On Thursday, September 28, the League of Women Voters hosted a Candidates Night at the Livingston Senior/Community Center. The debate featued two candidates – Fang Gong, and Harsh Raju – who are currently competing for a seat on the Livingston Board of Education. The seat is currently held by Board president, Vineeta Khanna, who is not seeking re-election.
The two candidates discussed their perspectives on various topics throughout the night, including public questions that were collected by the League. Many of the questions pertained to issues brought up by residents and Board members at previous Board of Education meetings, including ones focused on book bans, student populations, bus systems, and incentives for teachers and faculty.
Student Population
When discussing the growing student population, Gong said that the annexes at Hillside and Burnet Hill are great short-term solutions to ".ll in the gaps,” but are not the long-term answer to student overpopulation.
“We need to think ahead of time, and be proactive,” she said. “I don’t have the budget details or data to enable me to make some feasible solutions for now, but I’m ready to dive in and bring some ideas about the resources; existing and exploring new resources we need to modify and maximize our existing space, merge with the strength of online and traditional classroom teaching, and push the limits of digital resources,” she stated. Gong also wants to hire more stau, teachers, and tap into community partnership, “My goal is to maintain small class sizes and keep our education level high.”
Raju agreed that space was limited for students, but commended the Board for their euorts to ensure that there is adequate space for students.
He suggested “working with the Town Council using common re- sources and ovce spaces that have been underutilized, and use them to make space for schools.” He agreed that the annexes were not adequate long-term solutions.
Retaining Teachers
Keeping teachers in schools has been an issue worldwide, and Livingston is no exception.
Harsh Raju stated that there was a lot of pressure on teachers during the COVID pandemic, which is the root cause of many of their concerns.
“I think the gold standard of achieving strategic engagement and the steps involved are to attract, recruit, immerse, develop, and empower our teachers,” he said. “Another thing that we could do to get new recruits is to mentor high school students, and show them the importance of getting into a teaching profession, along with the nobility that comes with it.”
Raju also said that new teachers should get paid the same amount as other professionals with similar degrees.
Gong’s solution to the issue is to increase incentives and provide a safe environment, including a mental health program for teachers.
“We need to provide competitive salaries, reduce the cost of health care contributions, enhance pension benefits, provide a safe campus,build a sense of community, reduce the barrier that stops people from joining our team, and provide peer mentorship to the new staff,” she said. “We have to have a career development plan along with affordable and efficient training programs. And, we need to have a strong mental health program to take care of the well being of our staff.”
Gong added that her goals apply to all faculty and staff in the district, not just teachers.
Book Bans
As book banning has become a nationwide issue, the candidates were questioned about whether the Board should support the removal of certain books and reading materials in the classrooms and school library, based on parental concerns.
Gong said that “I seem to be standing on the two endings of the [book banning] spectrum,” both as a parent and from the perspective of an educator.
“I trust the teachers and trust our media specialists. I want to make it clear that we need to leave the selection process to the educator,” she said. “But, as a parent, I understand that we want to be involved in this whole process. We want to know our children better.”
Gong continued, “I want to make sure parents understand that you always have the right to ask questions and discuss. We have great clear channels to bring your concern to media specialists to our building, talk to principals to discuss specific questions, and parents always have the right to appeal if the concern is not being satisfied. Finally, parents always have the right to opt out of classes that make you feel uncomfortable or you have concerns.”
Raju agreed that reading is a fundamental and important skill in our society, and that book banning can restrict a child’s view of the world. He also said that he agrees that children and parents should be able to make decisions for themselves and uphold their freedom of expression.
“We have trained staff and media specialists that can make age appropriate or grade appropriate choices for our children,” he said. “And, if parents have any issues with a certain book, they could always reach out to a teacher or media specialist, and have the ultimate right to opt out.”
Raju said that the Board is more of a broad policy-making body, and that it follows the bylaws of the state.
“Any specific concerns can be brought out to the board at a board meeting, and if there is an overarching theme of the community, then I’m sure that the board can vote on and decide if that has to be a part of their action plan,” he said.
Busing
Concerning the bus system for students in Livingston, Raju relayed a parent’s concern about how long it took her child to get to school each morning. He said that he thinks communication between the buses and the school officials and administration needs to improve.
“I think the other important aspect is about buying new buses, but that is a budgetary problem,” he said. “Other ways to tackle the issue would be to have a more safe parking area for these buses so none of them get stolen or disabled.”
Gong stated that the busing issues are a “case by case” matter, but added that she wants to analyze the situation by finding where the “weakest link” is and spend more money there. That may include hiring more bus drivers, renting or purchasing more buses, or finding a safe space to store the buses.
Additional questions during the night regarded equity and inclusion issues in school; how to make school more inclusive; LGBTQ and gender affirming policies; mental health and anti-bullying policies; education funding, and other challenges that the Livingston school system may be facing.
To watch the livestream of the debate, go to the Livingston League of Women Voters Facebook page or watch it on LTV.
