Schools

BOE Candidate: Emily Smith

Smith is one of seven candidates running for the Bloomfield Board of Education

Editor's note: Emily Smith is one of seven candidates vying for three spots on the Bloomfield Board of Education (BOE) in the April 27 election. Bloomfield Patch will be profiling each candidate by alphabetical order every day leading up to the April 20 in the Bloomfield High School auditorium.

Below is Smith's biographical information and candidate statement.

EMILY SMITH – LINE 2A

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FAMILY
Husband Larry W. Daughters Rosalie 13, and Nina, 9. Rosalie is an eighth grader at Bloomfield Middle School, Nina is a third grader at Fairview Elementary.

YEARS IN TOWNSHIP
12

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ORGANIZATIONS/CLUBS

Former BOE member, 2005-2008. Fairview H&S since 2004. Treasurer 2008-09.

OCCUPATION
After two layoffs in three years, I am enjoying spending time with my family on a full-time basis for the first time in more than a decade. My professional experience is in publishing and corporate communications.

STATEMENT
I decided to run for the Board of Education because I think the BOE needs to focus more constructively on educating children. Four schools in failure and district moral at an all-time low is a strong indication that the BOE has gotten off track. To get our district moving in the right direction, our new superintendent will need to work with people who have a professional mindset. The superintendent in particular and the district in general will be best served by BOE members who know how to listen, how to compromise, and who can come up with viable solutions.

When I was first elected to the BOE in 2005, my years as a daily newspaper reporter and as a corporate manager provided a solid foundation on which to build teamwork, trust, and community support as my fellow BOE members and I worked to solve district challenges. Asking the right questions, attentive listening, open discussion, and out-of-the-box thinking proved to be just as essential for BOE members to deliver positive results as they were to succeeding as a reporter and corporate manager.

Settling the teacher contracts in 2007 in a relatively short time was among our achievements. (I served on the negotiations committee.) Working with a new superintendent to raise test scores was another. By 2008, Bloomfield’s placement in New Jersey Monthly’s biannual ranking of public schools rose from 225 to 181. Our ranking has since dropped down to 226.

Our schools are facing serious challenges on both a state and local level. By the State’s own formula, Bloomfield is currently $12 million underfunded. This despite the fact that we have a high percentage of economically disadvantaged and mobile students But every time I visit our schools, as I have done many times over the past few weeks, I am elated by the energy I feel in each one. Students, teachers and administrators are hard at work, as if every problem can be solved. I choose to be like them; believing that if the residents of Bloomfield pull together, we not only can but will raise the educational bar.

My successes as a corporate manager included finding ways to improve quality while saving money. If elected to serve on the BOE, improving the education of Bloomfield students while saving money would be among my goals. Restoring credibility and integrity to the BOE would also be my list of top priorities.


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