By MADDY VITALE
The Ocean City School Board election is Tuesday, and it is a hotly contested race with three seats up and seven candidates running.
Incumbents Cecilia Gallelli-Keyes and Robin Shaffer hope to retain their seats. The other candidates are Michael Allegretto, Steve Flogaus, Corey Niemiec, Jocelyn Palaganas and Kevin Schaffer. Longtime Board of Education member Joe Clark did not seek re-election.
Gallelli-Keyes, who has been on the board since 2014, is running on the platform of “Leadership, Trust, Dependability.” Shaffer, who filled a one-year unexpired term in January, is running on a slate of “Conservative Family Values,” along with running mates Flogaus and Schaffer. And Allegretto, Palaganas and Niemiec are running on the platform of “Traditional Family Values.”
Gallelli-Keyes, Shaffer, Schaffer and Flogaus answered questions during a candidates’ forum on Oct. 23.
Allegretto, Palaganas and Niemiec answered the same questions for OCNJDaily.com via email since they could not attend the forum due to other commitments.
Here are the candidates in alphabetical order and their answers to major questions in the race.
Michael Allegretto:
Why are you running for school board?
As a lifelong resident of Ocean City, I want to protect and promote the core family values held by our community. I have a proven track record as an elected official of listening to the taxpayers and working to implement policies which best reflect the majority of our citizens. I have previously served on the school board, and have experienced developing a responsible budget for the taxpayers that will fund the best educational opportunities for our students, in hiring a qualified and committed district leader, and in uniting a school board to focus on providing the best educational experiences for our students.
What are your thoughts about the revised health and sex curriculum standards and Ocean City’s policy on transgender students?
Allegretto and his running mates answered this question as a group: As a group, we are united in our belief that these are complicated policies with so many layers that protect all students. We believe every student should feel safe and supported in Ocean City Schools and to that end we support policies to protect our children’s health and safety in school. Our goal is to help parents and children navigate our new world and its increasing challenges.
We will remain open to discussion with stakeholder groups regarding age-appropriate education for our children. We think we should focus our energy on hiring the right Superintendent who will lead us in applying these policies in our district with sensitivity and respect for our community’s values.
Steve Flogaus:
Why are you running for School Board?
He focused on his friend, Tom Oves, an Ocean City school board member who passed away.
I had a lifetime friend, Tom Oves. He was my best friend. We used to talk about school board issues all of the time and after he died, I said that when I had the opportunity I would take his place and that is what I want to do, extend the legacy of Tom Oves.
What are your thoughts about the revised health and sex curriculum standards and Ocean City’s policy on transgender students?
I have an autistic daughter in IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and she could very well have not been diagnosed and gone through the school system and been completely forgotten and slip through the cracks. I think we should do that with transgender and gender-confused. Get them a medical note and get them IEP and get them the individual attention that they need. As far as you not telling the parents, I am totally against that. If they are minors, you have to tell them.
Cecilia Gallelli-Keyes:
Why are you running for School Board?
I started doing this almost 11 years ago and before that, I was hands-on as a PTA president for four years.
I zoned in on a niche and said, I’m going to have a million events for the kids. At the time, teachers were missing Smart Boards. I provided funds. I was the only woman going up for the position and I was so nervous and here I was voted in and from that point on I’ve loved it. I’ve had hands-on in every committee. I was the head of the School Choice committee.
In addition, Gallelli-Keyes said her two sons went through the Ocean City school system and are both working to become teachers. She also has a fourth grader in the district and nephew in the eighth grade.
She also noted that she brings a lot of business experience to the table and she loves the community.
What are your thoughts about the revised health and sex curriculum standards and Ocean City’s policy on transgender students?
Do I agree they should all be in the same locker room? No, absolutely not. Should they be part of a sport changing (their clothes)? No. Should they be in the same bathroom? Absolutely not. But we do have to make room for them. We do have to make sense of them being part of our lives. They have rights. Should parents know what is going on? Yes.
Corey Niemiec:
Why are you running for School Board?
Having grown up in the Ocean City area, I want to ensure the Ocean City School District remains a leader in academics and is able to attract and retain top educators. I believe every student is entitled to a well-balanced education. I am committed to unifying the Board of Education to move forward and focus on providing outstanding education for our children. I also want to protect parental rights to ensure the doors of communication remain open.
As I hope to grow and raise my family here, I want this school district to have the best educational resources and provide our students with state-of-the-art technology in this ever-changing world.
