Candidates for Garwood Board of Education Announced

Christine Guerriero, Aaron Watkins and write-in candidate Tom Evelina will be running for three empty Board of Education spots in Garwood.

The vote will take place on April 27, along with voting on the school budget and the second question, which asks if Garwood residents will support extracurricular activities through a tax increase.

Evelina announced his intentions to run at the Wednesday Parent-Teacher Association meeting. Guerriero and Watkins were not present at the meeting due to personal reasons.

Board of Education terms are three years, and a board member can serve three terms. Guerrero, Linda Koeing and Karen Rusin’s terms are over. Guerriero is running to keep her seat on the Board, said Adele Lewis, president of the Board of Education.

Evelina fielded questions from the audience with most questions regarding his stance on off-lined Washington School.

“The solution will require entrepreneurship,” he said. “All options should be examined.”

He said ideally, Washington School would open as a school for the Garwood school district if it is “economically feasible.”

The night began with an ad hoc meeting discussing what should be done with the off-lined Washington School. As of now, the school is still up to standards to open, said Superintendent of Schools, Theresa Quigley.

The school is still in possession of the Garwood School District. There is no limit to how long the school can stay off-line, Quigley said.

The meeting was meant to get a general consensus of how residents felt about what to do with the school. Some suggested opening it back up as a Garwood school. Quigley said the board considered renting it to an organization.

Another ad hoc meeting will be announced to discuss in more detail the benefits of maintaining ownership of the building, or whether it is more fiscally responsible to sell it.