School Board Incumbents Borger, McHugh and Levins Issue Joint Statement Asking for your Support in the Upcoming November Election
Monday, October 20, 2014
GLOUCESTER CITY NJ--Gloucester City School Board incumbents Jacqueline Borger, Kathleen McHugh and Gina Levins issued the following joint statement todayexplaining why they are running for re-election on the November 4 ballot.
It reads as follows:
One of the basic roles of a school board member is to oversee the spending of school funds. Each of us has chaired committees to ensure that wise spending occurs so that our children are supplied with the tools necessary to compete in the ever-changing world today. Newly innovative programs have been introduced under our watch; programs such as college ready on-line classes and after school activities, including tutoring, robotics and Legomania. They certainly play an important role for the children and the parents of this community. We, as active school board members, have also ensured our constituents that the right people are placed in the right positions to oversee these programs.
Also, with the new school on the horizon, some questions have come into play. As incumbents, we are informed and should be prepared to answer. One that has been heard quite frequently is: Why the need for a new school? All residents are well aware that Mary Ethel Costello School is over 100 years old. To their credit, the staff has maintained this building to the point that it has a façade of adequacy. When the cost to maintain something becomes close to the cost of replacing it, than the latter is the appropriate choice. For the past ten years, we have been working closely with the State to acquire the funds for the new school. The economy, unfortunately, did not work with us, until now. The State has given the “nod” and so we have been working on fulfilling this need. We would hope that the voters of this city would allow the incumbents to continue to see this through to its completion.
Another question is: With the new school, will we be bussing in children from other districts? This answer is NO! Despite what you may have heard in the past, we, as a board, have never considered accepting “school choice” as an option. We need a new school to house the children that we now have. Currently, Cold Springs School houses 800 children. In 2 years, if plans go as expected, a large portion of these children will be moving to a new school that has prepared space for them.
We attend meetings. After all, that’s what we were elected to do. We are informed, and our decisions reflect this. Sometimes the decisions that we make are tough, but they are never without careful consideration. The time and dedication that we have invested into this Board has certainly been to the benefit of the residents of Gloucester City. We hope that you re-elect Kathy McHugh, Gina Levins, and Jacqueline Borger to the Gloucester City School Board.
Thank you to all the residents of Gloucester City for your continued support.