New candidates enters Hamilton school board race

HAMILTON » Nine candidates are running for Hamilton school board this year after an additional candidate corrected a filing snafu to appear on November’s ballot.

Angelo Hall, executive director of the nonprofit John O. Wilson Hamilton Neighborhood Service Center, is running in the Nov. 6 school board election and will appear in the first ballot position — a coveted placement for someone who had to scramble to resurrect his nominating petition.

When the initial list of certified candidates emerged last month, Hall’s name did not appear on that list due to a filing snag that needed to be addressed, according to Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami-Covello.

“Mr. Hall filed his petition in a timely manner and under the law he had two days to correct a deficiency in his petition, and he made that correction,” Sollami Covello told The Trentonian via email. “He was then immediately added to the certified list.”

Hall, of South Broad Street, previously ran unsuccessfully for school board last year. He will face off against eight other candidates this year, including two incumbents who are seeking re-election.

Three of the nine candidates — Richard C. Crockett III, Cynthia A. Simon and Sherry Morency — are running on a bracketed slate under the guidance of their campaign manager David Henderson.

“I’m impressed with the commitment the three of them have working with the students of Hamilton Township,” Henderson said of Crockett, Simon and Morency. “They are friends of mine. From what I know of them and the atmosphere, I think it makes sense. I am confident in their vision individually for a better school board and collectively.”

Henderson is a political strategist and retired engineering services expert. He is also one of the most vocal critics of the Hamilton Mayor Kelly Yaede administration. In terms of his interest in school board politics, Henderson said he has “no confidence” in the current Hamilton Township Board of Education but admits he has close ties with current school board member Anthony Celentano, who will be up for re-election next year.

Henderson and Celentano recently teamed up and supported a failed effort to build a new charter school in Hamilton Township. Former Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s administration shot down the proposal that would have built Theresa M. Fredericks STEAM Academy Charter School at 1722 Whitehorse-Mercerville Road in time for the 2017-18 schoolyear.

“I don’t know why our charter school application was rejected,” Henderson said of his vision to provide students with an elite education in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. “I thought it was a no-brainer.”

The so-called STEAM school would have provided a specialized education, offering a curriculum and instruction currently unavailable within the Hamilton Township School District, Henderson said, adding the STEAM design would have supplemented the district’s public school system.

“I think charter schools are the best vehicle to address those specialized educational needs” in areas such as performing arts, engineering and chemistry, he said. “I tried to point that STEAM charter school application in the direction to not compete with the school district.”

Henderson and Celentano both played a role in the founding of Pace Charter School of Hamilton, which opened in 1999, but Henderson says he has not discussed charter schools with Crockett, Simon or Morency, who will each appear as a vertically stacked slate on the November ballot.

Other certified candidates on the ballot include incumbent school board members Richard Kanka and Dr. Susan Ferrara and challengers Girard A. Casale, Janna Sheiman and Chandler Georgiou.

Kanka has served on the school board since 2009 and is seeking re-election to a fourth term. Ferrara is hoping to get re-elected to

a second term. Both Kanka and Ferrara have played a role in hiring Hamilton Schools Superintendent Scott Rocco last year, and both incumbents have also voiced opposition to charter school expansion.

At least one new school board member will be elected to the Hamilton Township Board of Education this year, for incumbent board member Michelle Episcopo is not seeking reelection to a second term.

Challenger backgrounds

• Crockett, a longtime engineering technician with the New Jersey Department of Transportation, is a married father of two. Crockett Middle School was named after his grandfather. A 1986 graduate of Steinert High School, Crockett said his main priority will be “student and school safety” if he wins election this fall. “Safe, clean and operational schools are absolutely necessary to give our children the best environment possible to foster learning,” Crockett said in a written statement. “It is up to us to ensure that all teachers and students are safe and comfortable in their learning environment.”

• Simon is a 1986 Nottingham High School graduate, a mother of two and a longtime employee of Educational Testing Service, a Lawrence Township-based nonprofit better known as ETS that develops standardized tests measuring college readiness. If elected to the school board, she said her focus will be on fiscal responsibility, transparency and student outcomes. “Our community deserves us to be fully transparent on how their tax dollars are spent,” Simon said in a written statement. “We need to have more open discussion on forecast budget and actual expenditures. Are we spending discretionary our funds wisely? How can we improve the infrastructure and curriculum without raising taxes every year?” • Morency, a married mother of four, is a lifelong Hamilton resident who jointly owns Morency Realty Investment Group, AVT Holding Co. and Innercity Redevelopment Specialists of Mercer County with her husband. “I have made the decision to run for the Hamilton Township school board to guarantee equal access for all students to participate in school-related programs in each of the district’s schools,” Morency said in a written statement. “I want to be closely involved in ensuring that the drug and suicide selfawareness programs are continued and built upon in the Hamilton School District.” • Casale ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2016 and 2017 but hopes to break through this time around, running on the slogan “Now’s the time.” He says “change is needed” on the school board and promises to “shake things up” if elected. He describes the current board as “incompetent.” • Sheiman is a legal expert and active Hamilton Township Democratic Committee member. She is a graduate of the University of Miami and New York Law School. • Georgiou is a Rutgers University student who graduated from Steinert High School two years ago. His candidacy as a college student seeking to make the Hamilton Township public school system better is comparable to former school board member Christopher Scales and current Hamilton school board member Cameron Cardinale, who also attends Rutgers. • Hall was a longtime New Jersey state worker but nowadays assists disadvantaged and struggling families as the head honcho of the Wilson Center in Hamilton. Henderson, the manager of the Crockett, Simon and Morency slate, hinted he may file another charter school application in the future focused on providing a STEAM-oriented education in Hamilton Township. It could be difficult for charter school expansion to occur in Hamilton anytime soon, partly because Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration is reviewing the state’s charter school law in a way that may stifle charter expansion, but also because the Hamilton Board of Education passed a new bylaw last year that puts the board in better position to be immediately aware of any pending charter school applications. The majority of the school board members had no clue that Celentano was working behind the scenes to build a new charter school in Hamilton until after The Trentonian reported on the state’s decision to reject the proposed Fredericks STEAM Academy Charter School. The Christie administration shot down the proposal, saying the ambitious application failed to meet “the minimum requirements” of a qualified applicant. The new 2017 bylaw gives the school board a framework to potentially express timely opposition whenever an outside party files an application seeking to open a charter school in this 40-squaremile township. The bylaw also requires any Hamilton school board member to immediately resign if he or she accepts an appointment to serve as a trustee of a charter school that is located within the Hamilton Township School District or for which Hamilton Township School District students shall be eligible for enrollment. School board members Kanka and Ferrara voted for the new bylaw, which passed in a narrow 5-3 vote in March 2017. All charter schools in New Jersey are public institutions that receive taxpayer funding, but it is increasingly difficult for outside groups to open new charter schools in the Garden State due to high capital costs associated with building, expanding, acquiring or operating a facility suitable for academic instruction along with the high expectations that require applicants to submit clear and convincing proof that their proposed charter school would deliver a high-quality education in order to receive state approval.