What are your thoughts about the revised health and sex curriculum standards and Ocean City’s policy on transgender students?
As a group, we are united in our belief that these are complicated policies with so many layers that protect all students. We believe every student should feel safe and supported in Ocean City Schools and to that end we support policies to protect our children’s health and safety in school. Our goal is to help parents and children navigate our new world and its increasing challenges. We will remain open to discussion with stakeholder groups regarding age-appropriate education for our children. We think we should focus our energy on hiring the right Superintendent who will lead us in applying these policies in our district with sensitivity and respect for our community’s values.
Jocelyn Palaganas:
Why are you running for school board?
As a parent of one Ocean City High School graduate and a current high school student, I am committed to bringing our parents’ voices into the schools in a thoughtful and collaborative way. I served as president of the Ocean City PTA for the last 10 years and throughout that time, I built relationships with all those who work in our schools.
We need to get back to the basics and focus on improving our children’s educational experience, test scores, creating more opportunities for them to succeed both in school and after school.
I will empower our parents and teachers to work towards the shared goal of making our students the best. We need to shape an education that teaches our children values like honesty and integrity, raising them to be good citizens, encouraging them to innovate and giving them freedom to learn. I think more effort can be made to keep politics out of the school board and focus on what we all agree to make this town America’s Greatest Family Resort.
What are your thoughts about the revised health and sex curriculum standards and Ocean City’s policy on transgender students?
As a group, we are united in our belief that these are complicated policies with so many layers that protect all students. We believe every student should feel safe and supported in Ocean City Schools and to that end we support policies to protect our children’s health and safety in school. Our goal is to help parents and children navigate our new world and its increasing challenges. We will remain open to discussion with stakeholder groups regarding age-appropriate education for our children. We think we should focus our energy on hiring the right Superintendent who will lead us in applying these policies in our district with sensitivity and respect for our community’s values.
Robin Shaffer:
Why are you running for School Board?
I stepped up and decided I wanted to serve on the school board and help because I saw things drifting in a direction that I didn’t like. I didn’t like seeing what the state of New Jersey was doing to local school districts in taking away home rule.
I stepped up and decided I want to serve on the school board. I want to help protect children, families, teachers and staff and I want to make Ocean City schools the best version of themselves in the coming years.
What are your thoughts about the revised health and sex curriculum standards and Ocean City’s policy on transgender students?
The issue of the revised health and sex standards is a difficult issue. The new sex and health standards voted on last year are age-inappropriate and we as a group needed to push back on that. I’m not even sure that the vote was appropriate based on my reading of the law, but it happened. I do appreciate people taking a stand. Shaffer was not on the board when the vote was taken. However, he noted that he appreciated the board members who took a stand and voted against the standards such as Gallelli-Keyes.
It was a difficult vote. If I’d been on the board, I would have voted against the standards. I will continue to stand up for what I know is right for our kids, for our families, for our parents. I think we need a commonsense approach.
As for policy 5756 (for transgender students), he said it is a suggestion. It is not a mandate. It is problematic, he said. 5756 is titled “transgender policy.” We don’t have a specific policy for any one group. This is the only policy that sets aside one group and treats them differently. In doing so, I think it creates bias and discrimination and an un-level playing field. I like the unisex bathroom. Policy 5756 should be incorporated into other policies, not as a policy itself.
Kevin Schaffer:
Why are you running for School Board?
I have three young children. I want to get my eyes on the things going on in the school district. We did leave for a few years. We are back here now in the school district. I am excited to share my skills. I think as a community, there’s a lot of untapped resources out there, including myself. I’ve always been involved with children. My heart is in it. I feel I have a lot of experience. I feel like I want to be able to give more of what I have. There are a lot of people with a lot of skills. I’d like to see us reach out to the community. I’d like to see and share collective thoughts and have good, honest communication.
What are your thoughts about the revised health and sex curriculum standards and Ocean City’s policy on transgender students?
We really need to be crystal clear on what is mandated and what is suggested. There is no room for hate and discrimination anywhere, absolutely not. But when we talk about this, this clearly is a safety issue. Why would we have boys and girls sharing a locker room or a sports team putting a boy on a girls’ team? As far as notifying the parents, absolutely we should. We do need to welcome everybody, but we have to put on our commonsense hat.
Editor’s Note: OCNJDaily.com, as a news outlet, strives to provide a fair and level playing field for all candidates.
