Monmouth Regional BOE Race Finds Four Candidates Vying for Three Seats

This year’s school board elections on April 27 will let voters decide on a race for one seat on the Monmouth Regional Board of Education while two other seats are uncontested.

Two candidates, Steven Seavey from Shrewsbury Township and Maura Triebenbacher from Tinton Falls, are running unopposed for the seats on the board representing their respective municipalities.  Two other candidates, Barbara Van Wagner and current board vice president Joseph Gaetano, are vying for the open seat representing Eatontown.

Barbara Van Wagner, Eatontown

Barbara Van Wagner has lived in Eatontown for 14 years and has three daughters ages 17, 13 and 12. All three attend schools in the Eatontown School District, with her oldest daughter graduating from Monmouth Regional this year.

Van Wagner, who holds a master’s degree from Columbia University and has attended Rutgers University Graduate School, has also taken courses in municipal land use law. She works as a zoning officer, assistant city planner and development coordinator in Asbury Park.

“We need to improve the school academics but keep costs at a level that taxpayers can live with,” Van Wagner said in an e-mail. “It is not easy but must be done.”

School boards need to contain costs and eliminate waste without lowering the high school’s quality, she said. “The cost of education is a hot issue but we can’t lose sight of the importance of an excellent education for the children.”

Citing recent data by New Jersey Monthly magazine, which reported that average SAT scores for Monmouth Regional were 100 points lower than the state average, Van Wagner said that MRHS dropped from being ranked 117 out of the state’s high schools in 2006 to 177 in 2010.

“That is a big drop and very disheartening for a parent with two children entering the school. I have a vested interest to improve MRHA,” she said. “We need to address the downward trend in academics. The school went from being in the top third to the bottom 50 percent.”

Van Wagner has served on numerous organizations including Eatontown’s Planning Board, Shade Tree Committee and the Foundation for Excellence in Education. She also volunteers at the St. George Church Food Kitchen and at the Lighthouse for the Blind.

Van Wagner also has been the director, choreographer and founder of the Memorial School Play Productions for the past seven years, and also active with the Eatontown Playhouse Children’s Productions. She is the founder and chairperson for “Food For Thought,” an annual food tasting event that helps raise money for the district’s schools. The event, in its eleventh year, has raised more than $300,000.

 “I hope to bring my talents and abilities to help children rise higher as a Monmouth Regional High School Board of Education Member. I believe education is essential to children’s development and find it rewarding to help others to do better,” she said. She believes her energy, enthusiasm and passion for education would benefit the board.

“MRHS is a good school, and I want to help make it a great school,” said Van Wagner.

Joseph Gaetano, Eatontown

Gaetano, who is running against Van Wagner to retain his seat, is no stranger to the board. He is currently seeking his sixth term and has been a board member since 1995. Gaetano has lived in Eatontown for 57 years, and his four children and three of his grandchildren all went through the school system. Seven of his grandchildren are still attending schools in the district.

His experience serving on the board, in addition to the breadth of knowledge he has obtained through working with the New Jersey State School Board Association, helps him serve as an effective board member, said Gaetano.

He currently holds a certificate of Master Board Member and Certified Board Leader from the New Jersey State Boards Association’s Board Academy. Gaetano is also a former chief of the Eatontown Fire Company, a former captain of the Eatontown First Aid Squad, has served on the Eatontown Board of Education and is on the Eatontown Senior Citizens Housing Board of Directors.

“Members of the board have done a pretty decent job for the taxpayers and students,” Gaetano said. “I want to continue to serve for the children and the taxpayers.”

One of the challenges facing Monmouth Regional, according to Gaetano, is trying to keep the budget as level as possible without affecting the tax rate. He pointed out the challenge of achieving that balance in the face of rising salaries, medical benefits and technology needs.

He also noted that the high school’s building is about 50-years-old and aside from an addition that was constructed about five years ago, the facility may require repairs in the upcoming years. That is something, he said, that future budgeting would need to address. 

Steven Seavey, Shrewsbury Township

Steven Seavey is a current board member who has lived in Shrewsbury Township since 2001. Prior to that, he lived in Eatontown for over 27 years and his three children attended the Eatontown School District and also graduated from Monmouth Regional.

“I feel that my many years of experience as a parent of children who attended Monmouth Regional High School—from September 1981 to June 1992—as well as my professional experience of 32 years working with children and families, provides me with the knowledge to function as an effective member of the MRHS Board of Education,” Seavey told Patch via e-mail.

Seavey, who is retired from the New Jersey State Department of Children and Families, said that he is running to ensure that “the progress made in widening the focus to the whole student—through efforts of the administration, faculty and support staff—continue.

He believes that the major challenge facing the high school is getting the budget approved by voters.

Maura Triebenbacher, Tinton Falls

Maura Triebenbacher, a seven-year resident of Tinton Falls, concurred with Seavey: “One of the most pressing issues facing the high school is identifying how we, as a community, can provide excellence in education while maintaining our budget.”

She is the eighth of 12 children, and is raising two sons, ages 5 and 3, who are both in pre-school. “I am currently at home with my two young children. Becoming a mother has been the most challenging, yet most rewarding, role I have ever had. I thoroughly enjoy experiencing the world through their young perception,” she said in an e-mail.

Triebenbacher earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education as well as other post-graduate credits in the field. She has taught as both a regular and special education at all grade levels—from pre-school to graduate school.

She has also served as a learning specialist and administrator, as a language arts committee chair, a Mentor to First Year Teachers, and a team evaluator, among other roles. In addition, she has written numerous curriculums and programs in the education field.

“I am running because I firmly believe in education and I believe in giving back to the community through service,” Triebenbacher said.