Experience:

My name is Andre T. Fryson and I am running for a position on the Franklin Township School Board. The growth of our youth, who are our future, has always been a passion of mine. For the past Fifteen years I have worked for Prudential Financial Inc. Currently, as a Manager of the Investment Operations Team for one of the Asset Management Businesses. During that time and prior to that, I worked as an Adult GED program teacher in Jersey City for 4 years and also as an Inclusion Classroom Support Teachers Assistance for Montclair Board of Education for 4 years. In addition I am currently an active mentor for the youth of Essex County New Jersey and Hudson County New Jersey through my Fraternity organization Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated.

In all of these previous and current roles, my drive has been my passion for the youth. Guidance is key and I believe in the phrase it takes a village. As a member of the board of education, I will provide me with the opportunity to ensure our youth have a say in their educational and extracurricular activities combined with the efforts of parents and all community members. It is impossible to make decisions that will please everyone, but ensuring input is received from all impacted will help to make the best decision. One of the key issues I see is increasing transparency with decisions that are made which impact all. As a member of the Board I will engage with students, parents, community personnel and staff to listen to their thoughts to make the best decisions through collaboration.

I am a dedicated and qualified person who is also a parent of two children. A son who is a second grader in Franklin Township and a daughter who will soon be entering Pre K. I am anxious and excited about the possibility of joining the board and getting to work to continue to grow our community.

Thanks for your careful reading and support!!!

If not (incumbent), have you held any elected position before, and if so, what:

Past President of two local chapters for National Fraternities.

Do you belong to any civic organizations:

Yes. Member of the Parent Teachers Organization

Issues and thoughts on Dealing with Them:

• Increasing transparency between the community, educational leaders and students to ensure there is a collaborative effort in making decisions that impact our youth. These issues deal with education, extracurricular activities and others. Decisions made impact all. It is important to listen to thoughts and concerns from impacted parties before a decision is made. Although this is a cumbersome effort because some groups or individuals may still not like the outcome, partnering is key. We owe it to all involved to make an attempt to be dedicated and creative in this challenge. Ongoing and regular engagement not only when it is time to make the decision but at all times is a key to transparency. Adoption of a website and or hotline dedicated to concerns and issues will assist in this endeavor.
• Increasing of National Test Scores and Closing the Education Gap. This is a tough point, but one that can be done with work from all. Quality education does not only happen in the classroom. We need to ensure parents are engaged with students at home and that there is an abundance of affordable after school programs to strengthen the lessons taught at school. Partnering with teachers and students of higher educational levels to provide tutoring for all grades. Older qualified students can serve as mentors that can lead through their previous experience. Researching what is done in other school districts and figuring out the best way to adapt some of those practices into our school system as well as continuing to build on those already established. This can be achieved with minimum budget increases while ensuring the highest student performance results.
• Facility Maintenance and Improvements. Allocation of resources to improve facilities used by schools is important. Maintenance for equipment such as computers and labs, gym access for all schools and fields of play. Quality and updated course material. Removal of anything that stands as a distraction for our kids looking to learn. Partnering with our tech experts and facility team to meet this goal. This effort is already in place, but must be continued.

Experience:

My name is Kunal Lakhia and along with my beautiful wife Pinky and the star of our eyes Arnav, have been a resident of Franklin Township for over 9 years now. With a degree in Electronics Engineering, I have worked my way to be a Head of Talent Acquisition at a renowned IT services organization. Public service has been very close to my heart and have been doing that through my teens till date. Being part of the Leo Club moment, I held various chairmanships of the committees to help blind, handicapped people in India. Worked were closely to provide medical attention & facilities to the needy who could not afford it. One of the major projects we initiated was project GEM: Grain, Education and Medicine. We provided opportunities for students to sought education and did not have means in variety of ways. This along with subsidizing food [free at times] and provide medicines at no or very low cost. I am very actively involved in the Thomas Edison Energy Smart Charter School and have had very constructive role in its success. It has now ranked amongst the top school districts.

In an increasingly competitive world, the overall development of kids will help ensure their future success. Education plays a very critical role in preparing our youth for the challenges of tomorrow. Taking very active interest in my kids’ education has helped me get a perspective of what works and what does not in our township schools. My aim would be to improve and take our schools to the blue ribbon status. There are learnings from both public and charter schools that can be used for overall benefits of all. Together we have to make sure that through highest quality education, we help secure our kid’s future.

If not, have you held any elected position before, and if so, what:

I am part of local Democratic Party committee.

