By MADDY VITALE
This year’s Ocean City School Board election won’t likely be as exciting as the 2023 election, when seven candidates vied for three seats on the board.
As of the July 29 filing deadline, only three candidates, two of whom are incumbents and one who was previously on the board, are seeking the three open seats.
They will run unopposed in the Nov. 5 election.
The candidates include longtime board member Jacqueline McAlister, who is running for her fifth term. Chris Halliday is seeking his second term and former board member Dr. Charles Roche is looking to return to the board.
School Board member Disston Vanderslice is not seeking reelection, but said in an interview with OCNJDaily.com that he would like to return in the future.
The board includes nine members from Ocean City who are elected to three-year terms and three members from Upper Township, who are appointed to one-year terms by the Upper Township Board of Education.
McAlister, who is a project specialist with the Office of Comprehensive Support in the New Jersey Department of Education, has served in many roles on the board, including vice president. She also chaired numerous committees and is on the board of directors for the New Jersey School Boards Association.
McAlister and her husband Scott, a teacher in Egg Harbor Township, have two children, Sarah, 16, who will be a junior at Ocean City High School in the fall, and Katie, 17, who will start her freshman year at Stockton University.
McAlister explained why she believes it is important to be on the school board.
“I am running for the same reason I have always run -- it's the best way I can volunteer and give back to our community, which has given so much to my family and me,” she said.
She noted that she, along with Halliday and Roche, decided to run together because they “all believe very strongly in the community of Ocean City.”
“We all bring to the table different life experiences and professional backgrounds,” McAlister emphasized. “Our different lenses add to the overall effectiveness of the decision-making process and as we all know, boards work best when there are a wide array of professionals interested in the success of the schools.”
Halliday and his wife, Shannon, are architects. They have a son and a daughter in the school district.
Halliday is currently the vice president of the school board. He was the school board president in 2022 and 2023. He works closely with current School Board President Kevin Barnes.
Halliday said the main reason he is running for a new term is to continue to help make the district stronger.
The Ocean City Board of Education consists of nine Ocean City members and three from Upper Township.Halliday was board president when the district conducted two superintendent searches. In March, the district hired Schools Superintendent Dr. Christian Angelillo. He started in the district Aug. 1.
“I am running because I have a third grader and a fifth grader in the district,” Halliday said. “I am excited to continue working with the other school board members to make decisions that ensure student success. I am also excited to work with President Barnes and Dr. Angelillo to improve our district so all students succeed.”
While McAlister and Halliday have been on the board for a while, Roche has been away from the board for a couple of years. In 2021, he was appointed to the board to fill an unexpired term.
In 2022, during the much-debated revised sex education guidelines from the state, he ran unsuccessfully for a three-year term on the board. He was in support of the state-mandated guidelines.
Roche, a local primary care physician, and his wife, Roisin, have two daughters, Nora and Evelyn, who attend Ocean City's intermediate school.
He said he would like to return to the school board because he "sees positive change in the district."
“I think it is a new day for the district, with new leadership at the administrative level that will allow us to look forward and make long-term plans in the best interests of the community,” Roche said. “We have many of our old challenges that persist, such as falling enrollment, and new challenges."
Vanderslice said although he is not seeking reelection, the people who are will continue to lead the district in a positive direction.
For now, he is going to concentrate on his family. He and his wife, Samantha, have a 4-year-old son, Henry, and a 1-year-old daughter, Ruby.
“I loved my time on the board. We did go through a couple of rough years,” Vanderslice said of some of the disagreements on the board. “But I think we are in a great place now, with a great board president and a great new superintendent.”
