BOE Incumbents Run Unopposed

Four incumbent school board members are running unopposed for four available terms in an election that will be held next Wednesday. A referendum on the school district’s operating budget will also be on the ballot.

The $31.9 million budget comes with a 2-percent increase to Haddonfield taxpayers, the maximum allowed under a new state-mandated cap.

This means residents with a home valued at the borough average of $491,000 will pay an additional $140 in school taxes annually. The typical homeower paid $7,000 annually in school taxes last year. The new tax rate, if the budget is approved, will be $1.44 per $100 of assessed property value, a 2-cent increase.

The four board members running for reelection, Drew Hansen, Dennis Kelleher, Glenn Moramarco and Heather Paoli, all voted for the budget, as did the other five board members.

Haddonfield Patch asked the candidates to individually answer five questions for Q&A profiles of each.  The candidates decided instead to submit a group statement about topics other than the list of questions we asked them to answer.

Candidate Heather Paoli answered two of the five questions we submitted and Drew Hansen  provided a personal statement.  Their answers will be featured as quotes. Patch gathered other information about the candidates independently. 

 Here is their profile information:

• Drew Hansen: 41, a 1987 graduate of Haddonfield Memorial High School; current president of the Haddonfield Alumni Society; works for Cardinal Health; appointed to a board spot in 2007, ran in 2008 and won.
•  Dennis Kelleher: b. 1948, retired from John Maneely Company (now JMC Steel Group), a leading manufacturer of welded steel pipe; an executive advisory council member for the Rutgers School of Business in Camden; Facebook account shows no college degree, but graduate of Girard College High School, joined board in 2008.
•  Glenn Moramarco: 52, has two children in local public schools; assistant U.S. Attorney in Camden; graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, holds master's in philosophy, political science and economy from Oxford University in England and a law degree from Yale; was a member of the 2007 Haddonfield group known as SOS—Save Our Schools—organized to petition the commissioners to vote yes and overturn a defeated school budget (the only district that failed in the state in 2007), won board slot in 2008.
•  Heather Paoli: no age provided, 1994 Fulbright Scholar while studying at the University of Munich; dual MBA from Wharton in marketing and finance; worked for Vanguard, Commerce and Accenture in the past; now a homemaker with children ages 4 and 6; sees self long-term on the BOE; member of the Haddonfield Junior Women’s Club, a Girl Scout daisy troop leader, NewComer’s Club member and school volunteer (reading helper volunteer, book fair volunteer, Tatem parking task force member); room parent and soccer coach; appointed to the board last year to an unexpired term.

Hansen, Moramarco and Paoli are running for full, three-year terms and Kelleher is running for an unexpired, one-year term.  Board member are not paid and receive no other compensation.

“When I decided to be a stay-at-home-mom, I envisioned myself contributing to and being active in my community and my children’s schools,” Paoli said. “In 2008, neighbors of mine were concerned about class size projections and they got me involved in a grassroots group that went door-to-door in Haddonfield collecting census information to make better class-size projections. Because of that experience, I started regularly attending BOE meetings.”

Hansen said he wants to ensure borough school students get the same quality of education he had coming through the district.

“I want to ensure we deliver the same educational experience to the children of Haddonfield that I was given almost 25 years ago,” he said. “I am running to ensure we find solutions to the complex financial and educational pressures we face.

“We have a tradition in Haddonfield of high quality public education, and that is part of the rich fabric of our town. Maintaining this advantage is important to me. With that said, it would be unfair not to recognize that some of our citizens are really struggling financially.”

The joint statement echoed Hansen and Paoli’s concerns.

“The board has taken great strides to protect essential classroom teaching functions, but with the recent cuts in state aid, many things, including administrative personnel, extra pay for additional responsibilities, and various program features, have been sharply reduced,” according to the joint statement written by Moramarco.

“Our ability to effectively deliver services, and more importantly, our ability to innovate and improve, depends on our ability to retain top administrative and teaching staff. It is an ongoing challenge to try not only to tread water and maintain what we have, but also to improve offerings, both academic and extracurricular, in these tough budgetary times.”