Bernards Township School Board Election 2024: Robin McKeon
BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Bernards Township's general election on Nov. 7 has five candidates running for three open seats for the Board of Education.
Robin McKeon is running for one of the three, three-year seats along with Michael Talbot and Brett Omelianuk. Opposing candidates include Yijia Liu and Pankhoori Agarwal Gupta.
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Robin McKeon
Why are you seeking election for the Board of Education?
I am passionate about education and want to ensure that our district continues to provide for all children in our community the amazing academic and extra-curricular opportunities that our children have benefitted from.
This past spring the Board wrestled with a large deficit in revenue during the budget process. How do you plan to address this in the coming years' budgets?
The board needs to return to the stable long-range budget planning that we have followed prior to the past two years. We need to carefully invest in our school district by keeping the tax impact stable while making sure we build the capital reserves so we can maintain our facilities and qualify grants. We need to pursue grant money and programs that save us money, such as ROD grants, Direct Instal, prescription rebates, and shared services, and maximize the interest earned on our investments.
The district recently switched to triple-tiered bussing to address transportation issues. How do you feel about this change?
Although the change was difficult for many families and staff members, overall in the long run I think this was a very good thing to do. Research shows that a later start time for high school students is extremely beneficial. In addition, triple bus tiers make our district more appealing to bus companies. This allowed us more success in bidding our routes and resulted in significant cost savings ($1.3 million of savings this year).
A recent facilities condition assessment in May found that the district may need in excess of $35 million for repairs and upkeep of school buildings. How do you feel about the current state of the school buildings?
As expected with older buildings, maintenance and upkeep is very expensive. In addition to aging buildings, there are costs associated with the turf field, track, and other athletic fields. Over the years the district has maintained significant capital and maintenance reserves so that when large projects emerge, we can fund them and also qualify for grants that require that the district have the matching funds.
What other issues would you like to tackle if elected to the Board of Ed?
I would like to continue to focus on the impact of technology and social media on our kids and work together with families to address this. I would also like to continue to focus on equity and inclusion and bring our community together to support our children and our school district.
What sets you apart from the challenging candidates?
My experience as a 15 year veteran on the Board of Education member and my institutional knowledge about the school district set me apart. I have served 5 times as board president and 3 times as vice president.
I have served on and chaired all the Board committees. In addition, my academic research on educational policy and K-12 leadership helps me be a more effective board member.
Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself or your campaign?
Boards of education are non-partisan. I will continue to fight to make sure our board is not making decisions based on personal ideologies or politically motivated agendas. I will continue to collaborate to bring our board and our community together and will strongly encourage the board to take advantage of training available from NJSBA to learn about how to be a more effective board.
