In the April 17 election for members of the Englewood Board of Education, incumbent candidates Glenn Garrison, Joan Meltzer and Stephen Brown were overwhelmingly reelected for new three-year terms. Each of the incumbents received nearly 60% of the normally small voter turnout in school board elections. Garrison, Meltzer and Brown had been endorsed by SEEK, an organization founded in 2003 for the purpose of interviewing, selecting and endorsing candidates committed to quality public education. SEEK had previously endorsed Garrison, Meltzer and Brown during the 2004 election.

Glenn Garrison has been acting as chair of the Board committee overseeing the school district’s substantial building program following passage of the school construction bond referendum in 2004. Stephen Brown has served as Board President for two years. All three have strongly supported the extensive reforms which are in progress in the schools under the direction of Schools Superintendent Carol Lisa. These reforms received strong endorsement from New Jersey Commissioner of Education Lucille Davy in a progress report to the State Board of Education dated February 7, 2007. There has been strong support from the State for Englewood’s efforts in the last five years, not only for the Academies@Englewood, but throughout the system. There is some evidence that State officials view Englewood as a laboratory of sorts, in that successes achieved here may be replicated elsewhere.

The three losing candidates in the election were Ivory McGee and Sharon Wells, both school teachers in other districts who received the endorsement of Mayor Michael Wildes, and Pat Stinson, a former Board member. They all emphasized in their campaign literature the continuing problems in our schools, without acknowledgment that positive change was underway.