Five file to run for two seats on school board
BY DANIELLE MEDINA
Correspondent

Sharon Kight

BRICK TOWNSHIP - Two incumbents, a father and a son team and a substitute teacher's aide will vie for the two Board of Education seats up for grabs in the April 17 election.

Board President Sharon Kight, 50, and board member John Talty are both seeking their second terms. They will face Daniel J. Woska and son Justin Woska, and Virginia Reinhold.

Kight, a former medical office administrator and now a homemaker, said that she is running again because there is still a lot of work to do.

"We started to steer a ship that is going in the right direction, but we're not done yet," Kight said. "We've made a lot of positive changes, but there are more to make."

The accomplishments include: televising the board's meetings on B-TV, Channel 20, to bring transparency to the school board; including committee reports so that the public sees "this is a working board"; developing a strong relationship between the board, Township Council and teachers union; and bringing cost savings to the district by hiring a new auditor, attorney, health care broker and grant writer, Kight said.

John Talty

"We've also taken a close look at teacher morale, and cutting down the steps in the salary guide has definitely improved morale," Kight said.

Kight was suspended by the acting state Commissioner of Education last year for two months for ethics violations stemming from an incident with a member of the public.

Kight said she was simply defending a fellow board member whose character was being challenged.

"It was greatly exaggerated and done for political reasons," Kight said of the suspension. "It has nothing to do with my performance. As an incumbent, I have to run on my record, and my record is a good one."

Kight, who has served as the board's president for the past two years, is married to Richard and has two children who graduated from Brick Township High School - Jared, 23, and Ashley, 21. She is an active fundraiser and sits on the executive board of the Brick High School Dragons Football Club.

Talty, 66, is a retired laboratory technician and a longtime member and organizer with the Oil Chemical Atomic Workers union. He is a Eucharistic minister and liturgy coordinator at Epiphany Catholic Church, Brick. In the past, he has been involved with the Boy Scouts, local athletics, and teaching religious education classes. Talty and his wife, Anne, have six sons who attended Brick schools and have two grandsons currently enrolled in Brick schools.

Daniel J. Woska

Like Kight, Talty also thinks the current board has made significant changes to the way in which the district operates.

"Now that I've been on the board for three years, I can see more clearly where the changes need to occur," Talty said. "I continue to have a passion for making changes."

Talty cited the board's purchase of 700 new computers for student use, hiring a higher percentage of Brick residents to fill administrative and teaching positions in the district, and hiring a performance-based health-care broker as some of the accomplishments.

Revamping the district's reading program and its transportation department are high on Talty's list of changes for the coming year.

"We weren't perfect. Nobody's perfect," Talty said. "But I'm hopeful that with what we've done, the people will see that it's not just in one area that this board has improved."

Woska, 52, is a former Board of Education member who served on the board for 10 years. A construction manager who owns his own company, Woska first ran for the board in 1994 but lost his seat last year.

"I think it's getting out of hand," Woska said. "There's a lot of money being spent, but it's not going to the right places. It's not going to the kids.."

Woska specifically mentioned the current board paying its current health-care broker, Commerce Insurance Services, approximately $160,000 in fees in 2006-07.

"We locked in [NIA Group Associates] for three years at under $100,000 per year," Woska said.

Woska also questioned the current board's decision to start a lacrosse team at both high schools, which came at a cost to the district and only affected a small number of students.

"I want to fight for the things that help a thousand kids," Woska said. "You have to look at the big picture and help as many kids as you can with the money you have."

Woska and his wife, Sandra, have four sons who graduated from Brick schools and one daughter, Breanna, who is currently a junior at Brick Township High School.

Woska's youngest son, Justin, joins his father on the ticket. Justin, 18, is a 2006 graduate of Brick Township High School and a freshman majoring in political science at Monmouth University.

Because his son was in Washington, D.C., on a political science trip, Woska discussed Justin's desire to follow in his footsteps and serve on the school board.

"He's only 18, but he feels he knows what is needed in Brick's schools because he was a part of the quality education system," Dan Woska said. "He wants to be able to afford to live in this town after he graduates."

At Monmouth University, Justin Woska is involved in the Model United Nations club and the political science club. He also discusses politics on the school's radio station and works as an intern for Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th District).

As a high school student, Justin Woska was the youth volunteer of the year in 2006 for the Brick Municipal Alliance Committee on Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Youth Services (B-MAC.) He was a member of the Brick Youth Club (BYC) High School Advisory Committee and was instrumental in the development the popular Senior Citizen Dinner and a Movie. Woska also helped organize and prepare a seminar on underage drinking for parents of adolescents, and attended many B-MAC-sponsored events.

Reinhold, 55, is a 23-year resident of Brick and works as a substitute teacher's aide and secretary in the district. She and her husband, Jack, have two children - Matt, who graduated from Brick Township High School in 2006, and Kelly, who is a sophomore at the school.

"I don't like that the current Board of Education is more interested in finger-pointing instead of dealing with the problems in the district," Reinhold said.

Reinhold specifically faulted the board for not making the repairs to the roof at Brick Township Memorial High School before major flooding caused 11,000 square feet of the school's roof to be replaced last month.

Reinhold, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Board of Education in 2005, currently serves as the president of PTA at Lake Riviera Middle School and is a member of the Brick Township High School PTA, Special Education PTA and the Ocean County Council PTA.