BOE Debate Reveals Candidates Ideas on Transparency, Budget, Education

Concerns of transparency, spending and education are the top issues facing the Toms River Regional School district, according to the school board candidates and attendees who asked questions of them in a debate Tuesday night.

The League of Women Voters hosted the event Monday evening in the county administration building, providing a traditional question-and-answer format where the seven candidates who attended each had a chance to address audience questions.

Attending were candidates , , , , , and , who provided opening and closing statements and answered about a dozen questions each in the two-hour event. Those seven, plus Stephen Galgon, are vying for three spots on the board of education in the .

None of the candidates are incumbents.

The debate format had audience members raising hands to ask a question, and then each of the candidates responded in a timed answer. Room 119 was filled with members of the community asking questions on junior varsity sports, donations to candidates, whether they endorsed , and .

On many issues, the candidates agreed across the board. They each said the school board needed to better open itself up to the community. The candidates offered differing approaches on how to do that, however.

The candidates also differed on whether to reappoint longtime professionals serving as the board attorney, engineer, etc. While a majority of the candidates said they needed to look closer at the contracts for waste as well as assess whether the long-standing professionals were doing the best job, three candidates directly said the professionals had to go.

"I'll get to the point, yes they should go," Pavliv said. Giovine and Torrone directly answered yes.

Bageac said competitive bidding should choose the professionals. Geoghegan, Kenny and Rodgers said looking at contracts and finding the best professionals should be a priority.

An FBI investigation and arrest of former superintendent Michael Ritacco was brought up several times by audience and candidates, with Pavliv saying it was reason for a scrutiny of contracts and all candidates agreeing it was reason for the district and board to operate with increased transparency. Rodgers said that ultimately the education of students was the primary concern of a school system and the scandal was distracting to that mission.

Stay tuned to Toms River Patch for a recap of the entire debate.