classroom is equipped with a smart board, flat screen TV, which is cable ready. The children can view homework assignments from their teacher’s e-board page. Parents can correspond directly to their children’s teachers with e-mail all managed through our school’s Web site. So to maximize the potential for optimum education we need to keep moving forward with the technology that comes available and Carlstadt Public School continues to do that every day.

Hafner: You have to get information and research it. I do have some questions if I get on the board that I want to get involved in. I don’t want to project anything now, but there will be one or two questions I will ask to the rest of the board.

As Stephen Kollinok moves to superintendent, the search will be on for a new principal. What are the qualities that you're looking for in a new principal to lead the school?

Cox: We are looking for an individual who will be a strong communicator with the parents, students, staff and community. The individual will be part of a new administration team and I know Superintendent Kollinok is also looking forward to collaborating with an individual who is child oriented, fair, honest and willing to play an important role in moving the district in a direction that will benefit both the school district and community at large.

Diorio: In addition to our teachers, we always look to the school principal for leadership. He or she must be someone who truly understands the role of a school principal, someone who knows teaching and learning from the students’ perspective and from the teachers’ perspective. So, someone who possesses past classroom experience would be a plus. We will also seek a person who possesses excellent organizational skills, interpersonal skills and who has a real sense for what the future may hold for the teaching profession. And finally, our new principal must also understand the parents’ position as the father or mother or guardian of the child whom he/she is responsible for on a daily basis. This is not a one-dimensional function. The teacher, student, parent and principal make up the whole and the leader must understand this and be able to view the learning experience from this perspective. We all play a role.

Forys: I would be looking for a candidate that understands the needs of a small district, but can continue to move forward in a large way. There are everyday challenges from being a disciplinarian to a friendly face in the hallways. I would be looking for a strong, determined and confident individual person to lead our district.

Hafner: You have to be certified and you have to be experienced. There are questions you ask when you have a candidate and then a board that asks 10 different ones, but in my experiences, something always seems to click and you finally pick someone that everyone agrees on. It seems like all of a sudden, everyone says ‘he’s the one we oughta try’.