Thomas Casadonte*

Age: 44

Education: Graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Economics.

Occupation: President of Maritz Interactions Marketing (a division of Maritz, Inc.).

Family: Married with two children.

Background: A resident of Rutherford for over 30 years, Casadonte has served on the Board of Education since 2002. He was the vice president in 2006-2007 and he is currently the president. In the past he has chaired the policy, curriculum and instruction and buildings and grounds committees. He’s been a member of the PTA since 2001 and his youngest child currently attends Union School. He is a donor for the Rutherford High School Soccer Scholarship fund and has coached recreation soccer in Rutherford.

Anthony DeNicola

Age: 79

Education: Attended the David E. Rew School in Hoboken.

Occupation: Retired real estate salesman for Caldwell Banker in New York City.

Family: Father of four children with one grandson in the Rutherford school system.

Background: DeNicola is a veteran of the Korean War who served in the United States Army from 1951 to 1953. Before working as a real estate salesman, he was the director of finance and revenue for the city of Hoboken and the owner/general manager of the Union Club Catering Hall in Hoboken.

Diane M. Jones*

Age: 64

Education: Graduate of St. Mary’s High School with continuing education credits from New Jersey School Boards Association.

Occupation: Assistant in the Rutherford Public Library’s Children’s Department.

Family: Mother of four children, Michael, Chris, Jeanine and Brendan, all of whom graduated from Rutherford High School.

Background: A resident of Rutherford for over 60 years, Jones attended the Union School when she was a child. She has been a member of three P.T.A.’s and the R.H.S. All Sports Booster Club. She was a trustee of the Rutherford Public Library from 1988 to 1994 and served as a regional member to the Bergen County School Boards Association Executive Committee for three years.

Susan J. Muller

Age: 46

Education: Sales and work at L’Oreal.

Occupation: Bergen Community College and Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Family:

Background: Susan Muller grew up in Rutherford but moved to central New Jersey and then to Ohio in the late 80’s. In 2004 she moved back to Rutherford. She has been active in community service and as appointed to sit on the Youth Advisory Committee in town. She is a member of Grace Episcopal Church.

Gary Novosielski*

Age: 60

Education: Bachelors Degree from Montclair State University, Masters Degree work and secondary school science certification.

Occupation: Physics teacher in another district.

Family: Two sons.

Background: A resident of Rutherford since he was three years old except for three years right after he got married, Novosielski has served on the Board of Education since 1999. Both his children went through the Rutherford school system. He is a veteran and has in the past been chair of the finance, policy and curriculum and instruction committees. He is currently the board vice president.

Francisco Valente

Casadonte: I would not call it an improvement but would refer to our largest challenge being our future ability to continue functioning at a high educational level to support the children within our community. We are not looking to overhaul any major area but to maintain the quality and integrity of the education within the district and still stay at the forefront of innovation with state/federal mandates and caps.

DeNicola: The education in Rutherford is good, but we can’t continue going with this kind of spending… They get carried away with being the best, but being the best doesn’t mean spending the most. They’re trying to do a good job but they keep agreeing to do more than they can… They can’t keep spending at the rate that they’re spending. That’s why the mayor lost. You’ll have a great education, but the mother and father will be raving maniacs [because of the taxes.] You’ll have a lot of people leaving this town.

Jones: One of the biggest challenges we face is maintaining the quality programs we have in light of the new funding laws and restrictions which are impacting our district. We need to continue our annual curriculum updates and refine the course offerings in order to provide all of our students with the most rigorous program. Our focus on special education also remains a challenge as we are educating more children with disabilities especially children with autism.

Muller: I would like to see a pre-K program brought into Rutherford.

Novosielski: I think we have our schools in excellent position for the future, and there are certainly no current critical needs for improvement, but the danger, even in such an enviable situation, is complacency. Therefore, we are constantly monitoring our SAT and state test results, grades, graduation rates and the future plans of our students, to see that we don't fall behind. It takes a long time to build up a school system to the level we have in Rutherford, but only a short time to lose ground, if we don't pay close attention. We have seen it happen in other districts, and we have to remain vigilant.

One area that's always worth working on is communication with the public, to ensure they're fully informed about our schools and the way we spend their tax dollars. We've made a lot of progress since I first started, when meetings were not televised on cable TV, there was no Web site, and except for an occasional newsletter at budget time, it was difficult to get information. That has changed completely. Meetings are televised, the web contains information including our minutes, policy manuals, even videos and slide shows. We're also in discussions regarding the incoming (Verizon) fiber-optics network that is rolling out in the area.