Top three issues:

• Uplifting Quality of Education at our township schools – We have good teachers! What we need in my opinion is to provide them with opportunities for individual skill growth. That will trickle down to our kids. Innovative teaching techniques will help the absorption and retention levels in our kids. One size fits all can’t be the approach. The kids who need more attention should be able to get it. All of us face a tough work life balance situation. Educating the parents to get involved in their kids studies and extra circular activities dramatically improves the chances of kid’s success. Provide and encourage various extra curriculum opportunities. Community and school interaction can be improved so that any funding issues may be tackled through public participation. Through student achievements, test scores and graduation rate, lay out a clear path and strategy to achieve the goal of our school district to be a blue ribbon certified!
• Better Budgetary Management – One thing I have learned is that the charter schools get approximately 80% of the budgetary allocation of cost per student as compared to the funding at public schools. Yet they are able to provide better quality education with a focus on the up and coming streams of STEAM. This is purely due to better utilization and planning. I hope to bring that to all of our schools and make our dollars go further without raising taxes!
• Investments and Facilities – Best of the intentions can’t progress without proper and timely investments. Creating better facilities for STEAM and sports will encourage our kids. Investment is not just monetary, we bring in successful Franklin Township residents for motivational speeches and create a mentorship program to help kids guide through the maze.

Experience

My name is Ardaman Singh and I am a resident of Franklin Township. I’ve called this town my home now for 18 years as I went through my journey from college student to business professional, wife and eventually a mother. Today, I have two boys who attend Franklin Township District Public Schools – a freshman at Franklin High and a fifth grader at Sampson G Smith. I have an MBA in Human Resources & Business Communications with over 10 years of working experience and have served on the School PTO/PTSO Boards since 2008 at Franklin Park Elementary; Sampson G Smith and Franklin Middle.

Recently, I decided to take some time off from work to shift my focus full-time on the kids’ middle and high school years and help contribute, if elected, by participating and lending my professional expertise to the Board of Education. This decision is not a simple one.

I want to make a difference by contributing my professional experience as a Human Resources Executive. I understand human behavior. Even more importantly, I understand parental behavior and our animal instincts to keep our children safe and secure. And my HR training has taught me the need to apply common sense and logic when making decisions about things with long term ramifications such as the future of our children. I’ve seen first hand at the many board meetings I have attended as the PTO President for the elementary and middle school that being a board member is a complex, multidimensional job, sometimes frustrating as you struggle long hours with problems that never seem to be resolved. But the reward of watching students achieve, succeed and lead happy, productive lives as a result of an environment I can help develop is priceless. I also know that a major part of being a BOE member includes dealing with parents, happy and angry parents – and I have played this role for over nine years now.

Do you belong to any civic organizations:

• One of the founding member of Kaur and Singh Academy – A non-profit religious educational institution in New Jersey;
• Leadership Somerset Alumni;
• Member, Society of Human Resource Management;
• Member, Human Resources Management Association;
• PTO President – Franklin Park School, NJ (2008-2009); (2009-2010); (2010-2011) School Years
• PTO Executive Board Member (2011-2012) and (2012-2013) School Years
• PTO President – Sampson G Smith School, NJ (2013-2014) School Year
• PTSO Co-President – Franklin Middle School, NJ (2014-2015)
• PTSO President – Franklin Middle School, NJ (2015-2016)

What do you see as your three top issues, and how do you plan on dealing with them: 

• Budgetary Constraints – work with the community to fill the gaps through fundraising to keep our programs going, especially the Arts.
• Keep and promote talent from within – seek the advise from teachers association and administrative association to provide competitive salaries and ensure we have the best talent within the district schools.
  Address Charter Schools – host brainstorm sessions on how to get the students back into the public schools and not lose district funds to charter schools. Our schools have the same resources that charter schools claim they provide.
• In Addition – Some taxpayers and parents place a significant value on how popular media ranks our schools, most popular among those being NJ Monthly and U.S. News and World Report. What value do I place on these rankings? I go through the rankings carefully myself every year. After all, my children are members of the same educational system. The issue however is that none of these rankings can be taken at face value. There is both an art and a science that goes on behind the scenes before these rankings are made public. As informed taxpayers and parents, we must become better educated on how to read these reports and understand what goes on behind their results. There is a big gap between how the data is presented and what the reality is. That is the gap we have to close, communicate, and educate our community about – that the ongoing improvement and work that is taking place in our district is helping us chart a successful future for our children in the long term. That while many of these changes might not be reflected in annual rankings and their algorithms, they are necessary and important pieces of our journey to success.