Schools

Board of Education Picks Fanwood Mom to Fill Open Seat

Amy Winkler has two children at Coles Elementary.

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of Education has selected its newest member.

The board held a special meeting on Tuesday night to interview three potential candidates for the open seat – vacated by Sacha Slocum in September – and selected Fanwood resident Amy Winkler to fill the role.

Winkler was chosen over fellow Fanwood residents Michael Lewis and Jason Benedict. The board deliberated for 45 minutes after interviewing all three candidates together, and then voted in a unanimous decision – with one abstention – to select Winkler for the position.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Fanwood will be served well as a result of tonight,” Board President Trip Whitehouse said. Whitehouse thanked all of the candidates for coming to the interview, and several board members commented that they were impressed with all three candidates – encouraging the two non-selectees to consider running again in the future.

Winkler has been a resident of Fanwood for the past 12 years and has two children, a daughter in third grade and a son in kindergarten – both at J.A. Coles Elementary. She will serve on the board for the remainder of the school year, when, as a special appointee, her term will expire. Winkler will have to run for the seat again at the board elections in April of next year if she wishes to continue as a board member.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In the interview, the candidates were all asked two starting questions, followed by several follow-up questions from board members. The first was what each candidate thought the priorities of the district should be, and the second asked for the candidates to describe the steps they would follow when confronted with a controversial issue.

“I think pretty obviously the priorities are the students themselves," Winkler said. “We should be focusing on improving whatever we can at the school. … [And] we should be working on [utilizing a] creative curriculum … to keep [students] engaged and advance their learning in various ways.”

Lewis said that the board should focus on shared services to help the schools run more efficiently and cost effectively, and Benedict mentioned the important health and safety to go along with a strong curriculum.

In response to the question about handling controversy, all of the candidates agreed that they would proceed delicately, getting all of the facts, making whatever suggestions they felt were appropriate and taking the issue to the full board.

Many of the follow-up questions focused on the candidates' past experience as volunteers in the community. Winkler has been involved with the PTA at Coles and in coordinating Earth Day activities at the school.

Benedict, an academic administrator at Fordham University, was previously involved with the Boy Scouts in Brooklyn. He also said one of his primary reasons for seeking the position was to be active in the education system – especially in light of the recent birth of his first child, a son.

Lewis has been an active volunteer with the schools in the past, and emphasized the empathy and listening skills he has developed from years working in customer service.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood has nine total Board of Education members, split geographically based on population – seven from Scotch Plains and two from Fanwood. The other Fanwood seat’s standard three-year term expires at the end of this school year, leaving both Fanwood positions available at the next board of elections.

Benedict said he already plans to run for one of the open seats.

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here