Valente: No matter how well we do we could always improve in Science and Mathematics. We need these important subjects to compete around the world.

What do you hope to accomplish as a board member?

Casadonte: Continuing the high value education that has the community of Rutherford has become accustomed.

DeNicola: I hope to open the eyes of people in the city who don’t vote. I’d like to help people see what’s going on… There’s got to be a fresh point of view. Education-wise, [the schools] are very good. But sometimes you’re in love with the job, in love with the kids, but they spend money they don’t have. There are people with kids and people without kids and in order to keep them all happy we have to cut things a little bit.

Jones: We have an excellent school system and my goal is to see that it remains this way. We are close to New York City and we have many large homes with three, four and five bedrooms that are attractive to couples with young children. Senior citizens are not going to buy these homes. In order to keep our property values high we must see that our school system is well maintained and that we offer the best education possible that is within our budget constraints. I am also a member of the Bergen County School Boards Association Executive Committee and it is one of our goals to work with our state legislators to see that Bergen County residents get their fair share of state aid to our schools.

Muller: Bring attention to the budget, by focusing on getting a 3-5 year plan to include and forecast capital expenses. Our schools are old and need repairs, which at times are unexpected and become urgent. The Board needs to plan better for our future.

Novosielski: What I hope to do is continue the progress we've made, by ensuring that our Board remains thoughtful, knowledgable, respectful, agenda-free, politics-free and deserving of the high levels of trust that we have earned from the community. I will work for our continual review of our policies, curricula, text books and most importantly our teaching staff, to make sure that our students have everything and everyone they need (and we need them to have) for their success.

Valente: I hope to accomplish a balance between the taxpayer and the school administration. I will be the first to say a two to three percent school budget increase is normally very good. However our school budget has increased by approximately $8 million (in aggregate) during the past five years, that is nearly 28 percent. My fear is not this year, but next year. This year’s budget contains cost cuts that most likely will not be replicated next year (reduced debt payment, reduced maintenance expense, reduced purchases of supplies, etc…). If the union contract calls for a 4.6 percent salary increase in the next budget year and the state law now limits tax increases to four percent, how will we be able to comply with the law and still maintain our non-mandated programs?

Each year school taxes make up the largest part of the tax bill. What should be done to keep taxes as low as possible?

Casadonte: Continue our persistance to  plan from a tops down and bottoms up approach.  It allows us to review all aspects of the budget ensure we are scrutinizing for any unnecessary expenses and delivering the highest value education for the taxpayers dollar.

DeNicola: We should get a little help from the teachers. I don’t mean to discredit them, [but] if you think about it, who else has a [health] policy like theirs? Even congressmen don’t… I can’t afford champagne instead of Pepsi Cola… The people in this town are sleeping. They’re not watching the store. The taxpayers are alone in the battle and we have no one who watches out for this. You don’t have to spend all the time.

Jones: Rutherford does not have a large industrial base which would help shoulder the tax burden on our residents. We are responsible for education of approximately 2550 students and without this advantage we must continue to use our creative thinking, eliminate any unnecessary expenditures and only put forth budgets that meet the needs of our district, while still upholding our high educational standards. Creating additional classes for our increasingly number of autistic children so we can keep them in our district would help to ease the high tuition and transportation costs of these state mandated expenditures.

Muller: Controllable expenses. I understand that mandated items are increasing, but the taxpayers do not know how they are managed and what happens to the excess once it’s been used. Where does it go? Medical benefits. Perhaps, teachers and the administration should pay into their plans.

Novosielski: A board can never stop looking for every opportunity to save money and get the greatest value for every dollar spent.  This year we have managed to hold our increase to the lowest level in at least nine years, by doing just that. The greatest portion of our budget is salaries and benefits, simply because education is such a labor-intensive endeavor. Our successful win-win negotiations with all our bargaining units allowed us to save money on benefits, while still keeping in place an excellent package that lets us attract the best new teachers and keep our experienced staff from leaving.

We have low administrative overhead, we have combined departments under one supervisor where it made sense to do so, and have made excellent progress in keeping Special Education costs under control by keeping children with special needs in-district whenever possible. This saves on transportation and tuition costs, and is also much better for the students, giving them the advantage of attending school right here in Rutherford, with access to all the services, and extra-curricular opportunities, that a home-town school can offer.

Valente: We need to bring fiscal responsibility to the school budget. I very much want to protect the non-mandated items in the budget (sports, clubs, etc…). I believe that the only way we can do that in the future is to ensure that we are spending mandated items in the most effective manner possible.