CLERMONT –– Three seats are up for grabs on the Dennis Township Board of Education.
The deadline for filing nominating petitions to run for a position on the school board is 4 p.m. on March 2. The election is scheduled for April 21.
According to the board’s business office, those wishing to run for a seat can obtain a “School Board Candidate Kit” at the Dennis Township Board of Education, 601 Hagan Road. For more information, call (609) 861-2859, ext. 511.
The three, three-year positions are currently held by John Robertson and Blane Steinman and Mary Bittner. Mia DelCorio, of the board office, told the Herald that all three sitting members were issued candidate kits.
Bittner, the board’s newest member, is a local attorney who serves as municipal prosecutor for Wildwood and Dennis and Middle townships. She was appointed last year to fill a position vacated when board member Mark Rinkus resigned Feb. 27 citing a residency issue.
Bittner was chosen for the post over three other candidates: Louis Capuano, William Haryslak and Teri Calloway. Calloway also ran unsuccessfully against incumbents Russell Tozer, Sara Teefy and Christine Ostrander in the April 15 school elections last year.
Calloway told the Herald she does not intend to run for school board at this time.
Robertson, the board president, and Steinman, vice president, were elected to the board together in April 2003.
Last June, Robertson resigned from the board. However, his colleagues quickly reinstated him to his post in July. In a letter to the Herald’s editor, Larry Lapidus, a former board member, questioned the entity’s action of allowing Robertson to return.
“This action is not only highly irregular and unethical, it is probably illegal,” Lapidus wrote.
Despite these allegations, under Robertson’s leadership, the board has been successful in recent years. Voters in the district have passed the school budget in each of the last two elections after having defeated it the previous five years.
Last year, the board and district were also given the highest marks possible in the state monitoring and evaluation system for public schools, the Quality Single Accountability Continuum (QSAC) program.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com
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